Summer may have just begun, but a new music festival is already aiming to close out the season with a bang.
Planet Brooklyn, a two-day music festival headlined by Billboard chart-topping global soca superstar Machel Montano, will land in its namesake New York borough on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24. Founded by BSE Global, Planet Brooklyn seeks to be “a celebration of cultural connection through Brooklyn’s music history and diversity,” chief products and experiences officer DeJuan Wilson exclusively tells Billboard.
On Aug. 23, Brazilian superstar Ludmilla will bring MUTHA — a Live Nation-produced micro-festival — to the Brooklyn Paramount. MUTHA will feature a full lineup of BIPOC queer talent, including CupcakKe, Junglepussy and Mykki Blanco. The Planet Brooklyn BAM experience will also double as one of the academy’s BAM Free Music nights.
On Aug. 24, Montano’s Barclays Center-headlining set will include a Majah Hype-hosted showcase of soca and dancehall’s buzziest talents, including Ayetian, Bunji Garlin, Lady Lava, Problem Child, Ravi B, Skillibeng, Skinny Fabulous and DJ Travis World. Following a pair of sold-out Vybz Kartel shows (April 11-12) and a headlining turn from Bounty Killer (July 5), Machel’s is the latest in a string of New York arena-headlining Caribbean shows.
“Brooklyn has always felt like a second home to me. The vibes, the culture, the people — there’s nothing like it,” Montano said in a press release. “Every time I step on that stage in New York, especially in a place as electric as Barclays Center, it’s a celebration of Caribbean spirit and unity. I can’t wait to feel that energy again and share this moment with everyone who knows what it means to ‘come alive’ through music.”
Montano has earned three top 10 entries on Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monté (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1). At the top of the year (Jan. 13), the Trinidadian icon played NPR Tiny Desk’s first-ever soca set, and the following month (Feb. 25), he released his One Degree Hotter LP, which featured the Road March-winning anthem, “Pardy.”
Ten months in the making, Planet Brooklyn boasts three major stages across Downtown Brooklyn — Barclays Center, Brooklyn Paramount, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The festival’s flagship venues will be connected by free block parties packed with activations, local food vendors and merchants, and performances from local and independent talent. Famed live music event experience brand Everyday People will host a DJ Moma-helmed function, Xanadu Skate Crew will team up with Brooklyn father-son DJ duo St. James Joy at the Bushwick venue, and Bangladeshi-American rapper-singer Anik Khan will host a Menasa Sound System-soundtracked event.
“Brooklyn is known for its rich history in the music space, and this is just a unique way to tell that story,” says Wilson. “The purpose of Planet Brooklyn is to reflect the diverse cultures of Brooklyn [through who we program]. Brooklyn has about 150 diverse cultural groups, so you have a lot of history and cultural elements to pull from. The festival will be a great way to celebrate that.”
With a lineup steeped in the sounds of the Global South and a host city facing increased ICE presence and routinely prickly tensions with its police force, security for all Brooklynites to safely and freely enjoy the event is crucial. When asked about safety measures as they pertained to ICE and the NYPD, Wilson declined to comment.
Planet Brooklyn tickets will be on sale at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 25 at planetbrooklynfest.com. With access available for individual performances across all three venues, fans can personally curate their experience. Barclays Center presale tickets are available now.
Check out the full lineup for 2025 Planet Brooklyn below.
Planet Brooklyn
Courtesy Photo
