BRIC rings in 45 years of 'Celebrate Brooklyn!' Festival at Prospect Park
PROSPECT PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- For over 40 years, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival has been spreading love the Brooklyn way.
With this summer marking its 45th anniversary, the tradition continues for the free, season-long outdoor concert and performance series.
"This is our 45th year at Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn," President of BRIC Arts & Media Wes Jackson said. "It's the longest running free concert in the city."
The annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival kicked off June 7th in Prospect Park and will run through August 24 featuring a wide array of outdoor concerts and performances in the Lena Horne Bandshell.
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This year's lineup includes a diverse slate of talent, spanning many regions across the globe - a reflection of the borough's own varied makeup.
"You can see all these different audiences come in here and be themselves and be natural and get turned on by the diversity of life and in the borough," Jackson said.
Among the many talents include Grammy-winning singer songwriter and musician Corinne Bailey Rae, blues legend Taj Mahal, R&B singer Kelela, Pakistani singer Ali Sethi, and many more.
The series is the outdoor extension of the programming done at BRIC, a community arts and cultural institution that has gallery space, a theater, and classrooms.
The idea of presenting events in Prospect Park was unheard before Celebrate Brooklyn! began.
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"What people don't realize is Celebrate Brooklyn! was created when this park wasn't so safe," Jackson said. "People were like Prospect Park is dope, we should do something to remind people that's how this started."
45 years later, Prospect Park is now the site of summer music, free and open to all.
"Each night is a snapshot of the diversity of Brooklyn," Jackson added. "It's a place where you're always welcome to be yourself."
Click here for a look at this year's full lineup.
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