The Manhattan Beat: The Meadows Music and Arts Festival at Flushing Meadows Park, Day One

Shortly after its Governor's Ball on Randall's Island this summer, Founders Entertainment announced the inaugural Meadows Music and Arts Festival, held in a parking lot in Flushing Meadows Park outside of CitiField, on October 1 and 2. From noon to 10 p.m., the festival featured live music and a food fair. Although the original Saturday headliner, the Weeknd, cancelled due to scheduling conflicts with Saturday Night Live, the concerts across four stages included Kanye West, J. Cole, Chance the Rapper, Kygo, Grimes, The 1975, Pretty Lights, Bryson Tiller, Savages, Empire of the Sun, Chromeo, Metric, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, Thomas Jack, Sylvan Esso, Kamasi Washington, Cage the Elephant, Mr. Twin Sister, Zhu, Twin Shadow (performing Purple Rain), and many more.

The Meadows Music and Arts Festival donated a portion of its proceeds to several local Queens organizations as well as the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. Benefactors included, the Queens Library, the Far Rockaway RBI Little League, the Neighborhood Dinner, and Answer the Call. In addition, concertgoers could earn free tickets to the festival in exchange for volunteering at Masbia Soup Kitchens, resulting in more than 300 hours of community service in the weeks leading up to and after the festival.