WFUV Summer Music Guide: 2026

Summer means the joy of live music festivals in New York City and beyond. Here's a quick guide of some of the festivals you might want to check out — or you've already got your tickets.

Highlights are in chronological order — and you 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 | Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts | Forest Hills Stadium | SummerStage, Central Park and other locales | BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival | Hudson River Music Festival | Solid Sound Festival | 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 Music Festival  | Newport Jazz Festival  | Sea.Hear.Now Festival  | CBGB Festival

The Rooftop At Pier 17 

Where: Pier 17, South Street Seaport, New York City 
When: May 22 - October 8 
FYI: One of NYC’s favorite outdoor venues at South Street Seaport with dazzling views of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

Shows include: 6/12 moe. with Umphrey's McGee; 6/17 Jimmy East World; 6/18-29 Young the Giant with Cold War Kids and Almost Monday; 6/20 Reggae Fest Blaze; 6/24 The Breeders; 6/25-26 Dark Star Orchestra; 6/27 Everyday People feat. DJ MOMA; 7/15 Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue with Larkin Poe; 7/23 Greensky Bluegrass; 7/25 Passion Pit; 7/29 Wolf Alice; 7/31 Jesse Welles; 8/8 Houndmouth with Rayland Baxter; 8/9 Totally Tubular Festival with Thomas Dolby & the Lost Toy People, A Flock of Seagulls, The Motels, Producers, Animotion, Escape Club, and Tommy Tutone; 8/19 Mac McNown; 9/17-18 Sam Barber; 9/19-20 Jeff Rosenstock; 9/22 Gov’t Mule with Ziggy Marley; 9/24 LP; 9/29 Dylan Gossett & Charles Wesley Godwin with Max Alan; 10/8 Modest Mouse with Caroline Rose 

Stone Pony Summer Stage 

Where: Asbury Park, NJ 
When: May 22 - October 17 
FYI: The legendary Stone Pony’s Summer Stage in Asbury Park has a long season of outdoor shows that goes well into the fall. A landmark locale — and it’s fun to listen to music from the beach. 

Shows include: 6/11 Young The Giant with Cold War Kids and Almost Monday; 6/12-13 Claypool Gold with Primus, Claypool Lennon Delirium, and The Frog Brigade; 6/16 Hot Mulligan, Joyce Manor 6/21 Kurt Vile and the Violators; 6/25 Jimmy Eat World, The Wonder Years; 6/27 Bouncing Souls with Less Than Jake, Lawrence Arms; 6/28 The Church; 7/5 Black Country, New Road and Horsegirl; 7/16 Congress the Band, The Gringos; 7/24 Shakey Graves and Dope Lemon; 7/25 Lucy Dacus; 8/6 Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors; 8/7 Dog Park, Telescreens 8/9 Matisyahu; 8/14 & 8/15 Yacht Rock Revue; 8/16 The Record Company; 8/19 The Fray with Dashboard Confessional; 9/5 Social Distortion; 9/23 Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals; 10/2 Charley Crockett with Durand Jones & The Indications; 10/3 Rise Against; 10/17 All Them Witches 

Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts 

Where: Westport, CT 
When: May 24 - September 23 
FYI: Located on the banks of the Saugatuck River, this Westport outdoor venue has a summer of live music with over 50 free ticketed shows — and paid ticketed shows (marked with *) as part of the “Stars on Tour” series.

Shows include:  *6/11 Greensky BlueGrass; * 6/12 & 6/13 The Disco Biscuits; *6/20 WFUV Presents Lucius; * 6/21 Dark Star Orchestra; * 6/23 G. Love, Donavon Frankenreiter, Moon Taxi "Rolling Together Revue Tour"; 6/24 Son Little; 6/26 Chaparelle; 6/27 Circles Around The Sun; * 6/28 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; 7/3 Clay Street Unit; * 7/10 Matteo Bocelli; * 7/11 Eggy, * 7/17 Dogs In A Pile; 7/19 MT Jones; 7/23 Surfing for Daisy; 7/24 LaMP; 8/6 Wild Child; 8/7 Devon Gilfillian; * 8/11 The Revivalists; *8/21 The Machine - Pink Floyd Tribute; * 8/23 Andy Frasco & The U.N. and Kitchen Dwellers w/ special guest Magoo; *9/4 Mihali; 9/23 King Stingray 

Forest Hills Stadium 

Where: Forest Hills, Queens, NY 
When: June 6 - October 10 
FYI: Forest Hills Stadium is near the LIRR and E, F, M and R subway lines. Look for the WFUV Clubhouse between portals 3 and 4. 

