It was a weekend that called for flexibility, resilience, and improvisation. In other words, it called for jazz.
Through thunderstorms, extreme heat, and everything a New York summer could throw at it, the second annual NoMad Jazz Festival returned to Madison Square Park on Friday, August 7 and Saturday, August 8 with its founding promise intact: world-class jazz, open to everyone, in one of New York City’s great public spaces.
And the music reached far beyond Madison Square Park. Throughout 2026 and Festival Week, jazz filled the neighborhood as the NoMad Jazz Festival presented 39 performances across 12 venues featuring 146 artists. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors joined the celebration across NoMad, culminating in two days of free, all-ages programming in Madison Square Park.
Produced by The NoMad Alliance with Founding Partners The Jazz Gallery, Flatiron NoMad Partnership, and Madison Square Park Conservancy, and supported by 48 sponsors and numerous benefactors, the free, all-ages festival brought artists, families, New Yorkers, and visitors together for its second year. Conceived by Leslie Spira Lopez, Founder & President of The NoMad Alliance, the festival was founded on a vision of bringing exceptional jazz into the public realm, free and accessible to everyone.
Leslie Spira Lopez remarks, “They say it takes a village. I say it takes NoMad.”
Friday: Music Meets Mother Nature
Friday opened with John Ellis & Double-Wide. Just before 6:00 PM, the Brooklyn United Marching Band led by Coach Ty marched through NoMad and into Madison Square Park, arriving at the festival’s Mainstage to cheers and applause from festivalgoers. But Mother Nature had other plans for the evening.
With extreme thunderstorms and an estimated 0.7 to 1.5 inches of rainfall between 6:00 and 8:00 PM, the festival made the difficult decision to cancel performances by Ben Wendel and José James. The safety of the artists, production teams, staff, volunteers, and audience was of the utmost importance.
Disappointing? Absolutely. But Saturday was another day.
Saturday: Cool Jazz in the Summer Heat
The NoMad Jazz Festival came roaring back Saturday, delivering cool jazz in the face of a summer heat advisory. Festival-goers basked in a full day of music, culture, and community.
Swing-Along with Allegra Levy and Friends started the morning at 9:30 AM, followed by students from the South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts Master Class Ensemble led by Keith Szczepanski. Interactive dance and music programming from World Arts East were also featured in the south end of the park. Facepainting, temporary tattoos, tambourines, bubbles, and lawn games added to the festivities.
At noon, Godwin Louis kicked off the Mainstage, followed by Yuhan Su at 2:00, Jaleel Shaw with special guest Camille Thurman at 4:00, and legendary pianist George Cables at 6:00. Truly inspiring and memorable.
As the sun set over Madison Square Park, the festival prepared for its finale and one of the defining moments of its second year.
New York City Honors the NoMad Jazz Festival
Shortly before 8:00 PM, Leslie Spira Lopez, Founder & President of The NoMad Alliance and the visionary behind the NoMad Jazz Festival, took the stage alongside representatives of the festival’s Founding Partners.
They were joined by New York City Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura, who honored the NoMad Jazz Festival for excellence in bringing an accessible cultural experience to New Yorkers through one of the city’s great public spaces.
The recognition was especially meaningful for a festival founded on the principle that world-class cultural experiences should be accessible to everyone. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has emphasized New York City parks as places for creativity, community, art, and music, accessible to New Yorkers across the city.
Then it was time for jazz. NoMad Jazz Festival hosts Lezlie Harrison and James Browne introduced The Jazz Gallery All-Stars featuring Renée Neufville. They took the stage for the festival finale, celebrating the artistry, collaboration, and discovery that have defined The Jazz Gallery and its contribution to contemporary jazz.
After everything the weather had thrown at New York, the NoMad Jazz Festival ended its second year exactly where it belonged: under the stars, surrounded by community, with jazz filling and spilling out of Madison Square Park.
A Festival That Extends Across NoMad
The NoMad Jazz Festival reached well beyond its two Mainstage days.
