Celebrate Brooklyn! is the oldest free outdoor performing arts festival in New York and still the best argument for the borough's summer: 15 free shows at the Lena Horne Bandshell, with the Prospect Park plane trees closing overhead and blankets packed to the fence line. The 2026 season is stacked in its back half — Ukrainian folk-punk from DakhaBrakha, an Aaliyah tribute, Lyricist Lounge at 35, Yola with Dom Flemons, Sasha Velour's NightGowns, and Common honoring Harry Belafonte to close August
What to expect
The Bandshell sits inside Prospect Park near the Prospect Park West and 9th Street entrance, with a ticketed seated area up front and a huge free lawn behind it. Doors open roughly an hour before the music and the crowd arrives early with blankets, coolers and takeout from the surrounding neighborhoods. Free shows have a suggested donation at the gate but nobody is turned away.
Good to know
- Enter at Prospect Park West and 9th Street; the F/G to 7th Avenue or the 2/3 to Grand Army Plaza both work.
- Free nights ask for a suggested donation at the gate — it is genuinely suggested, not required.
- There is no Celebrate Brooklyn! show on the first weekend of August; the season resumes with globalFEST on the 7th.
- Bring a blanket — the free lawn is grass and folding chairs are restricted to the back.
- Outside food is welcome; glass containers are not.
- The three benefit concerts (Patti LaBelle, Royel Otis, Liz Phair with Sleater-Kinney) are ticketed separately.
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Common questions
Is BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! free?
Fifteen of the season's concerts are free with a suggested donation at the gate. Three benefit shows are separately ticketed.
Is there a Celebrate Brooklyn! show this weekend?
No — the August schedule picks back up mid-week with globalFEST, followed by the BRIC Celebrates Aaliyah tribute, the Lyricist Lounge 35th anniversary, Yola, Sasha Velour's NightGowns, Common, and Dominican Night at the Bandshell.
Where is the Lena Horne Bandshell?
Inside Prospect Park at the Prospect Park West and 9th Street entrance in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
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