The City Parks Foundation SummerStage is one of New York’s most beloved, broadly accessible, free outdoor performing arts festivals. SummerStage presents free concerts in parks throughout the five boroughs. With performances in genres that represent the cultural fabric of New York City ranging from jazz, hip hop, Latin, global, indie and contemporary dance, SummerStage fills a vital niche in New York City’s summer arts festival landscape. Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage. In 2020, the City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere was launched in response to the global pandemic, presenting free digital performances, spanning all genres, available to viewers around the world.

This year, SummerStage will bring New Yorkers nearly 80 free and benefit shows to Central Park and 12 neighborhood parks across the five boroughs, including at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, Von King Park and The Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, Crotona Park in the Bronx, Stapleton Waterfront Park in Staten Island, and its “flagship” venue at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park.

“SummerStage is back for another exceptional year of free programming,” Heather Lubov, City Parks Foundation’s executive director, said in a statement. “It’s an honor to bring to parks artists that are reflective of each neighborhood’s rich cultural fabric, whether these performers are familiar or completely new discoveries. Feeling the joy and wonder of live music with other New Yorkers is an experience that is unmatched and should not be underestimated. At a time when we are increasingly isolated, SummerStage uses our city’s parks—vital resources in every neighborhood—to connect audiences with each other in a very emotional and magical way and, ultimately, to create community.”