Femi Kuti and the Positive Force to Headline BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival This Weekend

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is pleased to present a free concert headlined by Nigerian Afrobeat pioneers Femi Kuti and the Positive Force on Saturday, July 23. The concert, which takes place at the Prospect Park Bandshell (9th St. & Prospect Park West) is free to the public (with a suggested $5 contribution at the gate) and begins at 7:30 P.M. with an opening performances by Tuareg guitar wizard Bombino.

Femi Kuti began his career playing in his father's band Egypt 80. He founded his own group Positive Force, with Egypt 80's keyboard player Dele Sosimi, in 1986 and has never looked back. Though he has forged his own path and become a world music icon in his own right. "The baton is definitely in his hands" (Questlove). Kuti's relentless energy as a performer is matched by his activism - he has championed AIDS awareness and fighting disease through various projects, often in collaboration with other musicians, and has been outspoken on issues of poverty and corruption in Nigeria. While his art is inherently politicized, his shows are always joyous and fiercely celebratory occasions.

The Tuareg guitar wizard Bombino's pyrotechnic virtuosity in expressing tichumaren (desert blues) has been compared to that of Jimi Hendrix by NPR. Bombino, whose given name is Goumour Almoctar, was born in Tidene, Niger, an encampment of nomadic Tuaregs northeast of Agadez. He has been championed by musicians ranging from the Rolling Stones to Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, who produced his Nonesuch Records debut Nomad (2013) to Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, who produced his groundbreaking new album Azel.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Series Title Sponsors include Bud Light and American Express.

To help ease congestion and offer additional transportation solutions, first time co-sponsor Lyft will offer discounts on rides to and from the Festival. New users can get $20 off their first ride with the code BRIC16.

Returning Co-Sponsors include IKEA Brooklyn, and WorldStage. Returning long-time Season Media Partners are The Village Voice, WABC-7 and WNYC 93.9 FM/820 AM.

Longtime Promotional partners on select performances include WBGO 88.3 FM, Afropop Worldwide and WFUV 90.7 FM.

Tickets are still available for upcoming benefit concerts by case/lang/veirs (July 26), a super group made up of avant-rock icon Neko Case, legendary musical nomad k.d. lang and indie folk star Laura Veirs; Brooklyn- based indie rockers Beirut (August 2); and jazz icon Herbie Hancock (August 11), who brings with him his new band featuring Terrace Martin, Lionel Loueke, Trevor Lawrence, Jr. and James Genus, as well as performances by Robert Glasper Experiment and BADBADNOTGOOD.

For more on Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, go to www.facebook.com/femikutiofficial ,and for more on Bombino, visit www.bombinomusic.com.

BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. The organization presents and incubates work by artists and media-makers that reflects the diversity of New York. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year.

BRIC's main venue, BRIC Arts | Media House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio and artist work spaces.

Some of BRIC's most acclaimed programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park, several path-breaking public access media initiatives, including the newly renamed BRIC TV, and a renowned contemporary art exhibition series. BRIC also offers education and other vital programs at BRIC House and throughout Brooklyn.

In addition to making cultural programming genuinely accessible, BRIC is dedicated to providing substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences.

BRIC is unusual in both presenting exceptional cultural experiences and nurturing individual expression. This dual commitment enables BRIC to most effectively reflect New York City's innate cultural richness and diversity.

The BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is BRIC's flagship performing arts program. The festival's Executive Producer is Jack Walsh. Its Artistic Director is Rachel Chanoff. Leslie Schultz is the President of BRIC.

The Prospect Park Alliance is a non-profit organization that sustains, restores and advances Prospect Park, Brooklyn's flagship park, working in partnership with the City of New York. The Alliance cares for the natural environment, restores historic design, and provides public programs and amenities for the Park, which receives more than 10 million visits each year. For more information, visit www.prospectpark.org.

For more festival information, visit www.BRICartsmedia.org.

Photo Credit: Remi Adetiba