NYC's best summer music festivals of 2025

Each year, SummerStage is one of the most anticipated free events of the summer, bringing dozens of free, outdoor concerts across different parks to sun-starved New Yorkers from May through October. To celebrate its 39th year, the festival is focusing on diversity and will showcase a mix of established and emerging artists and DJs playing an array of genres that include jazz, hip-hop, indie-rock, salsa, reggae, Afrobeats, soul, pop, global, contemporary dance and more.

Highlights include Soccer Mommy, Marcus Miller, Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience, Rilo Kiley, The Met Opera, James Blunt, Chris Tomlin and The Roots.

Venue: Parks across the city and at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park
Dates: June 4–October
Cost: Free unless otherwise noted

Since its humble beginnings at D.C.’s Union Market, All Things Go Music Festival has become one of the most anticipated events of late New York City summers. With lineups that predominantly feature queer artists, the event stands sturdy in its values. This year, the festival will return to Forest Hills Stadium and will take place from September 26 through September 28. See artists like Lucy Dacus, DJO, DOECHII, Remi Wolf, Clairo and The Marias, among many others.

Venue: Forest Hills Stadium
Date: September 26-28 
Cost: Starting at $89 for general admission

Shakira might still be on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour, but that doesn’t mean high-priced concert tickets are your only chance to see her performing live this summer. In fact, you can see her totally free in Central Park.

An annual NYC event since 2012, Global Citizen Festival effectively turns the Great Lawn into a massive open-air concert as a reward for doing good in the community. The concert blends superstar performances (other performers this year include The Weeknd, Tyla, Ayra Starr and Mariah the Scientist) with calls for global change, from promoting climate action to ending extreme poverty. 

Venue: Central Park’s Great Lawn
Dates: September 27
Cost: Tickets are technically free; you don’t have to pay for them, but you do have to earn them. Anyone interested in scoring tickets for the event can do so by downloading the Global Citizen app or going to its website and signing up to be a Global Citizen.

The Forest Hills Stadium 2025 concert lineup in Queens is looking pretty awesome—so you might want to add a lot of shows to your must-attend list. Among them include, Phish (July 22-23), Mumford & Sons (August 8-9), The Black Keys (August 13), Leon Bridges (September 4), Alabama Shakes (September 17), the All Things Go festival with Lucy Dacus, DJO, Doechii, Remi Wolf, Clairo and The Marias (September 26-28) and more. 

Venue: Forest Hills 
Dates: May 31–October 25
Costs: Various depending on the show and seat

Concerts, plays, dance shows, operas: These and more can be found on Little Island all summer long, whether at its 687-seat open-air amphitheater (the Amph), its smaller performance stage (the Glade) or at pop-up locations throughout the space. Performances have been part of Little Island's mission from the start, but the offerings have gotten more and more ambitious. Last year, the park upped its game to present a sold-out season of world premieres.

Many of the shows are free, and those that aren't cost just $25; to buy tickets to them, visit Little Island's ticketing page on TodayTix.  

Venue: Little Island 
Dates: May 29–September 28
Cost: Free or $25

One of the best perks of living in New York City is having access to innumerable free events in our gorgeous parks. That’s why when Bryant Park Picnic Performances, presented by Bank of America announces its line-up, we get excited!

The park will have 25 live music, dance, and theater events that’ll occur May 31 to September 13, and it includes The Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader Louis Cato; trumpeter Steven Bernstein playing the music of James Bond with Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra; the NYC premiere of Ghanaian highlife band Gyedu-Bly Ambolley; Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE dance company; South African world pop star Thandiswa Mazwai and many more!

Venue: Bryant Park 
Dates: May 31–September 13
Cost: Free

A dearly departed piece of New York’s punk past is being resurrected for one night only this fall. CBGB—the iconic East Village music club that helped kickstart the careers of many notable punk rock and new wave bands, including Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads, Dead Boys and Patti Smith Group, among others—will be popping up once again as CBGB Festival on September 27 at Under the K Bridge Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (The original CBGB shuttered for good in 2006 at 315 Bowery.)

The lineup features 21 bands, including Iggy Pop, Jack White, The Sex Pistols, Johnny Marr, Lunachicks, Marky Ramone, The Damned, Melvins, The Linda Lindas, Destroy Boys, Angel Du$t, Scowl, Pinkshift, Teen Mortgage, YHWH Nailgun and Lip Critic. 

Venue: Under the K Bridge Park
Dates: September 27
Cost: $73-$149 at CBGBFEST.COM

The Rooftop at Pier 17's much-anticipated summer concert series is back with an impressive lineup and great views.

Throughout the summer, expect performances by James Arthur (June 25), Barenaked Ladies with special guests Sugar Ray and Fastball (July 9), PRIMUS (July 21), Riley Green (July 24), The Fray (August 5), Voss Events Presents RuPaul’s Drag Race (August 28), Rilo Kiley (September 5), Sierra Ferrell (September 6), Kneecap (October 1 & 10), and many others.

Venue: Pier 17 in the Seaport
Dates: Now–October 10
Cost: Various prices

New York City’s dance floors are about to get a serious upgrade: This September, EDM heavyweight John Summit is launching Experts Only Festival NYC, a brand-new, two-day electronic music blowout set to take over Randall’s Island on Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21.

Poised to become the largest dance music festival in NYC history, the event is gearing up to draw more than 50,000 fans for a stacked lineup and high-voltage party vibes.

Venue: Randall's Island
Dates: September 20-21
Cost: Starting at $119.99; get yours here