Downtown Brooklyn Arts Festival Full Event Lineup Released

BROOKLYN, NY—The Downtown Brooklyn Arts Festival will return Sept. 27-28 for another weekend of free outdoor events featuring Brooklyn's most groundbreaking artists and cultural institutions.

The festival will take place outdoors at the Plaza at 300 Ashland Place, across the street from Brooklyn Academy of Music, which is one of the festival's organizers.

“Downtown Brooklyn is home to a thriving arts scene and DBAF showcases the best of our local talent at one of our neighborhood’s most beloved public spaces,” Regina Myer, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, said.

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is the organization spearheading the event. Other partners include 651 Arts, Brooklyn Ballet, Dancewave, Mark Morris Dance Group, MoCADA, Theater for a New Audience, and UrbanGlass.

The festival event lineup, announced yesterday, will include interactive performances and workshops in dance, music and visual art.

“This year, we’re bringing an exciting new lineup of DJs, dance performances and vocalists from some of Brooklyn’s most renowned cultural institutions,” Myer said.

All of the events are free and family-friendly. Full lineup below.

Friday

5:00 p.m.: DJ Spinna

Producer, remixer and influencer DJ Spinna will kick off the festival with fun electronic dance music with special guest DJ K.Tea

6:00pm: NuTribe

NuTribe will perform an energetic fusion of Black dance styles in partnership with the Mark Morris Dance Group, a longstanding Brooklyn institution.

6:30pm: Dawn Tallman

DJ Spinna will present Dawn Tallman, a two-time Grammy Award nominee who the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has dubbed "the queen of gospel house music."

Saturday

12:00 p.m.: BAMkids

Brooklyn Academy of Music's Okai Fleurimont and Yasmar Cruz will teach an introduction to Afro-Caribbean rhythms and movement for all ages, followed by a lively performance by Brown Rice Family.

2:15 p.m.: Natie Music

Natie Music, a musician who has collaborated with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, will perform a mesmerizing blend of jazz, hip-hop, and Kréol soul.

3:00pm: St. James Joy

The Brooklyn-based father-son duo, Chad and Jo Vill, known as St. James Joy, will create a quintessential afternoon dance party experience on the plaza.

3:30pm: GhettoFalsetto

Singer and educator Nicholas Ryan Gant, also known as GhettoFalsetto, will perform his soulful and dynamic vocals in partnership with 651 Arts, a local organization that supports contemporary music from the African diaspora. Gant has worked with lots of well-known artists including Mariah Carey, Jon Batiste, Childish Gambino and the band Run The Jewels.

6:00pm: #SampleSaleMusic

The night's closing performance will be from #SampleSaleMusic, presented in partnership with MoCADA. #SampleSaleMusic will reinterpret both classic and obscure jazz, blues and soul tracks to create a fresh experience.