Boston's biggest showcase of Black artistry and entrepreneurship is hitting pause on its signature outdoor blowout, shrinking its footprint this summer as organizers scramble to close a serious funding gap. The Boston Art and Music Soul Festival, better known as BAMS Fest, is shelving its marquee Franklin Park concert and pivoting to a string of smaller events and partnerships instead, leaving vendors, performers and neighborhood groups reworking their June game plans.
Some programming moves to an indoor creative hub
As reported by the Boston Business Journal, organizers are planning to shift parts of this year's programming to The Record Co. at 55 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester in a bid to cut production costs. The move is part of a broader belt-tightening effort meant to trim what it takes to put on the event.
Why The Record Co. is an option
The Record Co. runs rehearsal studios and creative workspace at 55 Morrissey that are designed to support year-round music activity. Organizers and partners say that setup helps slash site, security and infrastructure costs compared with building out a large outdoor park stage from scratch. According to The Record Co., the Dorchester facility is equipped to host music and community activations indoors.
Organizers pivot to MOMENTUM and postpone the big show
In a move that effectively puts the main festival on ice for a while, organizers write in BAMS Fest's partnership deck that they have "chosen to postpone our signature annual program, BAMS Festival, until 2027." Instead, they plan to roll out a five-day MOMENTUM series across the city from June 24–28. The deck casts MOMENTUM as a way to keep artists and small businesses in the mix while intentionally shrinking the scale of the main festival experience.
Funding squeeze and a $95,000 gap
BAMS Fest's donation page bluntly notes that "reductions in municipal funding and corporate investment have left a gap," and says that "moving Play Playe from Franklin Park to The Record Co. at 55 Morrissey Blvd. will allow us to reduce production costs." Even with the scaled-back plan, organizers say they still need roughly $95,000 to bring this summer's programming to life.
What this means on the ground
Over the years, the festival has evolved into a marquee summer fixture tied closely to Franklin Park, so the shift in venue and format could change where crowds, food vendors and local artisans set up shop this season. WBUR has documented BAMS Fest's growth and its importance on Boston's Black arts calendar, while City of Boston records show the festival received an $8,000 Project Partnership grant in a recent round of awards.
Next steps and how to help
Organizers say they would rather slim down than disappear, and are urging the public, funders and corporate partners to step in so venue and programming plans can be locked. For now, vendors, artists and neighborhood groups are being told to monitor the festival's website for updates as fundraising plays out and final decisions are made.
