Tiny Desk Contest On The Road 2026

NPR's Tiny Desk Contest is back on the road in 2026! Join us this summer as we travel across the country for a one-of-a-kind concert, featuring the Contest winner plus two up-and-coming artists from each city.

This year's winner is Cure For Paranoia, the genre-bending project of Dallas-based rapper Cameron McCloud and friends, a dynamic group whose music is playful and political. McCloud started Cure For Paranoia to share the therapeutic experience that "creating music with his people" offered him. A pre-school teacher by day, he posted a new rap every day on social media for all of 2025

Opening acts to be announced soon!

$.25 from each ticket purchased will go to The Shout Syndicate, a Boston-based, volunteer-run fundraising effort who raises money to help fund youth-led arts programs at proven non-profit creative youth development organizations in Greater Boston. Housed at The Boston Foundation, The Shout Syndicate works in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture's creative plan, Boston Creates. https://www.theshoutsyndicate.com/