On Saturday, August 24th, along with nearly 1000 others, I attended The City Is Ours first festival at 3 Dollar Bill in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When I arrived at around 4pm, there was no line at the door, and the unlabeled entrance in the middle of the block momentarily confused my friend and me. I had never been to this venue, so I had no idea what to expect in terms of how it looked or how much space there was. And while the venue had both an indoor and outdoor portion, the festival took place solely outside. This added to the experience, as it was a perfect day to spend outside; sunny and high 70s throughout the day, as opposed to the muggy and unbearably hot August days.
Since I got there hours before anyone was set to take the stage, it wasn’t very crowded. On either side of the space were two bars, at the front was a small stage with the DJ booth and a sectioned-off area for the media crew, Daily Gems, and in the back were a bunch of picnic tables with games. So, my friend and I did what any logical people would do in this situation: we grabbed a drink at the bar, went to the back, and played a few rounds of giant UNO. This kept us, and many other early guests thoroughly entertained. The music blared from the start, mostly a combination of Reggaeton, Latin Pop, and Hip-Hop, which got people dancing as they entered. Before any artists arrived, the festival felt like a block party, with sections of people having fun at their leisure. Adding to this, there was a grill area off to the side, hookah tables, a photo booth next to the bar, (which my friend and I absolutely took advantage of), and a couple of vendors selling a mix of merch and other accessories. The venue was also adorned in brightly colored art, which complemented the overall casual, fun vibe of the event.
The event, sponsored by Restocked, Rapfest, and Daily Gems was the first of its kind; for the past 4 years, the company has been throwing curated parties around big cities like New York, Miami, and Toronto. This was the first time they had artists perform live at their event, and with a solid lineup of established hip-hop artists such as Jay Critch and NTG, and more up-and-coming local favorites, G7 Patch and Phoreign, they certainly didn’t disappoint. There were also sets by some of New York's top DJs Chris G, Ant Wang, Stephcakes, and Sounds of Reality, who kept everybody excited during the earlier hours.
Photo: @therealprinceny
Towards the start of the evening, I went inside to help out with some interviews with different artists and other creatives who showed up and showed out. By the time I managed to make it back outside again, the space was packed to the brim. I was inside when the first artist, Phoreign, performed, but I was able to catch sets by G7 Patch and Jay Critch. Patch had a short set of only 4 or 5 songs but delivered a powerful performance, despite being a newer artist than others on the bill. In between each set, there were people on stage who helped to keep the energy up by dancing, drinking, and interacting with the audience. Although the performances ran a little bit later than scheduled, the party raged on, with the crowd's excitement growing after each artist appeared. Jay Critch performed a much longer set, and made sure to appeal to his Day One fans by playing songs from his older projects, such as “Ego” from his 2018 album "Hood Favorite." As the night grew longer, the party only became more lit, and even as I left, there was still a line of people trying to get inside that stretched far down the block.
Overall, the City is Ours hosted an outstanding first proper festival that offered people from across the city an amazing Saturday. If this year’s festival was any indicator of what The City is Ours is capable of putting together, they have a very promising future ahead.
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