The Brooklyn Guitar Festival will make its debut June 12-13, bringing a two-day lineup of guitar-focused performances to venues across the borough.
The inaugural event is set to take place at Warsaw in Greenpoint and the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park. Organizers are spreading performances across locations to reflect the borough’s varied music scene.
Scheduled performers include Al Di Meola, John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Eric Gales, Joel Harrison, Jackie Venson, Greg Koch, Andy McKee, Adam Rogers and Ally Venable. Additional artists are expected to be announced. The program will also feature tribute sets honoring Scofield and Jeff Beck.
“This summer, beneath the open Brooklyn sky, we will strike the first chord of something unforgettable,” said Erik Ekstein, founder of BQE Productions, the producer of the festival and a lifelong guitar enthusiast. “This isn’t just the launch of a guitar festival, but it’s the sound of strings sparking across the borough, of amplifiers humming with possibility, of artists and fans coming together in one electric heartbeat.”
The festival is being shaped in part by Skolnick and Harrison, two New York-based musicians known for blending styles and developing community-driven music projects. Along with live performances, the event will include specialty programming and local vendors, with a focus on the guitar’s influence across genres including jazz, rock, blues and folk.
Purchase tickets here.
