SummerStage celebrates 40th season lineup

Capital One City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage has announced its 2026 lineup, opening its 40th season with more than 60 shows across New York City parks. (cityparksfoundation.org) (billboard.com) The season starts June 10, when Ledisi opens SummerStage in Central Park with a Dinah Washington tribute presented with the Blue Note Jazz Festival. (billboard.com) The 2026 roster includes Mavis Staples, De La Soul, Laurie Anderson, Spoon, Angélique Kidjo, Andrew Bird, Bilal, Shaggy, WayV and Charlie Aponte. (rollingstone.com) (billboard.com) Most concerts will run through the flagship SummerStage venue at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, with additional shows in Marcus Garvey Park, Tompkins Square Park, Herbert Von King Park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and Crotona Park. (rollingstone.com) SummerStage says the anniversary season is built to “honor the past and future,” pairing longtime festival regulars with newer acts and neighborhood dates across the five boroughs. (rollingstone.com) (cityparksfoundation.org) The 40th-anniversary framing reaches beyond the concert calendar. City Parks Foundation launched a dedicated anniversary page in February with a historical timeline, a fan submission portal and plans for commemorative events. (cityparksfoundation.org) That anniversary campaign also traces the festival back to June 1986, when Sun Ra Arkestra played the first SummerStage show at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. (cityparksfoundation.org) City Parks Foundation says SummerStage has presented thousands of artists over four decades and drawn more than seven million attendees, while its broader arts programming now reaches more than 257,000 people annually. (cityparksfoundation.org 1) (cityparksfoundation.org 2) The 2026 season also includes ticketed benefit concerts, which help fund the free shows that remain the center of SummerStage’s model. (billboard.com) (cityparksfoundation.org) Forty years after Sun Ra opened the series in Central Park, SummerStage is still using city parks as its stage — this summer with Ledisi at the front and De La Soul, Mavis Staples and Laurie Anderson close behind. (cityparksfoundation.org) (billboard.com)