Lincoln Center's sprawling campus is undergoing a pandemic-ready transformation for Restart Stages. Photo by Inaki Vinaixa

Restart Stages was developed in conjunction with NY PopsUp, the recently launched outdoor performance festival running through Labor Day, bringing small-scale, surprise, pop-up performances to the city's streets. Unlike most NY PopsUp performances, a Restart Stages programming schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. Some performances will require advance tickets, while others can be enjoyed more spontaneously.

Of particular note: One of the performance spaces is dedicated to family-friendly programming and includes children's art activities. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is also hosting an outdoor reading room on the site.

Other Restart Stages venues include a cabaret stage on Hearst Plaza, outdoor rehearsal spaces, and even a venue for public schools to host their graduations, a milestone many students missed in 2020 as the pandemic tightened its hold on the city.

Restart Stages promises the return of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's popular Summer Evenings concerts, film screenings by Film at Lincoln Center, and dance workshops from the New York City Ballet. Programming is supplemented by a diverse array of partner organizations, including the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Harlem Week and the Harlem Arts Alliance, the Korean Cultural Center New York, and the Weeksville Heritage Center, among others.

Besides providing entertainment, Restart Stages takes on a starring role as a community hub, hosting blood drives, serving as a food distribution site, and acting as a polling place in the upcoming primary election.