BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Fest slated for July

Launched in 1979, the festival, which is organised by Brooklyn arts and media institution BRIC, is among New York’s longest-running outdoor performing arts showcases, with more than 250 000 fans in attendance annually. It seeks to bring the borough together while featuring new and acclaimed artists as well as different music genres and world culture.

Last year, the free music festival was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Grammy-winning Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo and Nigeria’s Yemi Alade contributing at-home performances alongside US acts Robert Glasper, Questlove, Common, Caribbean soca group KES, Puerto Rican pop duo Buscabulla and Swedish singer-songwriter The Tallest Man on Earth, among others.

The organisers say this year’s festival will see live, in-person performances and the programme will be held at a reduced capacity in accordance with state COVID-19 compliance policy and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

“BRIC was proud to bring hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to connect with artists from across the world, safely from their homes, during a pandemic,” BRIC president Kristina Newman-Scott said. “But there’s nothing like the energy of Brooklyn when it’s filled with friends and family, all gathered for good times and great music. We are elated to be coming back to celebrate our borough, our community, the power of music and summer in New York City! This is going to be a season like no other.”

BRIC director of performing arts Lia Camille Crockett said: “We are thrilled beyond belief to be back in the Prospect Park bandshell, our home for the past 42 years. During these past 18 months, we have been tested in ways we could have never imagined, and BRIC is so proud of what we’ve accomplished; we came together in the face of hardship, with music and art, and proved that our community will always do what we do best – show up.”

The full festival line-up is expected to be announced in due course. Meanwhile, Kidjo and Alade announced their latest collaboration ‘Dignity’ in March. The project is the pair’s second collaborative effort after 2020’s ‘Shekere’.