Jay-Z and The Roots are set to headline the Roots Picnic 2026. Slated for May 30 and May 31, the festival has moved venues in Philadelphia to the Belmont Plateau.
Pre-sale tickets are currently on sale with the promo code “ROOTS26” at the Roots Picnic website, while the general public will have another chance on Wednesday (March 18) at 10 a.m. local time. Fans should stay tuned for plenty of additions to the festival lineup in the coming weeks.
“Moving the Roots Picnic to Belmont Plateau and bringing JAŸ-Z and The Roots together to perform are both bucket-list moments for us,” said Shawn Gee, The Roots’ manager and president of Live Nation Urban, in a statement. “After meeting with Mayor Cherelle Parker and hearing her vision for Philadelphia 250, she truly inspired us to dream even bigger, and we’re grateful to her, Commissioner Susan Slawson, Jazelle Jones and everyone who helped make it happen. We can’t wait to see everyone in May at the Plat.”
The Roots Picnic will serve as Jay-Z’s first performance since joining Beyoncé on stage in Paris at the final overseas show of the Cowboy Carter Tour in June. It’s also his first time sharing the stage with The Roots in more than a decade.
The Brooklyn rap deity’s last festival appearance came as a surprise when he hit the stage at Pharrell’s Something in the Water Festival in Virginia in 2019.
Fans have been speculating about a Hov comeback for this summer, with 2026 serving as the 30th anniversary of his Reasonable Doubt debut and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint.
He’s left a few hints, too, as he added the umlaut back to his name, JAŸ-Z, which he carried during the Reasonable Doubt era. Jay’s also launched a new website, released a handful of classic songs on vinyl and dropped the OG “Dead Presidents” on streaming services earlier this year. Hov’s last solo album arrived with 4:44 in 2017, which topped the Billboard 200.
Find the Roots Picnic announcement below.
