ZAO Festivals
ZAO Festivals is The ZAO's series of community-owned, artist-built music festivals. Free to attend, artists paid fairly, and the crowd that funds it owns it. We have thrown them in New York and Miami, we are throwing one in the DMV this summer, and our flagship lands in Maine this October.
ZAO Festivals presents ZAOstock - one umbrella, many events, one DNA.
The chapters
During NFT NYC - 12 artists, the community’s first IRL meetup. Broke even.
During Art Basel, in Wynwood - 16+ musicians, WaveWarZ LIVE, AR art, cross-community.
Co-hosted with DCoop + The VEC - open mic, live sets, DJ night swim.
The flagship - free, all-day, downtown, gateway to Acadia.
This year's flagship
ZAOstock 2026
A free, one-day, artist-built music festival in downtown Ellsworth, Maine - Saturday October 3, part of Art of Ellsworth weekend, at the gateway to Acadia. Independent artists, one stage, free to listen from the sidewalk.
From the festivals
Be part of it
Bring a festival to your city, sponsor one, play one, or build with us. ZAO Festivals is a model anyone can run - the goal is more community-owned culture in more places.