Julius and Nicole Bolding made the seven-hour drive to the Roots Picnic from Virginia Beach.
“She’s a big Jaÿ-Z fan,” Julius Bolding said, while waiting in a slow-moving line with his wife at the Picnic’s VIP entrance on Chamonix Drive, near Belmont Avenue.
This is their first Roots Picnic.
The two-day music festival — presented by the Philadelphia hip-hop band, led by rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson — is being staged at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park for the first time after spending recent years at the nearby Mann Center.
The Picnic first moved to the Mann in 2019. The first Roots Picnic was staged at the Festival Pier on the banks of the Delaware River near the Ben Franklin Bridge in 2008. Gnarls Barkley headlined.
This year, the Picnic is set to be bigger than ever, with the gated festival site large enough to hold 40,000 attendees each day. That’s 10,000 more than peak capacity at the Mann. The city has enacted road closures in the area, including nearby Montgomery Avenue. Crowds will undoubtedly be larger Saturday, when Jaÿ-Z — the rapper and entertainment mogul who now takes an umlaut over his ÿ — headlines, with The Roots as his backing band.
Last year, the Picnic’s first day was headlined by Maxwell, who was a late replacement for D’Angelo, who had been scheduled to perform with the Roots, but canceled due to illness. (The neo-soul great died of pancreatic cancer in October 2025.)
That first day of last year’s Picnic turned into a debacle when heavy rain leading up to the festival muddied the grounds at the Mann Center and caused a delay that left thousands of angry fans stranded outside the venue for hours. Meek Mill and Lenny Kravitz headlined a sunnier second day.
With no rain forecast, and warm sun peaking through the cloudy, windswept festival grounds, this year’s Picnic seemed prime for a more successful outing.
Back in line, Bolding said she heard stories about the Picnic’s chaotic opening day last year, where weather and traffic conspired against the crowds.
“It seems like people are optimistic that the new location might be a better spot,” she said.
This year’s line-up also includes Brandy, De La Soul, Jermaine Dupri & Friends, Bilal, Joy Oladokun, Jaydon, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Beano French.
“We came up yesterday and we’ll leave probably tomorrow,” Nicole Bolding said, adding that she was also excited to see Brandy and De La Soul before Jaÿ-Z on Saturday.
As sunshine finally broke though the clouds Saturday afternoon, Jaÿ-Z fans in red Yankees hats and Knicks shirts marked their turf close to the main stage. West Philly rising R&B hyped up the crowd with songs from his 2025 album “Love On Purpose.” In one song, he wooed his paramour with the ultimate 2026 compliment: “You make me want to put my phone down.”
Meanwhile, on the less crowded Plateau Stage, Nashville song writer Joy Olakodun played an enticing, inviting set drawn from her 2024 album “Observations From a Crowded Room.” With accompaniment from only her own acoustic guitar and an electric piano, the folk singer drew the crowd into her understated story songs.
Lines were long at the Gigi & Big R Caribbean & American Soul Food and No Good Burger food trucks as the crowd staked out blanket spots on the sloped plateau lawn.
S. Rasheem said she came up from Baltimore, visiting Philly for the Picnic weekend for the third year in a row.
“The thing that made it upsetting last year,” she said, “was that they opened — what was it, two hours late? What set it off was the ground was wet, and they were trying to fix things inside and we were all waiting outside. And we didn’t know until much later what was happening. I went online to find out.”
Rasheem said she thought about not coming back this year — “for a minute.”
“But that wasn’t real,” said the devoted Picnic attendee.
She had a blast in 2024, she said, adding that this year’s lineup holds many attractions.
“I’m not here for Jaÿ-Z,” she said, before making her way past the Belmont Mansion — where the Underground Railroad Museum is closed for the weekend — and to the crest of the plateau, where attendees stopped to pose for photos with the Center City skyline behind them.
VIP ticket holders were also given their choice of several varieties of free Tastykakes, a nice Philly perk.
“I like Jaÿ-Z,” Rasheem said. “But I’m looking forward to seeing Erykah Badu [who’s headlining Sunday]. I’m looking forward to seeing the Roots, I’m looking forward to seeing Bilal. It really is a one-of-a-kind festival.”
