Founded in 1973 in Manhattan's East Village, CBGB was ground zero for the seminal punk rock and new wave movements, launching the careers of bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith Group, The Dead Boys, Richard Hell, and The Beastie Boys. During the 1980s, CBGB would become home to the hardcore punk revolution, with bands such as Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, and Gorilla Biscuits becoming synonymous with the club. In the 1990s, the Club embraced the next generation of hard rock with bands including Sum 41, Korn, Green Day, and Guns N' Roses performing regularly.
Over the past 50 years, CBGB and its iconic logo continue to be synonymous with punk, underground and alternative music and all that it stands for. With its lasting impact on music, fashion, and visual art today, CBGB has become the most famous, influential, and talked-about rock & roll club of all time.
The CBGB Festival celebrates New York City’s gritty, sticker-covered past through the lens of the modern punk era, with a lineup bridging punk’s origins to its future torchbearers. Under The K Bridge Park was hand-selected as the perfect venue, both for its location in the cultural hub of Brooklyn and for the gritty industrial nature of the site itself. Expect a jam-packed full day of over 15 bands across 2 stages, vintage and new merch collections, tons of local food & beverage options, and expansive CBGB installations including relics from the original club.