Shows include: 
6/13 The Black Crowes, Whiskey Myers and Southall; 6/19 Rock the Blessings: Juneteenth for the People; 6/20 Wilco, Yo La Tengo; 6/27 Kes; 7/8-9 Paul Simon; 7/11 Sarah McLaughlin with Allison Russell; 7/17 Djo, Pond; 7/21 Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Jimmy Vaughn & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band; 7/23 Caamp, Mon Rovîa, Hannah Cohen; 8/15 Jon Batiste; 8/20-22 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard; 8/27-28 Zac Brown Band, Grace Potter; 8/29 Empire of the Sun, Polo & Pan, Midnight Generation; 9/16-17 Hayley Williams, Magdalena Bay, Rico Nasty; 9/18 Erykah Badu; 9/19 David Byrne; 9/29 Dermot Kennedy, Jonah Kagen; 10/2-3 Geese; 10/10 Foster The People, Goth Babe 

SummerStage, Central Park 

Where: Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, New York City 
When: June 24 - October 1 
FYI: It's the 40th anniversary of SummerStage and this year’s Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Central Park hosts a summer of shows. Entry on a first-come, first-served basis for free shows. 

Tickets required for the benefit concerts (*). cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage/ 
Come early to the free shows on 6/24, 7/8 and 8/6 for preshow sets by WFUV DJs. 

Shows include: 6/24 Black Country, New Road, Horsegirl, and Sharp Pins with a pre-show DJ set by WFUV’s Benham Jones; 6/26 Laurie Anderson: “Republic of Love” with Sexmob; 7/1 Shabaka, Kokoroko, Omar, and Lovie 7/8 Spoon, Ratboys, and Bodega with a pre-show DJ set by WFUV’s Alisa Ali; 7/16 Mavis Staples, Brother Wallace; 8/6 Andrew Bird and the Wordless Music Orchestra with a pre-show DJ set by WFUV’s Alisa Ali; *8/5 Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors; 8/23 Angélique Kidjo with DJ Freshy K; 9/2 Christian McBride, Mei Semones (music of Getz/Gilberto); *10/1 Charley Crockett with Durand Jones & The Indications 

Be sure to also check out the other SummerStage shows in parks across all five boroughs, including: 
7/10 Mereba, Mack King, and Arima Ederra (Herbert Von King Park); 7/12 Bilal, GENA, and DJ Tara (Herbert Von King Park); 7/17 De La Soul, Pete Rock (Flushing Meadows-Corona Park); 8/30 Ravi Coltrane, Kassa Overall, and Vanisha Gould (Tompkins Square Park) 

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival 

Where: Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, NY
When: June 4 - September 19 
FYI: Most shows are free. Bring a blanket or a chair for maximum enjoyment. Parking can be challenging around Prospect Park. Ticketed benefit shows (marked with *) which help support all of the free events. 

Shows include: 
6/4 (opening night) Sheila E., Leon Knight and DJ Spinna; 6/13 Antibalas, KidsRead with Kate Yamasaki; 6/19 Juneteenth: Infinity Song, Annie and the Caldwells, Victory Boyd, DJ Duane; *6/26 Patti LaBelle; 7/10 Habibi Festival with EMEL, Mai Elgizouli, Nesrine; 7/11 Community Joy Day: Saint James Joy, Pahua and Puppetmobile; *7/18 Royel Otis with Ax and the Hachetmen; 7/24 Cindy Blackman Santana Group, The Patricia Brennan Septet, Lucía; 7/31 CARRTOONS, Hailé Supreme, Sofía Valdéz; 8/7 globalFEST: DakhaBrakha, Yeison Landero, Sally Baby's Silver Dollars and Sunju Park; 8/8 BRIC Celebrates Aaliyah: One in a Million; 8/14 Lyricist Lounge 35th Anniversary; 8/15 Yola, Dom Flemons and the Traveling Wildfires, Cleo Reed; 8/21 Sasha Velour's NightGowns; 8/28 Common and Special Guests To Honor the Social Justice Legacy of Harry Belafonte; 8/29 Dominican Night at the Bandshell; *9/19 Liz Phair, Sleater-Kinney, The Flannel and The Fury 

Hudson River Music Festival 

Where: Croton Point Park, Croton-On-Hudson NY 
When: Sunday, June 21
FYI: Pete Seeger’s legacy continues at the second annual Hudson River Music Festival with multiple stages and family-friendly activities. Easy to reach by car and Metro-North. 

