Saidah Blount spoke with Radio Free Brooklyn about her first eight months as Executive Director of BRIC! Celebrate Brooklyn and what she’s looking forward to in seasons to come. 

For those that live near Prospect Park, the BRIC! Celebrate Brooklyn concert series is the highlight of the summer. Not only because it’s one of the rare free events in New York City, but because the atmosphere cultivated by the musicians and the crowd is electric. To find out how it all happens, Radio Free Brooklyn spoke with the recently hired executive director of BRIC! Celebrate Brooklyn, Saidah Blount. As a music lover with years of previous experience, Blount brings a true passion for community and culture that Brooklyn has to offer. 

BRIC hired Blount in January of 2024 after her successful tenure organizing live music events for National Public Radio’s music division. She said her time at NPR was spent working with partners at the board level and with musicians at festivals nationwide.

These skills were transferable to her new position at BRIC, which she said eased the transition to the position. What was new for Blount, however, was working in an environment surrounded by people with backgrounds similar to hers. 

“I was always ‘the one’ in the room, the one female, or the one person of color, so to be at an organization where all walks of life are able to experience classes and free events is truly inspiring,” she said. “Who doesn’t want to work on helping curate an outdoor music festival?”

When Blount started in January, she inherited an already-approved lineup. The work on the 2024 summer fest started about six or eight months before she began, so she had to hit the ground running. The only thing regular about her schedule is that it’s irregular, so her days are spent completing a range of tasks, from managing or hiring staff to helping the programming and production team run shoots, operating and managing schedules, or dealing with artist requests. 

The position also requires Blount to spend some time at the BRIC headquarters on Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn, where she communicates with staff members across the organization to ensure the festival runs smoothly. 

“[My tasks] could even include working with vendors to supply porta-potties to the site,” she said with a laugh, “but I do it all in tandem with a great team.”

The work for the 2025 season is already underway, and the team at BRIC has started receiving requests from bands and publicists hoping to grab a slot. Blount said she and her colleagues also do a fair amount of internal due diligence, listening to hours of music per week, researching new bands, and cataloging their favorites on spreadsheets and logs. 

The BRIC curation team also discusses whether artists fit the mood of the bandshell. 

Blount discussed the biggest challenges of her first year, saying that the industry is discovering the effects of climate change on outdoor events. Just this summer, for example, torrential rain or excessive heat have demanded that shows be rescheduled. 

“These are things that will now be on the radar for years to come,” she said. 

BRIC! currently uses an accredited weather service to help Blount and her team determine if and how events affected by extreme weather should run. Recently, smoke from wildfires in Canada drifted down to New York City. The smoke triggered air quality alerts for multiple days, restricting outdoor access and affecting the outdoor venue. 

Heavy rain and thunderstorms this summer have also affected the bandshell. The weather service helps track how close a lightning strike gets to the venue, and if it’s within a certain distance, Blount and her team call to remove staff from towers and evacuate the premises. 

Blount recalls that recently, a storm accompanied by heavy wind caused a massive branch to fall into the venue. 

“A lot of people have not dealt with these situations before; it’s unprecedented. We’re always thinking about the audience and our staff’s best welfare.” Blount said. 

Looking to next year, Blount said she loves to surprise and delight the audience by keeping them guessing about the lineup. She said attendees want to see their communities represented on stage during the summer, which is a focal point of her position. 

“What’s most important about BRIC! is that everyone who comes to the bandshell sees themselves represented at some point during the season,” she said. 

As a self-titled music nerd, she also takes pride in exposing people to new music. 

Blount said that Brooklyn is a cultural epicenter that connects to the greater world, and people from all over watch what we do. She mentioned that a band from a small European country came through the bandshell, and they could not believe that the city had the ability to put something like this on, for free, in a public park. They were also astonished at the diversity that one borough could produce. 

“I always want to represent the energy and feel of Brooklyn. It’s important that people understand that Brooklyn puts out a certain vibe and culture that other people watch.” 

To wrap up our conversation, I asked Blount what her favorite part of her position was. She highlighted that the BRIC leadership team is currently made up of four women, three of whom are women of color. The four women work together as equals, taking advice from and respecting each other and their craft. 

“Coming up through the music industry, a lot of times it was just me, so to be able to share this experience with three other women is humbling and inspiring,” she said. 

Discovering the passion of BRIC supporters and fans has been an exciting endeavor for Blount, and she can’t wait to keep the good work going.