The festival features 24 artists whose work will light up the brick-and-glass facades of two historic aircraft hangars at Floyd Bennett Field, as the airfield's public arts festival returns for its second biennial edition. The free event opens at 6 p.m. with a communal picnic dinner before the projections begin, transforming the Brooklyn airfield into an outdoor gallery after dark.
The festival is organized by the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, which will host the event. Projection mapping transforms the 8,640-square-foot brick-and-glass facade of historic Hangars 3 and 4 into a temporary digital canvas.
Visitors can bring lawn chairs or blankets for the evening, and those interested in the picnic portion, dubbed The Longest Table, can register in advance. The schedule runs the community picnic from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by projection mapping from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Organizers describe the evening as a communal dinner-and-a-show concept pairing shared dining with outdoor digital art.
A Lineup Built on Returning Talent
The festival's artist roster includes works from Derrick Adams, Randy Polumbo, Wills Glasspiegel and Ryan Hartley Smith. Adams, a high-profile contemporary artist, created the aerial topography projection The Sky Isn't The Limit, It's Only The View for the 2024 festival, and he is listed among the 2026 artists.
The festival takes place at the airfield. Festival projections include color, motion, sound and music.
Funding and Federal Partnership
The 2026 festival is presented by the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy in partnership with the National Park Service. The conservancy is the event's presenting organization.
A Municipal Airport Turned National Park
Floyd Bennett Field opened on May 23, 1931, on Barren Island as New York City's first municipal airport, named for Naval aviator and Medal of Honor recipient Floyd Bennett, according to the National Park Service. During the 1930s, 26 around-the-world or transatlantic flights started or ended at the field, according to the National Park Service. Commercial passenger traffic shifted away from the field when LaGuardia Airport opened in 1939.
After serving as a U.S. Naval Air Station through World War II and the Cold War, the Navy deactivated the field in 1971, and the National Park Service soon thereafter made it part of Gateway National Recreation Area, one of the nation's first urban national parks. The field later saw changes in use.
Part of a Broader Push to Reactivate the Airfield
The art festival unfolds alongside other efforts to bring activity back to the sprawling airfield. Hoodline previously reported that Gateway Hospitality LLC took over operations of the 175,000-square-foot sports center across Hangars 5 through 8 in July, rebranding it the Floyd Bennett Sports Complex while addressing an estimated $5 million in structural repairs. The sports complex reflects an effort to bring activity back to the historic airfield.
