SummerStage Concert Series Returns to the City for 37th Year

SummerStage, an urban outdoor performing arts festival, will celebrate its 37th year this summer, bringing 80 performances to Central Park and 12 other community parks across the five boroughs, City Parks Foundation announced Tuesday.

Concerts will take place this summer in Manhattan’s Central Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island Amphitheater and Herb’s Park in Brooklyn Von King Park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and Socrates Sculpture Park. Queens, Crotona Park and Williamsbridge Oval in the Bronx, and Lilac Lake Park and Stapleton Waterfront Park in Staten Island.

With the exception of a few ticketed benefit concerts in Central Park, the performances will be free and open to the public.

“It is an honor to bring to the park artists who reflect the rich cultural fabric of each community, whether those performers are familiar or new discoveries. The fun and wonder of live music with fellow New Yorkers is an experience like no other Should be underrated. At a time when we are increasingly isolating, SummerStage uses our city’s parks — a vital resource in every neighborhood — to connect audiences to each other and ultimately create community in a very emotional and magical way,” Heather Lubov, executive director of the Urban Parks Foundation, said in a statement.

SummerStage kicks off June 10 when Alabama’s eight-piece soul band St. Paul and the Broken Bones take the stage at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield with Say She She and Mwenso & the Shakes.

The free concert lineup includes Horsegirl, Jason Moran, Kool & The Gang, Marisa Monte, Skip Marley, Tanya Tucker and The Comet is Coming.

Performers at the benefit concert include Buddy Guy, Hippo Campus and Gus Dapperton, Manchester Orchestra and Jimmy Eat World, Mt. Joy and Regina Spektor.

SummerStage will commemorate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary this summer with events that “highlight not only its history and significance to New York City, but also its enormous influence on global culture,” the City Parks Foundation wrote in a statement.