WFUV Summer Music Guide: 2025

There's no better way to spend a long, leisurely summer's day or night than hearing live music. We've got your no-FOMO plan for this festival season — with things to do in the city and beyond. Here's a list of some highlights (in chronological order); pick up a pocket-sized print version wherever you see the WFUV tent or table out at a show. 

Skip ahead to: The Rooftop At Pier 17 | Stone Pony Summer Stage | Forest Hills Stadium | SummerStage, Central Park |SummerStage, Other Locales | BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival | Hudson River Music Festival | Mountain Jam Festival | The Capitol Groove | Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival and American Roots Evenings | Battery Park City River & Blues Series | Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City | Great South Bay Music Festival | Newport Folk Festival | Falcon Ridge Folk Festival | Newport Jazz Festival | Hudson River Park Blues BBQ Festival | See.Hear.Now Festival

The Rooftop At Pier 17

Where: Pier 17, South Street Seaport, New York City
When: May - October
FYI: One of NYC’s favorite outdoor venues at South Street Seaport with dazzling views of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Shows include: 6/14 Reggae Fest Blaze; 6/28 Pride with JT, TiaCorine, MikeQ 7/1 Dispatch, John Butler; 7/5 Everyday People; 7/9 Barenaked Ladies, Sugar Ray and Fastball; 7/11 Michael Franti & Spearhead; 7/21 Primus; 7/23 Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with JJ Grey & Mofro; 7/25 Drive-By Truckers and Deer Tick; 7/28 Pink Martini featuring China Forbes; 7/31 Guster and The Mountain Goats; 8/9 Dropkick Murphys and Bad Religion; 8/12 Rob Thomas; 8/14 Fitz and The Tantrums, Neil Francis, Snacktime; 8/15 Dark Star Orchestra; 9/5 Rilo Kiley; 9/6 Sierra Ferrell, Nikki Lane; 9/9 Maren Morris; 9/11 Supergrass; 9/24 Ziggy Marley and Burning Spear; 10/11 Royel Otis

Stone Pony Summer Stage

Where: Asbury Park, NJ
When: May 23 - September 28
FYI: New Jersey legendary venue, Stone Pony’s Summer Stage has a long season of outdoor shows in Asbury Park with something for everyone.

Shows include: 6/14 The Black Keys, The Heavy Heavy; 6/19 Steel Pulse; 6/20 Crumb, Kassie Krut; 6/21 Lawrence with Allen Stone; 6/28 Shadow of the City featuring Bleachers; 6/29 George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic; 7/4 Dispatch; 7/5 Gary Clark Jr., Joy Oladokun; 7/19 Dinosaur Jr. and Snail Mail; 7/25 Flipturn, Joe P; 7/26 Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Petey USA; 7/29 Wild Rivers; 7/31 The Head and the Heart, Wilderado, Marfa; 8/1 Guster & The Mountain Goats; 8/3 The Church; 8/13 Dropkick Murphys & Bad Religion; 8/29 Red Clay Strays; 8/30 Rilo Kiley; 8/31 Dogs in a Pile, Low Cut Connie; 9/28 Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Forest Hills Stadium

Where: Forest Hills, Queens, NY
When: May 31 - October 25
FYI: Forest Hills Stadium is located near the LIRR and E, F, M and R subway lines. Look for the WFUV Clubhouse between portals 3 and 4.

Shows include: 6/21 Dr. Dog, Crumb, Wild Pink; 7/22-23 Phish; 8/1 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard with Orchestra of St. Luke’s; 8/2 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (rock ‘n’ roll set), DJ Crenshaw 8/8-9 Mumford & Sons, Lucius; 8/23 The Black Keys. Gary Clarke Jr.; 9/4 Leon Bridges, Charley Crockett, Reyna Tropical; 9/11 Pulp; 9/17 Alabama Shakes, El Michels Affair; 9/26-28 All Things Go Festival; 9/29-30 Tyler Childers, Medium Build; 10/24 Parcels; 10/25 Big Thief

SummerStage, Central Park

Where: Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, New York City
When: May 17 - October 9
FYI: This year’s Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage hosts a summer of shows.
Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis for free shows.
Tickets required for the benefit concerts (*)
Getting there: SummerStage’s closest park entrance is 69th Street and 5th Avenue. Street parking is tough on the east side, but if you’re up for it, it’s not too bad a walk from the west side of the park.

