The City Parks Foundation announced the SummerStage 2022 lineup on Tuesday. This year’s performing arts festival will feature 90 free and benefit concerts in 12 different parks across New York City’s five boroughs.
Shows will be held at the SummerStage flagship venue at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park; Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem; Von King Park and The Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn; Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens; Crotona Park in the Bronx; and Corporal Thompson Park in Staten Island.
The first shows in the lineup are two benefit concerts (which are not free to the public) in Central Park. Aurora presents the Gods We Can Trust tour/ Sub Urban will open the concert series on June 4. Followed by Modest Mouse and The Cribs on June 8.
Summerstage 2022 will kick off its free shows, also in Central Park, with an opening night concert on June 11 with jazz legend Herbie Hancock.
This year SummerStage plans to return for a six-show series at The Coney Island Amphitheater. The most notable of which is the Spread Love Hip-Hop Jam Hosted by Ralph McDaniels and DJ Scratch on August 11.
Another highlight will be the 30th Annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on Aug. 26-27 in Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park. Headliners for this year’s rendition are composer Terence Blanchard, jazz singer Jazzmeia Horn, and avant-garde saxophonist Archie Shepp.
Outside of its numerous musical offerings SummerStage 2022 will also screen the Oscar award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) for free on June 17 in Marcus Garvey Park. The documentary, produced by The Roots’ Questlove, tells the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was held 50 years ago in the same park.
SummerStage returns with a full slate of shows this year after reducing their number of performances last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, it was cancelled altogether.
“We are so happy to be back in local neighborhood parks after a two-year hiatus” said Heather Lubov, City Parks Foundation’s Executive Director. “Parks have always been neighborhood gathering spaces, but the pandemic brought to light just how absolutely critical parks are to our city’s health.”
This year’s lineups reflect the diversity that New York is known for. Artists performing this year will be 52% woman or non-binary and 95% of performers are BIPOC.
“Each season, SummerStage has always presented a festival full of talent as diverse and broad as the communities that host these performances in parks across all five boroughs,” said Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director of SummerStage. “The artists we are presenting this season not only represent their own distinct cultures but reflect the global diversity that truly matches the spirit of New York City.”
The full lineup can be found on the SummerStage 2022 website.
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