Artists include: Hudson Stage: Jesse Welles, Warren Haynes, Grahame Lesh & Daniel Donato, Margo Price, Cimafunk, Chaparral, Snacktime, and Toshi Reagon. Rainbow Stage: Ebony Hillbillies, Leah Song from Rising Appalachia, Damaris Bojor, Guthrie Family Singers, David Amram,Tom Chapin and the Chapin Sisters, Lizzie No. 

Solid Sound Festival 

Where: MassMOCA 
When: June 26-28 
FYI: Wilco’s biannual Sound Sound festival is a guaranteed good time on the grounds of MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA. 

Artists include: Wilco, Wilco and Billy Bragg’s “Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key” performing songs from Mermaid Avenue, The Breeders, Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band, Gang of Four, Jeff Tweedy & Friends, Rich(ard) Dawson, Billy Bragg, S.G. Goodman, L'Rain, Souled American, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Sharp Pins and many more. 

Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival  

Where: Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, NY 
When: American Roots Festival: Saturday, June 27. Entire season: May 8 - August 1
FYI: The festival has performances in various locations around the gorgeous grounds. Caramoor is family friendly — bring a blanket and chairs for the day performances on the field. 

American Roots Music Festival artists include: Southern Avenue, Deadgrass, Caleb Caudle & The Sweet Critters, Chloe Kimes, Moonrise Cartel. 

Additional shows include: 5/8 Solomon Hicks; 6/20 An Evening with Kelli O’Hara; 6/21 (free) Juneteenth Celebration with Dedicated Men of Zion; 6/26 Isaac Mizrahi; 7/3 Louis Armstrong Hot Five Centennial Celebration; 7/9 Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca; 7/11 Patty Griffin; 7/18 Punch Brothers; 7/22 Hopalong Andrew; 7/23 Yuja Wang & People of Earth 7/25 Jazz Festival; 8/1 Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers 

Battery Park City - River & Blues Series + other shows 

Where: Wagner Park, Battery Park City in NYC
When: River & Blues Series July 9-30, other Wagner Park shows, 5/28 - 8/8 
FYI: Live music starts at 7:30pm on Thursday nights in July, back in Wagner Park after construction. A great lineup with the gorgeous backdrop of New York Harbor. Don’t forget a picnic! 

River & Blues shows: 7/9 Rebirth Brass Band; 7/16 The War and Treaty; 7/23 Allen Stone; 7/30 Amelia Day. (A Vibe Called Blessed opens all shows at 6:30pm) 

Other shows in Wagner Park: 6/6 Love Always, Impress; 8/8 Esperanza Spalding; 8/10-16 45th Annual Battery Park Dance Festival (presented by LMCC - Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as part of the 2026 River To River Festival and in partnership with Battery Park City Authority). 

Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City 

Where: Lincoln Center and various spaces, New York City 
When: June 10 - August 8
FYI: Now in its fifth year, Lincoln Center’s “Summer for the City” has over 200 events for New Yorkers including concerts, dance performances, and events for children. Most events free or pay what you can.

Events include: 6/11 dead prez; 6/20 Orkestra Mendoza; 6/28 “Nightbirds, The Music of Labelle” feat. Nona Hendryx; 7/1 Declaration: Songs of Democracy, Voices of Hope; 7/9 Brazil Day: Baia Tocca Forró; 7/12 Ruidosa Fest; 7/25 Hanggai; 7/30 Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers; 8/1 GlobalFEST feat. Elida Almeida, Sinkane, and Saha Gnawa; 8/5 Hurray for the Riff Raff; 8/8 Jamaica Day: Black Uhuru

Great South Bay Music Festival

Where: Patchogue, NY 
When: July 23-26 
FYI: The festival returns to Shorepoint Park in Patchogue. It’s Long Island’s longest-running four-day music, food, and craft festival, showcasing national and local acts.

Artists include: 
Thursday: The Used, Bayside, Cartel Koyo, Deadlands 
Friday: Sublime, Common Kings, The Ries Brothers, Oogee Wawa 
Saturday: Gov’t Mule, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, Sierra Hull, LaMP, Kerry Kearney Cajun Revue, Allmost Brothers 
Sunday: My Morning Jacket, Little Feat, Bob Weir Celebration,Taz, Miles to Dayton 

Newport Folk Festival 

Where: Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI 
When: July 24-26 
FYI: If you’re at the festival, stop by the FUV booth, say hi, and pick up some swag and kindness. The Newport Festival Foundation’s advocacy of music education is important and vital. 

