BRIC Arts Media unveiled the full lineup for the 2026 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! festival on Wednesday, announcing a summer schedule highlighted by artists including Sheila E., Patti LaBelle, Common, Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney as the long-running outdoor concert series returns to Prospect Park’s Lena Horne Bandshell from June 4 to Sept. 19.
Now entering its 47th year, the festival will feature 15 free concerts and three ticketed benefit shows at Prospect Park under the theme “Radical Joy,” a concept organizers said reflects the importance of community gathering in a time of political and economic uncertainty.
“It’s the idea of choosing to come together as a community ‒ of neighbors, families, friends, strangers ‒ on a summer night in Brooklyn, around music, for free,” Wes Jackson, president of BRIC, said in a statement. “That shared experience, of being with people who are all there for the same reason, is worth protecting. It’s a sense of belonging to something greater. That is what this festival is, the radical joy that comes from entering that space.”
The season opens June 4 with a free performance by Sheila E., joined by Leon Knight and DJ Spinna. The festival will close Sept. 19 with a benefit concert featuring alt-rock artists Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney.
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! organizers said this season was designed to reflect the borough’s diversity.
“Every show this season was built with intention to reflect the full range of who Brooklyn is and what moves us,” Executive Director Saidah Blount said. “We have fan favorites like Sheila E., Patti LaBelle, Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney, themed nights that celebrate musical traditions, and artists on the verge of their next big moment.”
Among the marquee performances is Patti LaBelle’s June 26 benefit show. Officials noted the concert marks the first time the organization has booked a major artist independently without partnering with a corporate promoter.
The schedule also features Juneteenth programming featuring Infinity Song and Victory Boyd alongside Mississippi family group Annie and the Caldwells. On Aug. 28, Common will headline a concert presented with The Action Lab’s Harry Belafonte Fellowship, for artists “who use their creative work to advance justice.”
Additional genre nights include Jazz at the Bandshell on July 24, headlined by Cindy Blackman Santana, and Americana Night on Aug. 15, featuring Grammy-nominated singer Yola as part of the America 250 celebration.
The season also includes reggae, indie rock, drag performance and more, with performers like Wayne Wonder, Royel Otus and Sasha Velour.
City officials praised the festival’s role in providing free cultural programming to New Yorkers.
“There are few joys in New York City as sweet as this time of year – when BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! returns,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “With free performances all summer long, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! invites people from across the city to gather with friends and neighbors beneath the trees of Prospect Park and share in the art of our city.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso highlighted the festival’s role as a borough tradition and pointed to the return of Dominican Night on Aug. 29.
“Every summer, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! reminds us what it means to be part of a community,” Reynoso said. “Brooklynites travel from every corner of the borough to gather in Prospect Park and share in this tradition — in art that celebrates the different identities and cultures that call this borough home. I’m especially excited to present Dominican Night on Aug. 29, which is set to be an evening full of dancing under the stars.”
In addition to concerts at the Lena Horne Bandshell, BRIC will host a pop-up event at Brower Park in Crown Heights on July 25 in partnership with Rooftop Films and City Council Member Chi Ossé.
