Mayday Festival of Resistance 2022

The Mayday Festival of Resistance is a free outdoor community celebration of International Workers Day. The annual concert+party will take place this year on Sunday, May 1st, 2022, in Maria Hernandez Park in the heart of Bushwick, Brooklyn. The volunteer-led event will feature performances by local musical acts, DJs, resource tables from an array of community organizations, and art-making activities for kids. Cultural workers and grassroots groups  will inform residents about their rights as tenants, immigrants, and workers. Speakers will highlight recent wins by workers on the frontlines and other ongoing labor struggles across NYC. It’s a day of music, art, and joyful resistance, where neighbors come together to build solidarity, mutual aid and people power.

We have a dedicated crew of volunteers who are already meeting in working groups to prepare each aspect of the festival, including:

• Secure permits from the city
• Hire bands, DJ, and cultural groups to perform
• Design a flyer and do outreach to promote the event
• Plan the program, including know-your-rights workshop leaders and speakers from workers groups that have won recent victories or have ongoing campaigns
• Confirm organizations who will bring materials for tabling at the event, e.g. info on local resources and groups working on housing, food, immigration, and other issues
• Rent, buy, or get donations of the necessary equipment:  tents, tables, microphones, etc.
• Create banners and decorations
• Recruit and organize volunteers for setup, cleanup, and other roles on the day of the event

We’re bringing the neighborhood together to celebrate Spring, strengthen local organizing efforts, and build the global movement for justice.  This festival, which in past years has been a fun and welcoming space for folks to gather and enjoy music and sunshine, is needed now more than ever.  In a vibrant, largely immigrant neighborhood where rapid gentrification is causing displacement and alienation, opportunities to come together and create community are precious and powerful.  Residents here have been hit hard by the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, which has also prevented the festival from happening the past two years.  We’re excited to bring it back in 2022!