New venue, same excitement: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week moves from the tents at Bryant Park to its new home at Lincoln Center. 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, 212-875-5456; 

Fashion’s Night Out returns, promising to be bigger and better than last year’s. Don’t forget to buy an FNO T-shirt to mark the occasion—40 percent of the price benefits the NYC AIDS Fund. 

"Fall into Fabulous" on Fashion's Night Out at the St. John Boutique–New York, where visitors will find the five things they can't live without from the fall 2010 collection and receive an exclusive St. John lipstick pouch and compact mirror with a purchase of $1,000 or more. 665 Fifth Ave., 212-755-5252   

Catwalk Unleashed—a lingerie runway show with dogs, which showcases new pet clothing brands—benefits the Animal Haven Shelter, a nonprofit organization that finds homes for abandoned cats and dogs (8–10 PM). Juliet Supper Club, 539 W. 21st St.;

Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners host the annual BGC Charity Day, which invites celebrities to be guest “brokers” for the event. (Lady Gaga and Eli Manning have participated.) The day’s worldwide revenues are donated to charities in memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11. 

Indie-pop darlings Vampire Weekend play three shows at Radio City Music Hall. 1260 Ave. of the Americas, 212-307-7171;

For the next 11 days, the streets of Little Italy host the 83rd Annual Feast of San Gennaro, the city’s longest-running religious festival, featuring parades, free entertainment and even a cannoli-eating contest.

It's Fashion Week for pets, too: Attend the Look Good While Doing Good four-legged fashion event (4–8 PM), and support guide-dog schools in NYC and nationwide by donating to National Guide Dog Month. The event will feature editors from People Pets giving their fashion insights, as well as a green carpet of "paw"-parazzi. Petco Union Square, 860 Broadway;

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s feature directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating, a tale of two New York couples facing very different obstacles, comes out today.

Swarovski commissioned 22 of fashion’s finest to design a little black dress for tonight’s private auction, which will aid the American Cancer Society and La Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer in France. Phillips de Pury, 450 W. 15th St.;

Anne Hearst McInerney and Amanda Hearst—along with Wayne Pacelle (president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States), Arthur Benjamin (platinum corporate sponsor), David York and Barking Hound Village Foundation—host the Make History Gala to raise awareness of the puppy mill problem in the US (6:30 PM cocktails; 7:30 PM dinner).

Celebrate the official first day of fall with a stroll through Central Park.

Sotheby's Auction House hosts The Art of Farming, an heirloom vegetable auction followed by a seasonal four-course dinner complements of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Myriam Eberhardt and other renowned chefs. The evening will benefit the Grow NYC New Farmer Development Project and The Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm. 

Julia Cho won a 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her quirky comedy The Language Archive, a play that proves love can leave us at a loss for words. Previews start tonight at Laura Pels Theatre. 111 W. 46th St., 212-719-1300;

This weekend, enjoy singular art at the Dumbo Arts Festival (6–9 PM Friday and Saturday; 10 AM–8 PM Sunday). For the first time ever, the art extravaganza will include instrument workshops, live concerts, parades and family programming—and it's all free. 45 Main St. (between Water St. and Front St.), Brooklyn;

“New Photography 2010” opens at the Museum of Modern Art, presenting four artists—Roe Ethridge, Elad Lassry, Alex Prager and Amanda Ross-Ho—whose work is inspired by the never-ending stream of images found in print media, television and cinema. 11 W. 53rd St., 212-708-9400;

Ellen Weldon Design hosts The Big Write, a fundraising event to benefit Sanctuary for Families, the largest nonprofit in New York State dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims and their children. For a $25 donation, Ellen Weldon, renowned calligrapher, will inscribe guests’ names or monograms to be printed on a set of custom stationery note cards (4–8 PM). Ellen Weldon Design, LLC, 222 Fifth Ave., 4th floor; RSVP to info@weldondesign.com 

Celebrate fashion and theatre while donating to a good cause at the Broadway Takes the Runway evening. Television personality Carson Kressley and actress Sara Ramirez will host this first-ever event to benefit the Al D. Rodriguez Liver Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to providing resources for the cure of the hepatitis virus and liver cancer (8 PM). Touch Nightclub, 240 W. 52nd St., 866-811-4111;

Join The Young Friends of the ASPCA for an evening of cocktails, dancing and auctions at the IAC building (8 PM–midnight). For tickets call 212-876-7700 ext. 4652, or e-mail JaimeeH@aspca.org