New York City: Festival Season 2012 part 2
- By Hazel Sheffield -
- Jun 27, 2012
Over in New York we’ve been busy filling our diaries with summer festivals – and there are lots! Catch up here if you missed our rundown of the first five. For part two we bring you Busta Rhymes and friends, the best of new indie at a couple of showcases, and some pumping electro on an island.
July 9 to 14 - Week-long pass for $100
Now in its eighth year, this week-long festival celebrates New York as the heartland of hip hop culture with a bevy of artist performance across Brooklyn, from Williamsburg to DUMBO. Last year 20,000 gathered under Brooklyn bridge to hear Q-tip and friends perform. This year Busta Rhymes steps into those big shoes, and will be working with festival curators to put together a roster of friends to perform.
July 14th - FREE
Continuing the trend for publications trying to turn themselves into brands (see also NME and Pitchfork), the venerable Village Voice is hosting a second year of live music this July at the Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. The Drums, Crocodiles and Devin have already signed up to perform in the historic district, all for free.
LACOSTE L!VE Williamsburg Park
July 17 to September 27 - Tickets around $50 from Tickmaster
Previously known simply as the Williamsburg waterfront concerts, this summer series of shows has adopted the name LACOSTE L!VE Williamsburg Park and shifted in from the waterfront, presumably to accommodate demand for the series of concerts on offer. Cake, Jane’s Addiction and Cypress Hill will all be there, along with the pop-up Lacoste shop that the brand debuted at Coachella.
August 31st - 3-day pass $299
Sixty-five artists have already signed up to play this exclusively electric New York festival, which takes place on Randall’s Island over Labor Day weekend in August. Even if you don’t manage to get tickets, you’ll probably be able to hear strains of David Guetta, Nicky Romero and A-Trak drifting across the Hudson from anywhere in Manhattan.
October 16-20 - $470 for a full badge, $260 for a student badge
For those who really have some stamina (and some cash!), CMJ falls at the end of the festival season. The fact that they named it a marathon should give some clues as to the energy needed to get through it. CMJ brings industry types from all over the world to the city in the hope of finding the elusive next-big-thing. Until June 26, artists can still apply to perform.
By Hazel Sheffield. Blogs at HazelSheffield and tweets at @hazelsheffield
This guest blog complies to Virgin.com terms & conditions.