The 2026 season included a concert series at Baruch Performing Arts Center’s Engelman Recital Hall, beginning with Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo: El Arte del Bolero on June 1, followed by the Roy Hargrove Big Band on July 6 and Bill Frisell & Ambrose Akinmusire on August 3.
On June 8, Jazz in the Clouds came to Nubeluz at The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. The benefit brought together Ravi Coltrane and Brandee Younger, with special guest six-time Grammy-winner Samara Joy, for an intimate evening high above Manhattan.
Throughout the summer, Jazz on the NoMad Piazza curated by Matt Chertkoff, brought free performances to Broadway between 25th and 26th Streets, with appearances by the Nick Hempton Quartet, Kyle Koehler Trio, Eric Kalb Trio, Peter Bernstein Quartet, Craig Handy & Second Line Smith, Matt Chertkoff Trio, George Papageorge Trio, and Greg Joseph.
During Festival Week, jazz continued throughout the neighborhood including, Michael Leonhart Orchestra at Rizzoli bookstore, The Trap Music Orchestra at The Jazz Gallery, the Ele Salif Howell Trio at Apotheke NoMad, Vanisha Gould at Bazaar Bar, and additional performances and experiences across NoMad.
New for 2026, Saturday at Madison Square Park along Broadway featured the NoMad Jazz Festival Outdoor Food & Drink Market from the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, giving festivalgoers another way to spend the day while supporting local businesses. Offerings were from neighborhood favorites like Avo, Bear Donut, BLACKBARN, Brown Bag Sandwich Co., Eataly, Honeybrains, Lola’s, and Tacombi.
Built by a Community
The NoMad Jazz Festival is produced by The NoMad Alliance, a nonprofit committed to creating an ever-better NoMad, with Founding Partners The Jazz Gallery, Flatiron NoMad Partnership, and Madison Square Park Conservancy.
Rio Sakairi, Artistic Director at The Jazz Gallery, once again curated the NoMad Jazz Festival Mainstage lineup. NoMad Jazz Festival Executive Director Miriam Dalaei Fodera led the festival, bringing together artists, partners, sponsors, businesses, community organizations, production teams, and supporters from across NoMad and New York City.
The inaugural festival set an attendance record for Madison Square Park programming in 2025. In 2026, the NoMad Jazz Festival returned bigger, expanded further across the neighborhood, weathered the weather, and kept the music playing.
There’s no place like NoMad. And there’s nothing like the NoMad Jazz Festival.
Thank you to the Founding Partners; Legacy Sponsors: Kew Management, Spira Lopez Legacy Foundation; Sponsors: Accessories Council, Duggal Visual Solutions, GFP Real Estate, Hill Country BBQ, WBGO 88.3 FM, WFUV 90.7 FM; Community Sponsors: A & J Custom Framing, ABS Partners, All’Antico Vinaio, Apotheke NoMad, Avo, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Bazaar Bar, Bear Donut, BLACKBARN, Brown Bag Sandwich Co., Champion Combustion, Citarella, Crewcial Partners, Eataly, Fried Frank, Honeybrains, Hotel Seville NoMad, Impact Kitchen, Inday, José Andrés Group, Justin Management, La Pecora Bianca, LenLen, Leon’s Bagels, Lola’s, Naya, Nicholas Athanail, Licensed Associate Real Estate Agent at The Corcoran Group, One NoMad, RAND Engineering & Architecture, DPC, Rizzoli Bookstore, Rosenwach Tank, RUDIN, Shake Shack, SPIN NYC Flatiron, Tacombi, The Churchill Tavern, The Ned NoMad, The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad, USI; our numerous Benefactors, as well as artists, participating venues and organizations, volunteers, production teams, and members of the NoMad community whose support made the 2026 NoMad Jazz Festival possible.
To support The NoMad Alliance, the nonprofit producer of the NoMad Jazz Festival, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Every contribution helps keep the music free and accessible to all.