Most music venues prohibit anyone not old enough to purchase alcohol from entering their premises. How are burgeoning, homegrown artists of future generations expected to flourish and come into their own in such an environment? The Yes Fest has a solution. The Brookline Teen Center will host this music extravaganza on October 21 from 12 pm to 10 pm, which will serve teens all over Greater Boston.
The Yes Fest is produced in association w/ BRAIN Arts, Zumix, Brookline Teen Center, West Suburban YCCA, and Girls Rock Campaign Boston; all of which are nonprofits serving area young people.
“It’s a great collaboration among a number of youth-serving nonprofits giving teen performers a venue and opportunity to play in front of a live audience,” said Brookline Teen Center Executive Director Matt Cooney. “This is a great confidence booster for developing artists!! Come out and support our youth musicians!”
The YES Fest, and the organizations and teens behind it, will offer a teen-centric platform for showcasing some of the amazing teen musicians and artists currently working in the Greater Boston area right now, including:
Current Yes Fest Lineup
Mother Russia
Questionable Dog
Whoknowsgabby + Amos Found Alice
Smokey and Sandman
Wild Painting
The Apostrophes
Crying In Shades
Lydia Deetz
Koda
Project Method
A little about Brookline Teen Center
Recognizing the urgent need for a place where teens could learn, grow and have fun, Brookline natives, Paul Epstein, a Brookline High School social worker and his wife, Saskia, a non-profit director, engaged a group of Brookline leaders and teens to explore the possibility of creating a teen center in Brookline in 2005. The vision was to create a place where Brookline youth could spend their out-of-school time in a safe place with both formal and informal activities centered around academic enrichment, physical activity, and socio-emotional health. In this way, the Teen Center will meet the need of local youth for a productive, entertaining and affordable place to spend their out of school time and will be one of the only teen-only centers like it in the local area.
Since 2005, in collaboration with the Brookline Community Foundation, Brookline teens, and community leaders have been working to move the vision of the Brookline Teen Center forward. In 2011, the organization received its 501(c) 3 status and began fundraising in earnest. In the fall of 2013, it opened its doors for business to the youth of Brookline.
Today, the BTC serves as a hub for out-of-school activities for Brookline youth. On Mondays it is filled with middle school students participating in structured activities, working on homework, or just hanging out with friends. The rest of the week the center is open to high school students. Brookline teens come to the BTC with their ideas, and it helps bring them to life. In the last year, it has supported teens with running a bamboo bike building workshop, creating a maker space, and starting a LEGO Robotics program. The BTC also offers programming in music, arts, and athletics and works with school clubs to host events and fundraisers.
