National Donut Day is celebrated on the first Friday of June, but true donut aficionados will want to mark a different day on their calendar—Saturday, January 23. That’s when the first-annual Donut Fest comes to New York City.
The new festival celebrates some of the best sugary, fried goodness that New York City has to offer. The Donut Fest isn’t just a high-calorie free-for-all; all the entry fees will be donated to Food Bank for New York City.
For the price of admission ($35) attendees are entitled to tastes of all the donuts featured at the fest, including offerings from The Donutologist, Du Jour Bakery, Virginia import Carpe Donut, and Brooklyn mainstay Mike’s Donuts.
Also on hand are newcomers the Doughnut Project, who think way outside the pink box with their wild flavor combos like pineapple habanero and olive oil and black pepper.
Since the fest is held in Brooklyn, there are also multiple vegan donut offerings from Clementine Bakery and Dun-Well Doughnuts, whose root beer-flavored donut is a snack lover’s dream.
Of course, you can’t have a doughnut fest without serving coffee and the NYC iteration features some of the best caffeine purveyors in the Big Apple including Brooklyn Roasting Company, Cafe Grumpy, Gorilla coffee, and more.
While the donuts at the fest are undoubtedly delicious, New York City has more donuts to offer than can fit into a room. The only option is to head out on a donut crawl on your own. Grab a Metrocard and dive into donuts from the Doughnut Plant, who helped start the whole artisanal doughnut craze; Dough whose lemon meringue donut is mandatory eating for those with a sweet tooth; the freshly-made piping hot treats from Doughnuttery; the jelly filled wonders from Orwasher’s; and Greenpoint’s Peter Pan Donuts, who have been cranking out donuts, including their red velvet cruller, for 62 years.
