The 25th anniversary edition of New York’s Tribeca Festival gets underway on Wednesday with the debut of a documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire, followed by a performance by the legendary band. The festival closes with an Alicia Keys documentary, and in between, there are films focusing on everyone from Madonna, Sara Bareilles and Katy Perry to Peter Frampton, Travis Barker and Mumford & Sons, all of whom will make appearances.
“Musically related projects in movies or just doing concerts, it’s all great. Music is great, and the more we get, the better,” Tribeca Festival co-founder Robert De Niro told ABC Audio.
“And there are amazing stories about artists and their longevity and what they’ve gone through to be able … to sing their songs,” festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal adds. “And you just learn about different musicians and who they are as people and how they all work together.”
During one of the festival’s closing events, U2’s Bono will present the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award to Bruce Springsteen for using his platform to “advance equality, dignity, and human rights.” Patti Smith will perform.
“What he’s doing is great,” De Niro says of Springsteen. “And he has a voice that’s very big … and he’s enraged the way … many of us [are]. So God bless him.”
The festival’s head of music programming, Vincent Cassous, says tapping stars like Madonna to do Q&As after their screenings, and acts like Earth, Wind & Fire to perform after theirs, is part of the festival’s plan to “make it something that you can’t miss.”
Cassou says the Frampton documentary will be a highlight, since the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will make an appearance despite living with a degenerative muscle disease.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most emotional moments at the festival, for sure.”
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
