Northside Festival 2016
photo by Maryanne Ventrice

Northside & SummerScreen don't seem to be happening in 2019

After holding its tenth annual edition in June of 2018, Brooklyn Festival Northside looks unlikely to return in 2019. Originally envisioned as “a four-day celebration of the independent music and art scene that thrives here in New York City,” or North Brooklyn’s answer to SXSW and CMJ, Northside’s future didn’t look promising when last year’s edition didn’t include outdoor shows at McCarren Park, where previously the festivals “headliners” would’ve performed. This year, as Gothamist points out, the festival, its parent company Northside Media Group, and the associated Brooklyn Magazine and McCarren Park film series SummerScreen, all have gone dark. While there’s been no official word — the festival website promises “info coming soon” about the 2019 edition — the NYC Parks Department confirmed to Gothamist that no permit applications for Northside or SummerScreen have been filed.

As mentioned, last July Gothamist reported that Northside Media and its CEO, Daniel Steadman owed “tens of thousands of dollars” in unpaid wages to former staff members and freelancers, money that some are allegedly still owed. More recently, according to Gothamist, the Northside Media Group phone number has been disconnected, and Steadman’s name removed from the company’s public LLC listing.