The annual Roots Picnic music festival will return to Philadelphia in June with three days of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, including plenty of Philadelphia-area talent and at least one familiar face in Delaware.
The Roots Picnic will take place June 2-4, 2023, and will be split between Wells Fargo Center in South Philly and the open-air Mann Center in Fairmount Park. The lineup was announced Monday, and tickets will go on sale the next day for fan club members of Philly hip-hop band The Roots.
Who’s headlining the Roots Picnic in 2023?
Unlike previous years, the festival will go for three days. The Roots Picnic will kick off June 2 at Wells Fargo Center with a separately ticketed night featuring The Roots and comedian Dave Chappelle, who has a long history with the band. The Roots appeared on Chappelle’s show in the early 2000s, then joined Chappelle for four nights of a 10-night marathon at Radio City Music Hall in 2017.
The Roots Picnic continues Saturday and Sunday at the Mann Center’s campus in Fairmount Park with two days of music headlined by Ms. Lauryn Hill, Diddy & The Roots, and Philadephia hip-hop artist Lil Uzi Vert. Hill will perform her 25-year-old classic album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”
What other artists are playing The Roots Picnic?
The festival contains a deep roster stretching back through decades of hip-hop and soul. Other old-school sets include Busta Rhymes, Black Thought of the Roots and Philadelphia-born rapper Eve. Supergroup The Soulquarians meshes up Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson with the Isley Brothers and Roy Ayers.
Delaware’s Adam Blackstone — born in Trenton, New Jersey — was music director of Rihanna’s set at this year’s Super Bowl, and will now present a Roots Picnic showcase featuring Mary Mary and Coco Jones. The festival also features a reunion of Philly rap group State Property, including Sparks, Freeway, Young Gunz, Peedi Crakk, Oschino and Beanie Sigel.
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Where do you buy tickets for the 2023 Roots Picnic?
There’s very little time between the lineup announcement Monday and the beginning of ticket sales. Roots fan club members with a promo code can buy tickets at noon Tuesday, Feb. 21, at therootspicnic.com. The general public will be able to buy tickets starting Wednesday, Feb. 22.
Ticket prices are not yet listed. The general admission prices for the two-day 2022 festival were $225.
Matthew Korfhage is a Philadelphia-based reporter with USA Today Network.
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