Join us: Citywide Arts Festival 🎭☀️
From bands and choirs to dance, theatre, and spoken word… this is #BPSArts4All in action.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
Free and open to the public. Celebrate with us as 1200+ student artists from 30+ schools take the stage! Full details at bpsarts.org
In partnership with the @cityofboston , EdVestors, @wooden_kiwi_productions , and BC Tent & Awning.
Hosted by Boston actor @naheemgarcia5776 and theatre arts educator Jaronzie Harris.
📷 Photos courtesy of @bostonschools (images 2-3) and EdVestors (image 4)
🎸 Plugged In: Boston Amplified is bringing the energy to Day 1 of the Citywide Arts Festival!
Boston Latin School will take the stage with two electrifying ensembles that showcase the power of student artistry across Boston Public Schools.
🎶 The BLS Gospel Choir brings passion, conviction, and contagious energy to every performance under the direction of Boston Latin School alumna Koriana Lewis Bradford — inviting audiences to move, connect, and celebrate through song.
🎷 The BLS Big Band, directed by Sean Lee and Paul Pitts, continues a decades-long tradition of musical excellence as one of Massachusetts’ premier high school jazz ensembles, recognized for award-winning performances both locally and nationally.
Join us Tuesday, May 19 as modern bands, jazz ensembles, and amplified ensembles fill the Boston Common with sound and student voice.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
📷 photos courtesy of EdVestors
@blsthrives@blsbigband@blsgospel@blsvpa@bostonschools@wooden_kiwi_productions@brighterboston
One of the best parts of Citywide Arts Festival season is seeing Boston’s creative community lift up our students. ❤️🎭
As we prepare for next week’s festival, we’re grateful for the many artists, technicians, collaborators, and community partners helping support student voice across the city. We especially appreciate the overlap and collaboration between our friends at Wooden Kiwi Productions and Brighter Boston — along with festival host Naheem Garcia, who you may recognize from films including The Holdovers — as they continue showing up for young artists and arts education at Boston Public Schools.
It takes a community to help bring opportunities like this to life, and we’re excited to celebrate that spirit at Citywide Arts Festival next week.
📸 Images 2 & 4 courtesy of Brighter Boston
📸 Images 3 & 5 courtesy of EdVestors
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
@brighterboston@wooden_kiwi_productions@naheemgarcia5776@bostonschools
The countdown continues as students get ready to share powerful performances ✨
The Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School Dance Team reminds us that the arts can inspire us and bring communities together. The ensemble seeks to bring joy, hope, and strength through the power of words and movement.
📅 Performing Thursday, May 21
Next week, these students will join more than 1,200 young artists from across Boston Public Schools for the Citywide Arts Festival at the Boston Common.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
@bostonschools@dsncs_k5@building_with_ms.5678@wooden_kiwi_productions
🎶 Students from the Higginson-Lewis Band have a special message for you…
Citywide Arts Festival week is almost here! 🎭✨
The countdown is on for the 2026 Citywide Arts Festival, and these young musicians are ready to bring the energy, sound, and school pride to the stage.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
Free and open to the public. Full details at bpsarts.org
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
@wooden_kiwi_productions@higginsonlewis_@artsinboston@cityofboston@bostonschools
🎭 Meet the Schools
Students from across Boston Public Schools are preparing to take the stage at the Citywide Arts Festival, including:
🤟🏽 DEAFinitely Crew: Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing — a performing arts group of elementary, middle and high school youth who are Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, hard-of-hearing and hearing from urban and suburban regions of Greater Boston. Youth perform hip-hop, break-dancing, and Latin dances to inspire and create a paradigm shift in how communities, families and they understand and experience differences. The choreography in DEAFinitely combines American Sign Language to intentionally conveys stories of self-expression and positive identity.
📅 Performing Friday, May 22
🎶 Edison Shining Lights — a collaborative 6th grade band ensemble made up of student musicians with a wide range of experience levels, from beginners to students now in their third year of band. Through peer mentorship, sectionals, and ensemble performance, students have grown together as independent musicians while building confidence, teamwork, and strong ensemble musicianship throughout the school year.
📅 Performing Tuesday, May 19
Join us at the Boston Common as 1,200+ student artists share their voices through music, dance, theatre, and spoken word.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
@edisonelementary_bps@hmsdeaf1869@deafinitelycrew@bostonschools@wooden_kiwi_productions
Meet one of your festival hosts 🎭
Boston artist and educator Jaronzie Harris will be helping guide us through the Citywide Arts Festival as she celebrates the incredible artistic work happening at our schools. In addition to her work across Boston’s arts and culture sector, Jaronzie serves as the Theatre Content Specialist for the Boston Public Schools Visual & Performing Arts Department.
More than 1,200 student artists from Boston Public Schools will take the spotlight through music, dance, theatre, and spoken word!
Join us May 19-22 at the Boston Common and experience it in the heart of the city.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
📅 May 19-22
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
Free and open to the public. Full details at bpsarts.org
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
🎥 Haynes Early Education Center
@bostonschools@wooden_kiwi_productions
This is arts education in action ✨
Students across BPS are building confidence, creativity, collaboration, and voice through the arts.
The Citywide Arts Festival brings those stories to the Boston Common with more than 1,200 students from 30+ schools sharing their work through music, dance, theatre, and spoken word.
Join us May 19-22 and see it for yourself!
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
📷 still images courtesy of EdVestors
@bostonschools@wooden_kiwi_productions
🎭 Meet the Schools
Students from across Boston Public Schools are preparing to take the stage at the Citywide Arts Festival, including:
🎷 The Eliot K-8 Band — a collaborative student ensemble featuring instruments such as flute, trumpet, saxophone, piano, and more. Through modern music and live performance, students build musicianship, creativity, confidence, and stage presence while performing throughout the Boston community.
🎶 Boston Arts Academy’s Treble Forte Choir — a dynamic ensemble of high school singers representing arts majors across Boston Arts Academy. Using soprano and alto voices, they perform a vibrant mix of contemporary music while bringing storytelling, teamwork, and energy to the stage.
Join us May 19-22 at the Boston Common as 1,200+ student artists share their voices through music, dance, theatre, and spoken word.
📍 Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
⏰ 10:00 AM-12:15 PM
🌧 Rain location: Bolling Municipal Building
One City. Many Voices. #BPSArts4All
@eliotk8school@smarcheseofficial@bostonartsacademy@baamusic_department@bostonschools
