Times Square hosts World AIDS Day on 1 December
Published on 11/14/2026 at 18:03 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael MĂĽller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSPublic remembrance and digital art
- World AIDS Day reaches Father Duffy Square on 1 December 2026 through the New York City AIDS Memorial and Housing Works.
- Jenny Holzer and Rob Ashford contribute digital art and a Broadway choir to the public programme.
- Times Square received its present name in 1904 before the Times moved into its headquarters in 1905.
- Father Duffy Square occupies the northern triangle between Broadway and West 46th and 47th Streets.
Times Square hosts World AIDS Day on 1 December 2026, bringing a public programme of remembrance, art and performance to New York City. The event is organised by the New York City AIDS Memorial, Jenny Holzer, Times Square Arts and Housing Works.
The programme takes place at Father Duffy Square, the northern triangle of the district, and links a day of public remembrance with the screens and streets that define the United States landmark.
World AIDS Day brings remembrance to Times Square
The New York City AIDS Memorial lists the event for Tuesday, 1 December 2026, from noon until midnight. The programme is free and public, with no RSVP required, and is scheduled to take place in all weather.
At noon, an opening press conference begins the public Reading of the Names of New Yorkers lost to AIDS. Housing Works presents the reading, with volunteer readers drawn from artists, activists, AIDS service organisations and public life. The reading continues through the afternoon in 20-minute time slots.
World AIDS Day programme also includes a performance directed by Rob Ashford from 6pm to 7pm. Tony Goldwyn and Julianne Hough co-host the hour, which features music, spoken words and a choir of Broadway performers.
From 5pm, mobile LED trucks display Jenny Holzer’s texts on love, loss and anger. Shortly before midnight, Holzer’s I REMEMBER Joe Brainard becomes part of the Midnight Moment series, extending the event into a digital public artwork.
How the programme connects with the district’s history
Times Square was known as Long Acre Square before a city resolution renamed the intersection in 1904. The New York Times moved into a new headquarters between Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd and 43rd Streets in January 1905.
That history helps explain the setting for a programme built around names, words and public screens. A district first reshaped by newspaper publishing and electric advertising now provides a broad urban canvas for Holzer’s text-based work and the names reading.
The venue is also closely associated with public performance. In 1905, the first year of the IRT Times Square station, the station served almost five million passengers. By the late 1920s, subway lines, elevated lines and buses were stopping at West 42nd Street, helping make the area a transport and theatre centre.
Father Duffy Square gives the event a specific civic setting. The space lies between Broadway and Seventh Avenue at West 46th Street, while the statue of Father Francis Patrick Duffy faces his former church on West 42nd Street.
The Times Square Alliance describes the district’s public art programme as a way to place contemporary work on its digital signage. I REMEMBER Joe Brainard is scheduled to run nightly from 1 to 31 December 2026, giving the World AIDS Day programme a presence beyond its opening date.
Visiting Times Square: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- World AIDS Day takes place on 1 December 2026 at Father Duffy Square, Broadway between West 46th and West 47th Streets.
- The public programme includes the names reading, mobile LED artworks, a Broadway choir and the Midnight Moment presentation of I REMEMBER Joe Brainard.
- Times Square is in Midtown Manhattan, at the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street, with Father Duffy Square farther north at West 46th Street.
- The district is a busy pedestrian environment with large illuminated signs, theatre buildings, subway entrances and public plazas.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
For travellers, the key change on 1 December is not a closure but a temporary cultural programme spread across a recognised public space. The artwork continues nightly through December, while the names reading and live performance remain concentrated on World AIDS Day.
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Frequently asked questions about Times Square
When does World AIDS Day take place at Times Square?
The programme takes place on 1 December 2026 from noon until midnight at Father Duffy Square.
What will happen at Times Square on World AIDS Day?
The programme includes a public reading of names, Jenny Holzer artworks, a live performance and I REMEMBER Joe Brainard at Midnight Moment.
Where is Times Square and how do you get there?
Times Square is in Midtown Manhattan around Broadway, Seventh Avenue and West 42nd Street, with Father Duffy Square at West 46th Street.
