Afropunk Festival — the two-day celebration of Black culture, community, music, art, and individuality — is debuting at an all-new venue in Greenpoint this year. On August 26 and 27, the festival will be held at Greenpoint Terminal Market at 2 Noble Street and feature music from Teyana Taylor, Joey Bada$$, Vince Staples, Flying Lotus, Sudan Archives, and many more.
Afropunk, which was born out of a 2003 documentary of the same name, celebrated its first year as a live festival in 2005 and has been making its mark in Brooklyn nearly every summer since (save for years impacted by Covid and Hurricane Irene). What first started indoors at Brooklyn Academy of Music as a weeklong series of music, film, skating, and an unplanned picnic, has since grown exponentially and found new homes in Clinton Hill, Fort Greene Park, and, probably most famously, Commodore Barry Park — where it’s been held since 2010.
This year’s festival theme is “Circus of Soul,” described by organizers as a “carnivalesque exhibition that spotlights all aspects of Black creativity, soundtracked by music that speaks to the heart of the Black experience” and will feature the SpinThrift Market, a curated, community-minded DIY marketplace; Solution Sessions, a space for encouraging social innovation, thought leadership, and civic participation; and Bites & Beats, a selection of local Black-owned food trucks.
There’s no word yet on if this new location will be a permanent change, but we’re excited to see how Afropunk transforms the waterfront! Get more information and festival tickets here.