Parking near Fort Tryon park for the Cloisters demo is a challenge. If at all possible, you are better off taking public transit to the site.

If, however, you are one of the people loading in equipment, then here is what you need to know to park on the day.

You do NOT need a parking pass to drive your vehicle on & off site at the beginning and end of the day. The parking pass also does not guarantee you a spot. It simply allows you to look for parking in the cordoned-off parking area at the head of Cabrini Blvd. (or in an internal parking lot, depending on where we are assigned by the festival coordinator).

If you are delayed in transit, and arrive after 10am, you will not be able to drive your car into the park. Instead, find parking and haul your stuff in manually. If you need unloading assistance, come to our demo location and ask for help — we will have wheeled carts that we have used to lug stuff onsite, which you may borrow.

With a parking pass

If you have previously arranged a parking pass with the demo coordinator seneschal at whytwhey.eastkingdom.org, then you arrive at the south entrance to the park at 9:30am to check in with the festival coordinator and receive your parking pass. The park opens before 9:30, and I encourage you to unload before checking in, if possible! Cars must be headed to parking by 10am, to clear the park for opening to the public around 11am.

Without a parking pass

Once you have unloaded your vehicle, you may drive off to find parking, either at a garage or on the street. Parking nearby fills up quickly, but if you are early you may be able to find something. Here is a map of nearby parking garages:

Parking garage #3 is not as useful as it appears in this aerial view, because you are walking straight up a hill (almost a cliff) to get into the park. The terrain is not your friend.

Post-demo loading

Cars will be allowed back into the park when the police indicate that it is safe to do so. We must wait for the public to walk out before we start driving in. The festival ends at 6pm. It takes time for 60,000 people to exit the very large park.

There is ALWAYS a traffic jam of entering vehicles. We are conveniently located just inside the south entrance, which eases our loading. Please take care not to block the roadway for others who are attempting to drive further into the park.