Music Festival Featuring International Performers Coming to Sunnyside Gardens Park Next Week

An outdoor music festival is coming to Sunnyside Gardens Park Sept. 17. The Lowers, pictured, playing at the festival in 2021 (Photo: QUIP website)

Sept. 6, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

An outdoor music festival featuring performers from around the world — and around the corner — is coming to Sunnyside Gardens Park next week.

The event, called the Queens United International Party Music Festival (QUIP), will take place on Sept. 17 at the park located on 39th Avenue. The festival will kick off at 3 p.m. and is scheduled to last until about 9:30 p.m.

The festival will celebrate the cultural diversity of Queens with performers from Uruguay, Cuba, Mali, Indonesia, India and other nations. There will also be music from homegrown artists.

There will be plenty of food and drink on offer including beer from the Alewife Brewing Company, Tibetan dishes from Mom’s Momo, lobster rolls from DownEast Lobstah and ice cream from Big Shane’s Ice-Cream. There will also be vegan options provided by Secret Vegan Kitchen.

The event will also feature dance contests and activities for kids.

(Photo: QUIP Facebook page)

The festival was established in 2017 by a group of residents looking to bring people together through music and international cuisine.

It has since grown to be one of the park’s biggest annual events with around 1,500 people attending last year, according to Quinn O’Sullivan, one of the QUIP organizers.

“QUIP has become an event that spans generations, races, ethnicities and social classes,” O’Sullivan said.

“We have created a space where adults can have the freedom to dance like children and children have a chance to own the dance floor like adults.”

The festival will start at 3 p.m. with The Good Ms. Padgett, a group headed by musician Anna Padgett from Brooklyn. The group performs folk music inspired by the experiences of childhood from both a child’s and parent’s perspective.

At 3:30 p.m., Somer Suarez, an electro musician from Uruguay, will take the stage followed by Gamelan Yowana Sari, a Balinese Art Ensemble, at 4 p.m.

The Kakande Band will blast out Mali dance music at 5 p.m. while The Lowers, a U.K. rock band, will perform at 5:45 p.m.

However, the music won’t stop there.

The Melting Pot, a collective of jazz, funk, and hip-hop musicians from around the five boroughs will hit the stage at 6:30 p.m. while the Brooklyn Raga Massive, a group that plays a type of Indian classical music known as raga, will be on at 7:30 p.m.

Conjunto Guantánamo will top off the night at 8:30 p.m. with some traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms mixed with tunes from New York City’s Latin scene.

There is no admission fee. However, attendees will be asked to make a $15 donation upon entry that will go toward the park and pay the musicians.

For more information visit QUIP’s website by clicking here.