New York’s “summer” music festival has expanded into October with rap superstar Kanye West leading a busy weekend of new events amid an ever-growing demand for live music.
Promoters behind Governors Ball, a summer festival launched in 2011, are throwing a new event, The Meadows, in the parking lots next to the Citi Field baseball stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
West — one of the top attractions in live music whose scheduled appearance at Governors Ball in June was cancelled due to weather — will headline The Meadows on Sunday night.
R&B sensation The Weeknd will also perform, fresh after the release of his new track “Starboy” with the reclusive French duo Daft Punk, after moving his set earlier so he could appear on television’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Rappers J. Cole, Pusha T and Chance the Rapper will also star at The Meadows along with synthpop innovator Grimes and English rockers 1975.
But The Meadows is not the only new festival in New York this weekend, with soul ensemble The Roots expanding its annual festival from Philadelphia.
The Roots Picnic, to take place in Midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park, will feature Talking Heads experimental artist David Byrne, hip-hop elders the Wu-Tang Clan, Nile Rodgers of emblematic disco act Chic, and acclaimed R&B artist D’Angelo.
The busy weekend for outdoor music comes as the festival calendar is rapidly expanding in the United States, led by young people who put a premium on finding real-life experiences in an increasingly virtual world.
Festivals have quickly become a key money-maker for musicians in an era of narrowing payouts from recordings.
Governors Ball’s parent company launched The Meadows after unsuccessfully trying to stop the promoters of Coachella, one of the world’s most famous festivals, which takes place in California each April, from starting a new event in New York — Panorama, which debuted in July.
Among other new events this weekend, France’s Vieilles Charrues Festival is marking its 25th anniversary with an edition in New York’s Central Park focusing on the music and culture of the Brittany region.