Get discount tickets now for Midsummer Night Swing 2019, the fabulous annual three-week outdoor dance festival at Lincoln Center with live dance bands and FREE dance instruction.
As always, there’s a star studded roster including big band swing, honky tonk, blues, salsa, funk, Motown, calypso, tango, Brazilian forro and a Saturday afternoon dance for kids.
Also as always, Midsummer Night Swing ends with blockbuster Big Band sounds of the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra.
Midsummer Night Swing 2019 is June 25th to July 13th.
The discount includes multi-day passes for additional savings.
Save the dates and get your dancing shoes ready to step out.
Midsummer Night Swing 2019 schedule includes:
- Rare New York performance by Brazilian icon and “Queen of Forró” Elba Ramalho
- Trumpeter Bria Skonberg returns leading a new iteration of the Sisterhood of Swing, now with seven incredible musicians, including vocalist Catherine Russell
- A night of DiscoVogue with Escort, East Village icon DJ Lina, and MikeQ x Qween Beat celebrating WorldPride NYC
- Chulo Records’ Los Hacheros blend authentic salsa aesthetics with New York attitude
- Classic salsa rhythms on the Fourth of July with renowned bandleader Bobby Valentín and his orchestra
- New Orleans Jazz with five-time Grammy nominee Maria Muldaur performing the songs of Blue Lu Barker
- A new leader in contemporary swing, the Eyal Vilner Big Band
- Rising star Charles Turner & Uptown Swing, playing hard-swinging standards
- Return of Silent Discos, Dance Contest, and LC Kids Dance!
Midsummer Night Swing kicks off in classic style on June 25 with Grammy-winning instrumentalist and bandleader Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, who played at the very first Midsummer Night Swing and many more since then.
Returning after an incredible debut performance last summer, the Sisterhood of Swing Seven—an ode to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm—takes the stage, led by dynamic trumpet player Bria Skonberg, and featuring the transcendent jazz vocalist Catherine Russell.
The explosive Eyal Vilner Big Band celebrates its brand-new album due this summer with a multi-generational ensemble performing inventive arrangements of swing and jazz classics, plus original compositions.
Iconic and contemporary acts bring Latin rhythms to Damrosch Park, including a rare NYC performance by Brazilian superstar Elba Ramalho. Known as the “Queen of Forró,” Ramalho creates vivacious live performances with her unmistakable vocals and songwriting, giving her a permanent place in Brazilian music history.
Fourth of July at Midsummer Night Swing
Ringing in the Fourth of July is the Puerto Rico–based Bobby Valentín Orchestra, led by one of the most prolific arrangers and instrumentalists in Latin music today.
Chulo Records’ Los Hacheros will move die-hard salseros and younger generations to the dance floor, and Analía Goldberg, of the Argentinian orchestra Color Tango, leads her sextet in a night of golden-age tango.
Midsummer Night Swing’s DiscoVogue party joins the citywide celebration of WorldPride NYC on June 27, starring powerhouse nu disco darlings Escort, downtown staple DJ Lina playing classic house and club tracks, and innovators of the underground ballroom scene Mike Q x Qween Beat!.
In July, disco beats return with fan favorites Joe McGinty & The Loser’s Loungeplaying the biggest hits of the 1970s. Both events will be followed by late night Silent Disco.
Foxtrot, cha cha, and rumba steps will turn the dance floor into a ballroom when Joe Battaglia & The New York Big Band hit the stand.
Blues and swing fans will be wowed by the up-and-coming Charles Turner & Uptown Swing, who are quickly making their mark on the NYC jazz scene. Motor city soul will be on full display when Dr. K’s Motown Revue interprets the best of classic Detroit hits.
Five-time Grammy nominee Maria Muldaur digs into the catalogue of New Orleans jazz and blues, performing her Grammy-nominated interpretations of Blue Lu Barker hits.
Once again, the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra will close out the season on July 13 with the 15th-annual tribute to brilliant jazz soloist Illinois Jacquet, as dancers show off their best Lindy hop moves in hopes of winning the Ambassador Prize Dance Contest.
Contestants can find the latest updates on registration details at MidsummerNightSwing.org.
LC Kids Dance with Dancing Classrooms is back for another year, teaching the basics of merengue, tango, salsa, and swing for ages 6 to 10, Saturday, July 13, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.
Click here for the full schedule of dance bands.
Midsummer Night Swing 2019 ticket prices
Individual tickets are $18, one dollar more than the last few years, while prices for multi-passes are the same as last year.
Multi-evening Midsummer Night Swing passes are $60 for four dances, $84 for six dances, and $170 for the full season.
Tickets for individual evening events are $18 prior to the day of the event and $22 day-of.
All tickets and pass types can be purchased at MidsummerNightSwing.org.
Multi-evening Midsummer Night Swing passes are priced at $60 for four dances, $84 for six dances, and $170 for the full season.
Tickets for individual evening events are $18 prior to the day of the event and $22 day-of.
Plus, all pass holders get one free bag check each time you use a pass. That’s a good deal, since bags are not allowed on the dance floor or dance floor area.
However, there are tables for water bottles. Be sure to mark yours with your first name or a symbol to distinguish it from look-alike water bottles.
Another good deal is that you can share a multi-admission pass with friends. Six admissions is six admissions, all for you, or to share.
Again this year is dance floor seating for an extra fee.
Each evening begins with a FREE dance lesson from one of the top instructors in town, teaching you the moves to use later that night for what the band is playing.
Those who know NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter know I’m a swing dancer, so you can expect to find me at Midsummer Night Swing on several nights, dancing the night away.
Midsummer Night Swing also is featured in the new NYC guidebook by NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter, 100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die, now available in bookstores including Barnes & Noble and online.
See you on the dance floor!
What do you think about this? We welcome your comments.