Shows include: 6/14 Aussie BBQ: Flewnt & Inkabee, Gordi, Grace Cummings; 6/15 Nordic Next: Jakob, Sarah Klang, Astrid Sonne; 6/17 James Blunt, Forest Blakk*; 6/25 Rhiannon Giddens, Lido Pimienta, FUV DJ Alisa Ali; 7/2 Charlotte Day Wilson, The Weather Station; 7/5-6 Kes*; 7/9 Morat, Planta Industrial, Yami Safdie; 7/13 Bastille Day with Bob Sinclair, Big Flo & Oli, and Patrick Bruel; 7/23 Cymande, Asha Puthli; 7/24 Jessica Pratt, Cameron Winter, FUV DJ Benham Jones; *7/26 The Saw Doctors; 7/27 Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, dead prez, Rich Medina, Maryam Bukar Hassan; *7/30 The Head and the Heart, Wild Rivers, Marfa; *7/31 The Yussef Dayes Experience; * 8/1 Jacob Collier; *8/2 Piano People: DBN Gogo, Musa Keys, DJ Fela; 8/3 Taiwanese Waves: Enno Cheng, ABAO + Nanguaq Girls; 8/9 Celia Cruz Celebration: Isaac Delgado, Aymee Nuviola; 8/10 The Originals feat. Rich Medina; 8/16 Blacktronika Festival with Phuture, Waajeed, King Britt; 8/27 Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience in association with Park Avenue Artists; *9/8 Rilo Kiley; 9/14 Awich & Friends; 9/16 Soccer Mommy, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Dummy, FUV DJ Alisa Ali; *9/17 Wet Leg, mary in the junkyard (WFUV show) * denotes ticketed benefit concert

SummerStage, Other Locales

Where: Herbert Von King Park, St. Mary’s Park, Coney Island Amphitheater, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Marcus Garvey Park, Tompkins Square Park
When: May - October
FYI: SummerStage steps beyond Central Park, in every borough, with an array of free shows.

Shows include: 6/13 Gil Scott-Heron Celebration (St. Mary’s Park, Bronx); 6/14 Lettuce, Styles P (Coney Island Amphitheater, Brooklyn); 7/10 Big Freedia (Herbert Von King Park, Brooklyn); 7/11 Laila!, Sasha Keable, Talia Goddess (Herbert Von King Park); 7/13 Palmwine Festival NYC: Show Dem Camp & Friends (Herbert Von King Park); 7/20 The Roots (Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens); 7/31 Frankie Negrón, Christian Alicea (Crotona Park, Bronx); 8/1 Hip Hop Appreciation Park Jam with Doug E. Fresh and Funk Flex (Crotona Park); 8/17 Blacktronika Festival feat. Moor Mother & Rasheedah Phillips, Vijay Iyer (Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan); 8/22-23 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival (Marcus Garvey Park); 8/24 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival (Tompkins Square Park, Manhattan).

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival

Where: Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
When: June 9 - August 16
FYI: Bring a blanket or a chair for maximum enjoyment. Parking can be challenging around Prospect Park.

Shows include: 6/13 Mélissa Laveaux, Nathalie “TALIE” Cerin; 6/14 Pippi Longstocking’s 80the Birthday Celebration with The Klezmatics!; 6/27 A Tribute to Quincy Jones: The Greatest Night In Pop; *7/12 Still Woozy; *7/17 Dinosaur Jr., Snail Mail, Easy Action; *7/18 Men I Trust, strongboi; 7/26 Quincy Jones Tribute: “The Wiz”; 8/2 Gogol Bordello, Puzzled Panther; *8/8 Adrian Quesada, Trish Toledo; 8/15 William Parker, NIKARA presents Black Wall Street; 8/16 Closing Night; Nick Hakim, Karriem Riggins (DJ Set) * denotes ticketed benefit concert

Hudson River Music Festival

Where: Croton Point Park, Westchester County
When: June 14 Tickets: hudsonrivermusicfestival.com
FYI: At the site of the former Clearwater Festival, a family-friendly, day-long celebration of music and environmental awareness, rooted in the spirit of Pete and Toshi Seeger. Bring chairs and blankets.

