With the warm weather (and heat wave) along with the city reopening, our parks are top of mind. As you New Yorkers know, our parks are so much more than some grass in the middle of the concrete jungle. There are rides, attractions, world class concerts, food and so much more in all of our parks. It’s a treat to just walk across town or spend a day enjoying everything that it has to offer.

Bryant Park is excited to announce the 2021 return of Picnic Performances: twenty-five live and in-person music, dance, and theater events produced in partnership with a diverse and storied lineup of New York City’s performing arts institutions. Thanks to the generous support of Bank of America, nearly all of the events will be available for the public to livestream at no cost, significantly expanding the audience beyond the park.  The park will observe all current safety protocols for the event and also provide enough room for social distancing (audience registration will be required in advance.)

The season opens on June 9 with a four-night run of shows by musicians from the New York Philharmonic and closes on September 20 with a 100th anniversary celebration of our beloved neighbor, The Town Hall. In between, don’t miss performances produced in partnership with Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City Opera, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Joe’s Pub, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Limón Dance Company, Elisa Monte Dance, National Sawdust, Harlem Stage with Jazzmobile and Historic Harlem Parks, Greenwich House Music School, New York Chinese Cultural Center, Music from the Sole and more!

Listed below is the official schedule:

June and July:
The New York Philharmonic: Four Nights in Bryant Park (6/9 to 6/12)
New York City Opera: Pride in the Park (6/18) and Carmen (7/2)
New York Chinese Cultural Center (6/25)
Joe’s Pub: Mykal Kilgore (6/26)
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely (7/9);
Spanish Harlem Orchestra (7/16); The Knights (7/23); Adrienne Warren & Friends (7/30)
Greenwich House Music School: Riley Mulherkar and Ella Bric (7/31)

August and September:
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective
with the Turtle Island Quartet (8/6)
Harlem Stage: Craig Harris’s Nocturnal Nubian Ball… – A Tribute to Sun Ra (8/12)
Jazz at Lincoln Center: Evenings with Dizzy’s Club (8/13 + 8/14)
Limón Dance Company and Music from the Sole (8/16)
Paul Taylor Dance Company and Elisa Monte Dance (8/20)
New York City Opera: Now That’s What I Call Opera! (8/21); Rigoletto (9/3)
Classical Theatre of Harlem (9/10)
National Sawdust: Allison Loggins-Hull’s Diametrically Composed (9/17)
The Town Hall: Celebrating 100 Years with Chris Thile and more (9/20)

For more information and tickets, please visit: https://bryantpark.org/series/bryant-park-picnics