Artists include: 
Friday: Hayley Williams & Friends, Courtney Barnett, Ms. Lauren Hill, Lucy Dacus, Wednesday, Deer Tick & Friends, Fruit Bats, Courtney Marie Andrews, Hot Tuna, Brother Wallace, Infinity Song, Wednesday, Haley Heynderickx & Max Garcia Conover, Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and friends play R.E.M, Tiny Habits, Matt Quinn, Amble, and more tba. 
Saturday: The Lumineers, Lizzy McAlpine, Cat Power, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings play Grateful Dead Acoustic Reckoning, Dawes Duo, Punch Brothers, Vulfpeck, Kirby, Medium Build, This is Lorelai, The Barr Brothers, Yasmin Williams and William Tyler, Trousdale, Leif Vollebekk, The Barr Brothers, Kirby, The Olllam, Evan Honer, more tba. 
Sunday: Brandi Carlile, Brandon Flowers, CMAT, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Brittany Davis & Black Thunder, Dove Ellis, Nathaniel Rateliff & Friends, Strongboi, Clover County, Tom Morello, Kathleen Edwards, Peter Rowan/Sam Grisman/Sierra Hull/Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, The Fearless Flyers, Ryan Davis & The Road House Band, Tim Bernardes, more tba.

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival 

Where: Goshen Fairgrounds, Goshen, CT 
When: July 24-26 
FYI: Three days of folk music, camping, vendors, and dancing in Goshen, Connecticut. 

Artists include: The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Nerissa and Katryna Nields, Susan Werner, Vance Gilbert, Greg Greenway, The Storycrafters, David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach, The Gaslight Tinkers &Joe Jenks, and Pamela Means 

Newport Jazz Festival

Where: Fort Adams State Park, Newport RI
When: July 31 - August 2 
FYI: The festival’s genre-defying lineup has something for everyone. 

Artists include: 

Friday: Little Simz, Angine De Poitrine, Vulfpeck, Robert Glasper feat. Bilal & Ari Lennox, Leon Thomas, Anoushka Shankar, Lalah Hathaway Chales Lloyd Sky Quartet feat. Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier and Kweku Sumbry, GENA, Chief Adjuah, Bernard Purdie & Friends 
Saturday: Celebrating 100 years of Coltrane and Miles feat. Kamasi Washington & Chief Adjuah, Jonathan Batiste Trios, Gary Clark Jr., Cory Wong with Joshua Redman, Snarky Puppy, Jon Scofield & Dave Holland, Atomic Habitz feat. Marcus King, Chris Dave & Mononeon, Nate Smith, Butcher Brown 
Sunday: Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, Lake Street Dive, Sienna Spiro, Flea and the Honora Band, Arlo Parks, Celeste, The Bad Plus Farewell Tour, The Dip, Charlie Hunter & Ella Feingold, Dana and Alden 

Sea.Hear.Now Festival 

Where: Asbury Park, NJ 
When: September 19-20 
FYI: Stages on the beach, plus surfing competitions. 

Artists include: 

Saturday: Mumford & Sons, The Offspring, Chaka Khan, The War on Drugs, The All-American Rejects, Shaggy, Men at Work, Susanna Hoffs, Fitz and the Tantrums, Tom Odell, 54 Ultra, Anders Osborne, Steph Strings, Nat Myers, Jarod Clemons 
Sunday: The Strokes, Goo Goo Dolls, Fontaines D.C., Moby, Pixies, Ziggy Marley, Kim Gordon, Ben Howard, Flipturn, Die Spitz, Alice Phoebe Lou, Makua, King Stingray, Blaise, Status Green 

CBGB Festival 

Where: Under The K Bridge, Brooklyn 
When: Friday, September 25 - Saturday, September 26 
FYI: A public park beneath the Kosciuszko Bridge in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A home for large capacity concerts and events. 

Friday: The Prodigy, Brutalismus 3000, Sextile, Lip Critic 
Saturday: Morrissey, Patti Smith, Interpol, Sex Pistols (Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock feat. Frank Carter), Bikini Kill, Agnostic Front, Bad Nerves, Buzzcocks, Circle Jerks, Mannequin Pussy, The Return of Jackie and Judy (Sleater-Kinney’s Corinne Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Fred Armisen), Haywire, Hi Vis, Panic Shack, Bad Nerves, Militarie Gun, Upchuck, Violet Grohl.