York Museum Gardens welcomed many music and comedy artists in early July. Here is my experience and review of Nile Rodgers and Chic’s 4th July set.

I only managed to get tickets for the Friday 4th July set, being that Elbows set was sold out and I couldnt make the rest of the days.

York Museum Garden festival’s second day welcomed Durand Bernarr, Jalen Ngonda and Nile Rodgers & Chic.

The ticket allocation was nearly sold out, so we were in for a big night.

I arrived at the Gardens by about 6:20pm, the gates opened at five oclock, so it had over an hour to fill up with people quite considerably.

The opening act Durand Bernarr was already performing, and had been for 20 minutes. However the first priority for me was to have a walk around the area and take in what they had done to York’s famous gardens.

First of all, getting in was no issue, there was a good amount of security and they were all polite. Yes, you would expect that to be the norm but a good start never the less.

There had a handful of food stalls to the left of the entrance, with many benches opposite them for people to enjoy their food. The people who did eat from the stalls looked delighted with their food, to say the least.

The bar aligned to the left of the main stage, but separated by a large bundle of trees, meaning when you were waiting in the queue the sound wasnt overwhelming. The only critic I have of the bar was the prices, but I cant say I didn’t expect it, – £7.00 for a pint of beer/cider – It’s a festival.

Now, onto the reason why this event was made possible, the artits performance.

Durrand Bernarr : Smooth Opener

I arrived onto the general admission section of the field, had a clear view of Durrand Bernarr and watched the rest of his set.

He had a 2 band member behind him, a brilliant drummer and an equally brilliant bass player. I only got to see Bernarr for about 20 minutes, but It was a good 20 minutes. The 4 or 5 tunes I saw him perform were recent R&B inspired, with fantastic vocals from Bernarr himself.

He and his instrumentalists put on a solid opening support act.

Jalen Ngonda : Suprise Standout

After they had finished at 6:45pm, it was time for another drink at the bar. Queue’s were starting to appear at this time, which enhanced the great atmosphere of the place. People asking their friends what they want to drink, people discussing the previous act and the one coming up.

Next up was Jalen Ngonda. One of my personal favourite musicians, especially as of recently.

I could write so much praise about Jalen Ngonda, and I was enthusiastic to see him live for the first time.

He entered the stage at 7:15pm to an impressive standing ovation, a large crowd was beginning to take shape. He walked out with all of his band, A drummer, a bass player, a pianist and Jalen Ngonda on the electric guitar.

For an hour he played his greatest songs, all of them ranging from when he started releasing music to songs that came out this year. Ngonda makes 70’s soul inspired music, in fact it sounds almost exactly like a Marvin Gaye or Al Green.

Nile Rodgers & Chic : Pure Joy

After a great hour long set from Ngonda, the place was beginning to fill up with people, so much so that it was difficult to move without bumping into someone. I then went to get another drink from the bar, and this time, the queues were hectic.

It was then time to get a good vantage point within the crowd so I could see the gig well. Nile rogers and his band arrived on stage at around 8:50pm, to a booming standing ovation. He had 6 band members up with him, the same 6 that came on with him at his recent glastonbury set.

A drummer, two vocalists, a bass player, a saxophonist and a pianist.

After playing 2 songs, Nile Rodgers then had some dialogue, he talked about how he has produced songs for Diana Ross, Madonna and David Bowe. Some self praise that may seem arrogant, but it was simply to get the crowd excited for his set.

His set lasted nearly 2 hours, ending at 10:40pm. Everybody was dancing, having a good time, and there for the same reason, to enjoy themselves. People of many ages and backgrounds, all in unison for a few hours, it’s a beautiful thing.

Whenever you attend a live music event such as this one, you’re almost guaranteed to come out of it feeling better. There’s something in the air, in a place where everyone is there for the same reason, everyone has at least one thing in common, it’s in the atmosphere.

My overall thoughts of York Museum Gardens Festival is nothing but praise. The event was well put together, there were no issues with getting in or out of the place. The acts were on time, and they were brilliant.

My only down thoughts of it, was that I wasnt able to make the other days.

I would highly recommend it to anyone if it comes back to york in 2026.

Check out pictures from the event : Live at York Museum Gardens (@liveatyorkmuseumgardens) • Instagram photos and videos

The perfoming artists Instagrams:

Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) • Instagram photos and videos

CHIC (@thechicorganization) • Instagram photos and videos

Jalen Ngonda (@jalen_ngonda) • Instagram photos and videos

Durand Bernarr™️ (@durandbernarr) • Instagram photos and videos