Artists: Grahame Lesh & Friends, Lucius (acoustic) featuring Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith, Madison Cunningham, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Steve Earle & Friends, Jorma Kaukonen, and more

Mountain Jam Festival

Where: Belleayre Mountain, Highmount NY
When: June 20-22 Tickets: mountainjamfestival.com
FYI: The resurrection of Mountain Jam, now located at Belleayre Mountain.

Friday: Khruangbin, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Karina Rykman, Kitchen Dwellers, and Upstate
Saturday: Mt. Joy, Trampled By Turtles, Torres, Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge, and Shane Guerrette,
Sunday: Goose, moe., Molly Tuttle, Dogs In A Pile, Mikaela Davis

The Capitol Groove

Where: Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT
When: June 28-29 Tickets: thecapitolgroove.com
FYI: Downtown Hartford’s music festival, from noon until 10pm each day.

Saturday: Khruangbin, Thundercat, The Sacred Souls, Steel Pulse, Ripe, Improvement Movement, Ghost Funk Orchestra
Sunday: Bleachers, Cake, Sammy Rae & The Friends, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Fantastic Negrito, The Greeting Committee, Spectre Jones

Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival and American Roots Evenings

Where: Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, NY
When: Festival: June 28; Roots nights: July 11, 19, August 2
FYI: The festival has performances in various locations around the gorgeous grounds. Caramoor is family-and-picnic friendly, so bring a blanket and chairs. Bring your own food or buy at booths.

American Roots Music Festival on 6/28: The Rumble feat. Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.; Oh He Dead; Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters; Rebecca Haviland and Whiskey Heart; The Barefoot Movement American Roots Evenings include: 7/11 Ranky Tanky; 7/19 Molly Tuttle; 7/20 The Knights & Chris Thile; 8/2 Lyle Lovett and His Large Band; 9/13 Bedford Music Festival (with Big Head Todd and the Monsters) Additional events include: 7/3 Endea Owens and The Cookout; 7/5 La Excelencia; 7/26 Jazz Festival (with Dabin Ryu Trio, Imani Rouselle Quartet, Hannah Gill); 8/1 The Garifuna Collective

Battery Park City River & Blues Series

Where: Rockefeller Park, New York City
When: July 10-31
FYI: Thursday nights in July – DJ at 7pm, headliner at 8pm. Always a stellar lineup with the iconic backdrop of New York Harbor. Bring food and friends.

Shows include: 7/10 Maggie Rose; 7/17 Amythyst Kiah; 7/24 Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; 7/31 Lady Blackbird

Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City

Where: Lincoln Center and various spaces, New York City
When: June 11 - August 9
FYI: Includes over 200 events for New Yorkers.

Damrosch Park concerts: 6/11 Robert Glasper & Alain Pérez (opening night); 6/18 Jazz is Dead’s Adrian Younge; 6/22 “I Am the Band” feat. Allison Russell, Bridget Everett, Wendy & Lisa, Gail Ann Dorsey, Vanessa Carlton, Yasmin Williams, Bobbye Hall and more; 6/29 Antone’s 50th Anniversary Celebration feat. Jimmie Vaughan, Sue Foley, C.J. Chenier, The Suffers’ Kam Franklin and more; 7/10 Los Mirlos; 7/17 Os Mutantes; 7/18 Rashid, Tulipa Ruiz, Melly; 7/23 “Waitress: The Musical” in ASL by Deaf Broadway; 7/30 Toño Rosario; 8/2 globalFEST with Gaye Su Akyol, Natu Camara, Martha Redbone and more; 8/7 Brooklyn Rider and Friends; 8/9 Ruidosa Fest feat. Empress Of, Snow Tha Product, Sofía Rei, and more.

Other events include: Joe McGinty & The Loser’s Lounge (on 6/20 at Josie Robertson Plaza), Brooklyn Rider: 20 Years at Play (8/7-9, various venues), BAAND Together Dance Festival, Brazil Week, the American Modern Opera Company’s Run AMOC* festival, the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, Jazz Underground, silent discos, and much more.

