Panorama: New York City’s Third Annual Music Festival

This weekend, I’ll be wandering Randall Park Island for New York City’s third annual Panorama Music Festival. The festival’s past has seen the likes of Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, A$AP Rocky, SZA, Frank Ocean, Vince Staples and 6LACK attending. This year, Panorama returns with another impressive lineup over the three-day festival.

Panorama kicks off around noon each day with performances set to kick off at 1:45 Friday with Turtle Bugg, 12:45 Saturday with Kalin White & 12:30 Sunday with Downtown Boys. The festival features three stages: The Pavilion, which lies against the Harlem River, the Panorama Stage, which is near Queens/103^rd St, and lastly there is The Point, which lies in the back right corner of Randall Park Island.

On Friday, Daniel Caesar, Jhené Aiko, Migos & The Weeknd & more are set to take the stage. All four artists are coming off solid projects within the past year, Daniel Caesar’s Freudian, Jhené’s Trip, Migos’ Culture II & The Weeknd’s My Dear Melancholy. Caesar, Migos & The Weeknd are all set to hit the Panorama Stage, while Jhené will take her talents to The Pavilion. Other notable performances include Sabrina Claudio on The Pavilion and Dua Lipa on the Panorama Stage.

Moving onto Saturday, Janet Jackson, SZA & Lil Wayne are a few of the acts prepping to hit the stage. After settling his lawsuit with Birdman, Weezy is free from his recording contract and is gearing up to release Tha Carter V, an album fans have been anticipating for more than four years. Promotion has even begun for the album, giving fans hope that Tha Carter V could see the light of day by year’s end. Janet Jackson and SZA on the other hand, serve as two of the most notable women in the R&B world. Janet has a large catalog that dates back decades, filled with classics like “Any Time, Any Place” and “I Get Lonely.” SZA is just seeing her career take off thanks to the success of her debut album Ctrl, an album that gave her five nominations at the 2018 Grammys. Lil Wayne, SZA and Janet Jackson are all set to perform at the Panorama Stage.

Sunday will serve as more of a discovery day for me. Most of the acts for this day are acts that are only familiar to me by their name. They include The Killers, The xx, ODESZA, Rex Orange County and more. The xx & The Killers will perform on the Panorama Stage, while Rex Orange County and ODESZA will perform at the Pavilion with Rex Orange County hitting the stage at 3:55pm and ODESZA going on at 8:40pm. While I give an ear to some of these new sounds, I’ll also explore much of the festival’s non-performance aspects.

One of the festival’s attractions that’s worth the visit is The Point, which the festival describes as an “open-air club celebrating New York City’s key role in the ongoing evolution of DJ culture and electronic music.” Panorama also has a wide selection of food options from vendors including Bareburger, Emmy Sqaured, Mighty Quinn’s and more. Lastly, one of the festival’s highlight attractions is The Lab. The Lab is an “interactive experience that combines technology, artistry and design, created exclusively by New York City–based artists.” The Lab is also described as a “playground of music,” one that can only be found at Panorama.