Celebrate Brooklyn concerts returning to Prospect Park Bandshell

July 26, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

African superstar Yossou d’Nour electrifies the Celebrate Brooklyn audience at a past Prospect Park concert. Photo courtesy of BRIC

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BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at the Prospect Park Bandshell, the borough’s best-known outdoor live performance series, is returning this Saturday, July 31, and running through Saturday, Sept. 18.

The festival, which premiered in 1979, has attracted more than 250,000 attendees in the past, and it presents a wide variety of music and performances, most of it without charge.

According to BRIC, in accordance with New York State’s COVID-19 compliance policy and CDC guidelines, Celebrate Brooklyn! will take place at full capacity. Attendees will not have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for admission. Admission is first-come, first-served, and RSVPs are encouraged. Concerts take place on Friday and Saturday nights.

The series begins on Saturday at 6 p.m. with R&B singer Ari Lennox and Brooklyn-based singer and rapper KAMUU. Among the many other concerts scheduled for this summer are 1960s folk icon Buffy Sainte-Marie (Aug. 6); a children’s show with the all-female South American band Ladama (Aug. 7); reggae singer, and grandson of Bob Marley, Skip Marley (Aug. 13); a “Celebrate Biggie” concert with Busta Rhyme, Li’l Kim and others (Aug. 19); San Fermin (a Brooklyn indie rock band collective) on Aug. 28; jazz and rock trombonist Trombone Shorty (Sept. 18) and many more.

There are also several movie nights, among them a showing of “Wattstax” (a 1970s benefit concert in Watts, Los Angeles) on Aug. 5 and “In the Heights” on Aug. 21. In addition, there will be several benefit concerts, such as The Roots (the hip-hop band featuring Questlove) on Aug. 12, and Glass Animals (a British electronic rock group) on Aug. 31. Of course, tickets are necessary for these.

For more information and the exact schedule, visit BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival | BRIC (bricartsmedia.org)

“The opportunities we have been afforded to provide a platform for incredible talent from Brooklyn and around the globe, brings up indescribable joy,” said Kristina Newman-Scott, president of BRIC. “This year’s lineup marks a momentous time for BRIC, continuing our tradition of bringing some of the best talent to the Prospect Park Bandshell stage, which we have called home for 42 years. We can’t wait to see everyone there.”

“After the past challenging year, it is such a thrill to welcome the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival back to the Prospect Park Bandshell,” said Sue Donoghue, president of the Prospect Park Alliance. “This is one of our flagship events, and for our community a clear sign of summer. Over the past four decades, this festival has brought a wide range of free music and family programming to Prospect Park, to the delight of the many diverse communities we serve.”