Artscape, the city’s annual, free outdoor arts festival, will take place in May next year, many months ahead of its typical summer dates, Mayor Brandon Scott said Monday.

The decision was made to move the festival from late summer to the start of the season in May because of poor weather on past event weekends, Scott said.

“We’ve heard you loud and clear about how hot and rainy and stormy it is at Artscape, so we are announcing today that we will be moving Artscape to Memorial Day weekend to kick off the summer festivals,” he said.

The date of the 2025 festival is May 24-25, and Scott said he hopes the new weekend will get the event ahead of possible weather disruptions.

Next year’s festival will also just be two days, he said, without the Friday evening performances that have kicked off the festival in past years.

This year’s Artscape in August was dangerously hot and stormy, which caused officials to cancel the Chaka Khan concert the first night, as well as performances for the second night. In 2023, Artscape took place in late September — several months later than its traditional July dates — and faced problems, both leading up to and during the festival.

Scott’s announcement about the 2025 festival lineup came one month after the Board of Estimates unanimously voted to end the city’s contract with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, the financially embattled nonprofit that hosted Artscape.

In October, Scott announced the city planned to cut ties with BOPA “after deep and careful consideration following several years of turmoil within the organization.”

The quasi-governmental nonprofit received most of its $4.7 million budget from the city, and Scott previously acknowledged that ending the city’s relationship with the group would be “an intricate process” that would require close coordination.

Scott said the city will put on the festival in partnership with BOPA and current BOPA board member Tonya Miller Hall. He said he can’t announce festival specifics yet, such as musical acts, but festivalgoers should expect to still see stages at the festival as they have in past years.

“Artscape will once again shine as a platform for showcasing the very best in artistic expression, celebrating the talent of our city and the state,” Scott said.

The mayor also announced the dates several other popular summer festivals:

• AFRAM will take place June 21-22, 2025.
• Baltimore Caribbean Festival will take place July 12-13, 2025.
• Charm City Live will take place on Sept. 20, 2025.

Scott said AFRAM — his favorite festival — will have local and national talent and is always a “spectacular showcase of the rich cultural tapestry that makes our Charm City so unique.”

The Baltimore Caribbean Festival will have a parade that will draw thousands of spectators from Baltimore and the Washington, D.C., area, he said. The city will produce the festival and parade with the newly established Caribbean American Commission.

Scott said he will issue an executive order to establish the Baltimore Advisory Commission on Caribbean Affairs that will advise the mayor’s office, the City Council and all city agencies on issues affecting the community and help strengthen community ties, which includes the parade.

Charm City Live will close out the summer festivals. Scott said 2025 will be the fourth year of the one-day outdoor festival, which will feature food vendors, local merchants and job opportunities. The festival will leave people with a deeper appreciation of downtown Baltimore, he said.

“While the festivals may be fun and exciting, they’re also an important investment and opportunity for connection,” Scott said. “These events provide opportunities for local artists to shine, for business to thrive and sell their goods and most importantly, for our residents and our businesses to come together and build lasting connections.”

He said the festivals help put the “charm” in Charm City.