Today, BRIC, a Brooklyn-based leading arts and media institution, begins the 2022 season of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Lena Horne Bandshell at Prospect Park at full capacity, with live, free and in-person performances. For the past 44 years, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, presented in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks, has been the summer-long outdoor concert and performance series that celebrates talent spanning global music icons to chart-topping indie bands, and includes benefit concerts, family days, and movie nights.
These shows have become one of the city’s foremost cultural attractions and a beloved summer tradition. This year’s festival will take place from Wednesday, June 8th through Saturday, August 6th.
The 2022 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! season will boast a heavy-hitting artist lineup showcasing musical artists from Brooklyn and around the world including: rapper Vic Mensa, Brooklynite, contemporary poet, writer, lyricist and activist aja monet; legendary saxophonist Kamasi Washington; Nigerian Afropop phenom Yemi Alade; Reggae-band Third World; genre-defying rock band, Chicano Batman; Grammy-winning contemporary blues artist, Fantastic Negrito; Brooklyn-based rock band, Crumb; Grammy-winning latin pop singer, Fonseca; award-winning actor and composer, John Cameron Mitchell performing with Amber Martin; San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet and filmmaker Sam Green, performing in tandem with “A Thousand Thoughts” documentary, with vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth opening; indie-pop band, The Beths; Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Ravyn Lenae; American soul rock band Seratones; 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner and BRIC JazzFest alum Linda Diaz; alternative artist Slauson Malone 1; singer-songwriter SASAMI and many more!
The season will also include ticketed benefit concerts featuring Indie-Rock singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, presented by Bowery Presents, on Tuesday, June 14th and Wednesday, June 15th; American-born Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer Davido, presented by Live Nation on June 16th; R&B superstar entertainer Teyana Taylor presented by Femme It Forward on Wednesday, July 20th; Texas-based psych rock band Khruangbin, presented by Bowery Presents on Thursday, August 4th; and multi Grammy-winning “Queen of Neo Soul” artist Erykah Badu, presented by Live Nation on Friday, August 5th.
“This summer is about being together – the power of gathering in this moment of human history,” said Diane Eber, Executive Producer of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! “Artists can show us the way to heal through creative expression and there’s no better place to experience that than the Bandshell. We are so honored to bring another season of magic to our communities at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!”
“It wouldn’t be summer in Prospect Park without the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at the Lena Horne Bandshell,” said James Snow, Prospect Park Alliance Interim President. “This festival brings a wide range of free music and family programming to Prospect Park, and gives Brooklyn’s diverse community a chance to come together—we’re excited for the season to begin.”
On June 18th, NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! will team up to feature the winner of the 2022 Tiny Desk Contest, plus other alumni from the Tiny Desk Contest series.
On June 19th the 2022 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! season will showcase Juneteenth UNITYFEST, a special celebratory event, in partnership with the Robert Randolph Foundation, featuring performances by some of the world’s leading gospel artists, including Tye Tribbett, Deborah Cox, Israel Houghton, Mali Music, and more.
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! 2022 will also offer a movie night, featuring the iconic 1980 musical film Fame, which follows the lives and hardships of the faculty and staff at the (fictitious) New York City High School for the Performing Arts. This season will also feature an evening dedicated to dance with Ragamala Dance Company, showcasing a performance of Sacred Earth. Founded in 1992, the group draws their inspiration from South Indian American artists and uses multi-disciplinary dance works to epitomize intercultural and immigrant narratives that evoke a shared sense of humanity.
For the first time, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! introduces Smorgasburg as this year’s food vendor. Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America. Launched in 2011 as a spinoff of Brooklyn Flea (founded in 2008), Smorgasburg has since launched dozens of small businesses and has attracted millions of visitors, astutely being dubbed “The Woodstock of Eating,” by The New York Times.
WABC-TV and WFUV are returning as long-time media partners to cover BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! and its amazing music performances. Bud Light Seltzer also returns as long-time sponsor, alongside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
While the festival will remain free of charge, excluding benefit shows, RSVPs are encouraged to stay up to date on festival news, but are not required.
Major Leadership Support for BRIC’s performing arts programs are generously provided by Howard Gilman Foundation, Lambent Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Public support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support for BRIC’s performing arts program is provided by Con Edison, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Shubert Organization, Inc., as well as support from friends, members, and numerous individuals.
For more information on the artist lineup, RSVPs and more, visit http://bricartsmedia.org/bcb.
