Afro-punk Family, though we have tried everything in our power to maintain the dates of the Afro-punk festival this weekend despite the expected hurricane, after numerous meetings with the city, parks department, our sponsors and countless others, we are unable to move forward with the festival this weekend. The expected inclimate weather poses a great safety risk for all participating/attending, and subsequently we have been instructed to cancel the outdoor festival.
Our ENTIRE team has been working tirelessly around the clock, meeting with authorities, partners and sponsors to avoid cancelation. Thank you and we will get back to you with our plans to reschedule.
Afro-punk Festival Team
The Afro-punk Festival is returning to Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park for its 7th edition on August 27-28 2011. This year has the most stellar line up yet with Cee Lo Green, Santigold, Janelle Monae, Fishbone, Toro Y Moi, Toshi Reagon, Ninjasonik, Cerebral Ballzy, Gordon Voidwell, Reggie Watts, Res, Joi, Tamar-kali, Gym Class Heroes, Das Racist, Bad Rabbits, Rocky Business, Straight Line Stitch
Just added: Gym Class Heroes, Das Racist, Kenna, Tamar-kali, Bad Raddbits, Joe Jordans Experiment, and DJ's Stack-Aly, Jillionaire, Dances with White Girls, D://BOi, dj.shErOck, toni*K! In addition, the Nike Battle For the Streets Skate and BMX Competition, the largest street skate and BMX competition in NYC will return with the nation's top amateur skaters and BMX riders in a competition to be judged by top professionals in both sports including Nigel Sylvester and P-Rod.
* ADMISSION IS FREE *
There are some very exciting new additions to the festival this year! Over 20 of the NYC area's hottest food trucks and vendors have been brought together for the Afro-Punk Beats and Bites Food Truck Festival which will bring cuisine from around the world and the 5 boroughs to the event.
Also, Afro-punk has invited Harley Davidson and Brooklyn Black bike scene documentarians, Denim and Chrome, to collaborate on a custom bike show featuring dozens of exotic custom bikes created by black riders in the NYC area. The custom bike show will also serve as the backdrop for the Harley Davidson/Denim and Chrome 2012 Calendar, photographed by Darius Vick, which will feature exquisite tattooed beauties each month for bike fans across the country. In addition, the festival has commissioned an artist to paint over 300 skateboards as part of one large mural aka The Skate Artwall. The boards will be contested to Afro-punk fans at the Festival and Afro-punk will follow the life of the boards over the next year whether on the wall, the street or the half-pipe.
Described by the NY Times as putting "rock & rebellion squarely in the category of African-American music," the Afro-punk Festival has become a Brooklyn institution, the focal point for the burgeoning Afro-punk movement. Over the past 7 years, the festival has presented new artists before they hit it big, such as Grammy-nominated Santigold, The Noisettes & Janelle Monae. Afro-punk mainstays like Saul Williams, The Dirtbombs & Dallas Austin have also graced Afro-punk's stages.
