The Brooklyn Guitar Festival in NY | June 12th-13th, 2026
Brooklyn Guitar Festival Debuts at Greenpoint’s Warsaw & the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park June 12-13, 2026
Showcasing masters of jazz, blues-rock, fusion, acoustic fingerstyle and more
Extraordinary lineup features Al Di Meola, John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Vernon Reid, Alex Skolnick, Eric Gales, Jackie Venson, Greg Koch, Andy McKee and others to be announced — plus all-star tributes to Scofield and Jeff Beck
Friday Tickets Available Here
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Friday & Saturday Tickets Available Here
On June 12-13, Warsaw, a 1000-cap performance space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn located at 261 Driggs Avenue and the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, will host the inaugural Brooklyn Guitar Festival — a thrilling new event packed with six-string legends, along with some of the instrument’s fastest-rising stars. The fest kicks off with evening concerts on Friday, June 12 at Warsaw, and continues on the 13th with a daylong program at Lakeside.
The premiere lineup was curated by two of the festival’s NYC-based performers: Alex Skolnick, a metal and jazz luminary best known as lead guitarist of thrash-metal pioneers Testament; and Joel Harrison, a genre-blurring veteran of the New York scene and the founder of the Alternative Guitar Summit and its companion camp, among other community-building initiatives.
The curators’ goal, Harrison explains, was to “celebrate the instrument’s range. Not only the sheer power and velocity that a guitar can put forth, but the intimacy and the interplay. A strong component of that is celebrating the elders of the instrument who’ve been so influential. We want this to become an annual destination event, so we needed to launch this thing with a bang.”
Adds Skolnick, “We have some of the greatest musicians to ever pick up the guitar. And, in fact, everyone here is a leading light of their respective style.”
Spread across two stages, the lineup promises a once-in-a-lifetime experience for players and guitar fans alike, full of pinch-me surprises and spontaneous collaboration. It features full-length sets from Al Di Meola, John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Mike Stern — monumental figures in the history of jazz guitar who expanded its parameters and redefined its sound, drawing on rock, funk, Americana and more. Adam Rogers, who defined the following generation of jazz-guitar titans, will also perform.
Blues-rock, one of the guitar’s most popular and exhilarating styles, is showcased with virtuoso Eric Gales as well as the Texas phenom Ally Venable. Also appearing is Austin’s Jackie Venson, who blends her fiery blues-rooted chops with cutting-edge R&B songcraft.
The Brooklyn Guitar Festival will also spotlight those indefinable artists whose mastery explodes all boundaries. They include Vernon Reid, the Living Colour co-founder whose music melds hard rock, fusion, blues and the avant-garde; musical omnivore Harrison, and the acoustic fingerstyle wizard Andy McKee, whose arsenal includes the otherworldly harp guitar — and whose percussive technique needs to be seen to be believed.
Two star-packed tribute concerts will elevate the music of guitar icons John Scofield and Jeff Beck. While more artists are being added to both tributes, the confirmed lineups are already stacked.
Jeff Beck, whose death in 2023 shocked the music world, “probably covers the most ground of any guitar player I can think of,” says Skolnick, who goes on to outline his pathbreaking career, from the Yardbirds through hard-rock and fusion innovations and beyond. Skolnick will perform in the tribute on June 12, along with Vernon Reid and Greg Koch, a revered figure in the guitar community, noted for his work as a clinician and his spellbinding mix of blues, roots, rock and jazz. Koch will also appear in a blues program the following day.
The Scofield tribute on June 13 assembles the jazz great’s peers and admirers, including Bill Frisell, Steve Cardenas, Gilad Hekselman, Nir Felder, David Gilmore and Lolivone de la Rosa. “I’ve wanted to create a tribute to John for years,” says Harrison. “He’s written so many great tunes.”
Adds Skolnick, “He’s moved fluidly between modern jazz and groove music, and he’s still as active as ever. Why not pay tribute to him while he’s still at the top of his game?”
On June 12, Scofield will perform with his trio at Warsaw in Greenpoint. That afternoon, prior to the evening concert, he will conduct a master class, part of an educational component of the festival that is still being developed.
Ultimately, the Brooklyn Guitar Festival is an expansive salute to the world’s most popular instrument. It’s a multigenerational survey of the guitar’s thriving present and promising future, as well as a reflection of its profound influence on New York City culture.
“So many of these artists live in New York, or have lived here, or have done great work here over the years,” Skolnick points out. “It’s so perfect to have this festival here, because Brooklyn is the center of the arts right now. To call it the Brooklyn Guitar Festival — I think we’re really making a statement.”
Food and drink will be available at the June 13 performances at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside courtesy of Duck Island Cafe & Bar.
About Warsaw
261 Driggs Ave’s robust history is reflective of the evolution of the northern Brooklyn neighborhood named Greenpoint, where the building has stood and served the local community and beyond for over a century. In 1914, the building was established as the Polish National Home, a cultural hub where Poles of NYC gathered, celebrated, and preserved their rich heritage throughout the 20th century. It wasn’t until 2001 that the space became known as Warsaw and began hosting punk and indie rock shows as a means to raise funds for community events. These shows became a cornerstone of the venue, earning Warsaw the treasured tagline ‘Where Pierogis Meet Punk.’ Today, Warsaw persists as a historic staple of the Brooklyn music scene, where people from all walks of life can come together in an intimate, unpretentious 1000-person venue to experience their favorite emerging and established artists across all genres. As Warsaw’s musical ethos evolves along with the cultural landscape that surrounds it, one thing remains constant – hot pierogies will always take the stage.
About the LeFrak Center at Lakeside
The LeFrak Center at Lakeside is a year-round destination in Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s Backyard, which is stewarded by Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that sustains the park in partnership with the City. Lakeside offers a wide range of seasonal activities for families and the community — from ice skating and hockey in the winter months to roller skating, boating, pickleball and water play in the spring through fall. The LeFrak Center is operated by Ekstein Development Group, whose founder, Erik Ekstein, is a dedicated guitarist. His projects include BQE Studios, a network of affordable production facilities for musicians and creatives throughout New York. The Cafe is operated by Purslane, part of the Oberon Group, and is known for their thoughtful, seasonal food. Learn more at prospectpark.org/lakeside.
Tickets go on sale April 6, 2026. Visit SITE HERE to purchase.
For tickets and a complete schedule including set times, visit bklynguitarfest.com
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