Summer Soul Music Festival lineup includes Grammy winning artist Babyface

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WHEC) — The Rochester Summer Soul Musical festival returns for the 26th year.

The two-day lineup kicks off on Friday, Aug. 26, with tailgating in the parking lot of Frontier Field. The next day, there will be a community block party from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., also in the parking lot at Frontier Field.

Grammy award-winning and platinum artist Babyface will headline this year’s festival. Tickets can be found here.

"Ironically, when Mayor Johnson back in the day started the festival, it was to stop violence,” said Varick Baiyina, CEO of Xperience Live Events. “You know, violence was out of control at that point, and then it tapered down. So this festival gives people something good to think about, something good to look forward to and that’s our mission.”