Northside Festival

For the music festival in Aarhus, Denmark, see NorthSide Festival (Denmark).

The Northside Festival was an annual week-long summer showcase celebrating emerging "music, innovation and art" in Brooklyn, New York, United States.^[1] The festival was held at venues across the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick and was organized by Northside Media Group, the publishers of The L Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, Playwright's Horizon and BAMbill.

A scene from the 2018 Northside Festival

History

Northside was started in 2009 by Brooklyn's Northside Media Group, which published the L Magazine and Brooklyn Magazine.^[2][3]

The festival was a showcase of Brooklyn's recent cultural renaissance.^[4][5] Every June for a decade, Northside brought hundreds of bands, artists and speakers to the festival. Past performers include Guided By Voices, Solange,^[6] Brian Wilson,^[7] Miguel,^[8] Dirty Projectors, Beirut, Girlpool^[9] and more. Past speakers include Mayor Bill de Blasio,^[10] Senator Kirsten Gillibrand,^[11] SNL's Sasheer Zamata,^[12] hotelier Ian Schrager, writer Piper Kerman and Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler.

Northside Festival held its tenth and final edition in June 2018.^[13][14] After its 2018 event, the festival did not return in 2019, and Northside Media Group closed in 2020.^[15][16][17]