Afropunk, the annual music and arts festival that has featured stars like Bad Brains, Janelle Monáe, SZA and Q-Tip, returns to New York City this weekend in a new location: the Prospect Park bandshell.
Erykah Badu, a longtime presence at Afropunk, will headline both days of this year’s festival, which has been branded as BLKTOPIA. The festival runs from noon to 10 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, with remaining single-day tickets priced at $77 and two-day tickets at $137.
“As we thought about who our festival’s Mother Earth would need to be, we felt it couldn’t be anyone else but Erykah Badu,” said Shauna Gray, Afropunk’s global head of business development. Badu last performed at Afropunk in 2018, when she was also the festival’s headliner.
Afropunk began as a punk music festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2005 and has since expanded into a global brand with past editions in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The flagship New York festival has shifted locations over time, and had settled in Fort Greene’s Commodore Barry Park for several years before moving to Greenpoint last year. Now it’s part of the Celebrate Brooklyn! lineup, presented by nonprofit organization BRIC.
Organizers describe BLKTOPIA as a movement where “the designs of oppression are dismantled and the benefits of sustainability accrue to all.”
“It’s about crafting a reality grounded in justice and equity, where every member of the Black diaspora can be set up to flourish,” Afropunk says on its website. “It calls for a vision that is free from historical constraint by considering what a full re-envisioning would make possible in order to establish something alive with vibrancy and possibility.”
On Friday, eight participants will take part in a battle of the bands, Gray said. The crowd will determine the winner, who will perform a full set at Afropunk’s 20th anniversary next year.
The fest’s “Black People Do” series, which Gray said “exists to demystify the stereotype that Black people don’t participate in outdoor lifestyles and extreme sports,” also returns on Friday.
The festival has four wrestling showcases in partnership with with Legacy Pro Wrestling, a Black-owned league based in Queens, including a tag team match and women’s match.
“There’s been a huge rise in popularity in wrestling in the Black community,” said Gray.
Saturday’s performances include Brazilian singer Larissa Luz and a ballroom voguing competition, which the festival has held previously in both Salvador, Brazil and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Saturday’s programming also includes sets by singer Durand Bernarr, who has frequently collaborated with Badu, as well as DJ Moma and Gitoo of party collective Everyday People.
Gray said that while Afropunk has grown from its roots as a scrappy punk-centric festival, organizers programmed this year’s edition to be “reminiscent of earlier days for the brand,” with several smaller events and performers rather than a stable of headline performers.
Afropunk BLKTOPIA is on Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park. Remaining single-day tickets start at $77 and can be purchased here.