Great South Bay Music Festival

Where: Patchogue, NY
When: July 24-27
FYI: The festival returns to Shorepoint Park in Patchogue. It’s the longest-running four-day music, food, and craft festival on Long Island.

Artists include:
Thursday: Taking Back Sunday, Say Anything, Gym Class Heroes, Head Automatica
Friday: Damian & Stephen Marley, The Elovaters, J Boog, Oogee Wawa, Project Vibe
Saturday: moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Eggy
Sunday: Yacht Rock Revue, Men at Work, Naked Eyes, Ambrosia, Strangelove - The Depeche Mode Experience

Newport Folk Festival

Where: Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI
When: July 25-27 Tickets: newportfolk.org
FYI: If you’re at the festival, stop by the FUV booth, say hi, and pick up some swag and kindness. Newport Festival Foundation’s generosity towards music education is vital.

Artists include:
Friday: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jack Antonoff & The Bleachers, Maggie Rose, MJ Lenderman, Geese, Goose, Kim Deal, Alex G, Big Freedia, Hannah Cohen, Kenny Loggins, Kevin Morby, Jessica Pratt, S.G. Goodman, Robert Lester Folsom, Snacktime
Saturday: Public Enemy, Waxahatchee, Julien Baker & TORRES, Remi Wolf & Friends, Iron & Wine, Lukas Nelson, Obongjayar, Flipturn, Saya Gray, I’m With Her, Mon Rovîa, Luke Combs, Dan Reader, Illiterate Light, Jesse Welles, Ken Pomeroy, Luke Combs, Bonnie Light Horseman, Tyler Ballgame
Sunday: Michael Kiwanuka, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Maren Morris, Jeff Tweedy, Jensen McCrae, Tom Odell, Margo Price, Lucius, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mt. Joy, DEHD, BCUC, Nova One, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, Sammy Rae & The Friends, Stephen Wilson Jr., The Union ft. Phil Cook

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

Where: Goshen Fairgrounds, Goshen, CT
When: July 25-27 with a July 24 pre-festival of tastings and farm market
FYI: Folk music, camping, food, vendors, and dancing in Goshen, Connecticut from 10am-10pm.

Artists include: Nerissa & Katryna Nields, the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, The Gaslight Tinkers, Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam, Sam Robbins and more

Newport Jazz Festival

Where: Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI
When: August 1-3 Tickets: newportjazz.org
FYI: The festival’s genre-fluid lineup has something for everyone.

Artists include:
Friday: The Roots, Thee Sacred Souls, The Yussef Dayes Experience, Rachael & Vilray, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sofi Tukker, Louis Cato, John Scofield & Marcus Miller, The Philadelphia Experiment, BCUC, Ron Carter Quintet, Kenny Garrett, Darius Jones Trio, and more.
Saturday: Janelle Monáe, Flying Lotus, Willow, Dianne Reeves, Nubya Garcia, Samm Henshaw, Terrence Blanchard: Flow, Béla Fleck with Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sanchez Trio, Kokoroko, Knower, Maimouna Youseff, Carrtoons, and more.
Sunday: Jacob Collier, Jorja Smith, Esperanza Spalding, De La Soul, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Christian McBride Big Band, La Lom, Cymande, Hiromi’s Sonicwonder, Stanley Jordan Solo, Lakecia Benjamin, Kiefer, Emmet Cohen Trio, Ekep Nkwelle, and more.

Hudson River Park Blues BBQ Festival

Where: Pier 76 at West 34th Street, New York City
When: August 16
FYI: This annual day-long celebration of the blues and stellar BBQ, celebrating its 25th year, makes the perfect summer-day hang with music, food, a blues dance floor (and lessons), hot sauce duels, and more. And it’s free!

Sea.Hear.Now Festival

Where: Asbury Park, NJ
When: September 13-14
FYI: Stages on the beach, plus surfing competitions and photo exhibits by Transparent Clinch Gallery.

Artists include:
Saturday: Hozier, LCD Soundsystem, Alabama Shakes, Remi Wolf, De La Soul, Royel Otis, ZZ Top, UB40, Gig Perez, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Inhaler and more.
Sunday: Blink-182, Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, Public Enemy, TV on the Radio, Spoon, Phantogram, 4 Non Blondes, Hot Mulligan, Mannequin Pussy, Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge, Neal Francis, and more