This year, there’ll be a lot more to see and do at Preakness Stakes. The annual horse race in Baltimore is expanding with the addition of the Preakness LIVE Culinary, Art & Music Festival on Friday, May 20th, the day before the 147th Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.
The festival is being curated by Baltimore-bred music executive Kevin Liles who wants to bring something new and exciting to his city. “I just felt like it’s time for us to add a little swag to the Preakness,” Liles is quoted as saying, and he’s on the right track with a killer lineup of talent and activities planned.
Headlining the first Preakness LIVE will be the head hottie herself, Megan Thee Stallion, which is kinda genius if you ask us. The elusive Ms. Lauryn Hill is scheduled to deliver a special performance, and the world’s favorite DJ, that would be D-Nice, will be in the mix on the turntables.
In addition to the trio of international superstars, local Baltimore talent will be showcased at the festival. Composer Darin Atwater and his 65-piece Soulful Symphony, country singer Brittney Spencer and the Morgan State University Marching Band are all scheduled to take the stage. Liles, the co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment, attended Morgan State, so he made sure to include his alma mater in his curation.
Music will be central to Preakness LIVE, but there will also be culinary and art programming. There’ll be a live cooking competition between celebrity chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Meanwhile, Baltimore-based artist Derrick Adams will facilitate a pop-up art garden with other local artists.
A festival filled with music, food and art in Charm City sounds like our kind of carrying on. For more information on the inaugural Preakness LIVE Culinary, Art & Music Festival and to purchase tickets, visit the Preakness website.
