4 Reasons to Attend An Afropunk Festival
Afropunk was gone for a minute due to the pandemic, but after a three-year lull, the music festival known for celebrating food, fashion, music, and black culture is coming home to Brooklyn.
Afropunk Brooklyn returns on September 10th and 11th in Commodore Barry Park with a sick lineup. The Roots will headline day one celebrating their 30th anniversary, and Nigerian singer Burna Boy will close out day two. Hip-hop and r&b artists Lucky Daye, Freddie Gibbs, Tierra Whack, Earl Sweatshirt, and Isaiah Rashad will also grace the Afropunk Brooklyn stage.
Afropunk is one of the many music festivals making their post-pandemic in-person debuts -- the last in-person Brooklyn event was 2019-- so why attend Afropunk? We're giving you our five reasons to attend and get the pro-black experience of an Afropunk Festival.
Their Values
Beyond the stage, Afropunk offers support to up-and-coming artists and lends their voice to political and social justice issues. On July 7th, for example, Afropunk had a virtual town hall discussing the overturning of Roe V Wade and its impacts on the black community. And at Afropunk Brooklyn this year, NY rapper Rodney Chrome, alt-R&B artist Alex Mali and hip-hop artist Talia Goddess will hit the stage alongside the major acts headlining the event.
The Locations
Afropunk is more than Brooklyn! This year alone, Afropunk hosted in-person festivals in Miami, Florida's Overtown neighborhood, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Sheridan Memorial Park. In past years, Afropunk held International festivals in London, Paris, and Johannesburg.
The Fashion
Move over street style, the artistic freedom of expression you find at festivals trumps the head-to-toe labels you'll see at the New York or Paris Fashion Week. At the last Afropunk Brooklyn in 2019, we covered black men who killed festival fashion in afro-centric prints and chest-baring ensembles. And at Afropunk Miami in May 2022, Hawaiian shirts took center stage, on-stage as many artists, including Ir-Sais, Dro Martelly of Dro X Yani, and Kenny Haiti, donned the button-down shirts.
Ir-Sais performing at Afropunk Miami photographed by Ammar Thomas
The Line-Up
Every year the lineup is popping! Past artists who've performed at Afropunk's festivals include SZA, Willow Smith, Eve, Tobe Nwigwe, Ari Lennox, Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Miguel, Jacob Banks, Wale, Rico Nasty, Solange, Macy Gray, and more.
