Newark Launches Festival Coalition To Boost Year-Round Cultural Tourism

During this year’s Juneteenth celebration, the Newark Alliance officially launched Festivals United Newark (FUN), a coalition of seven festivals united by a single goal: to promote Newark as a vibrant, year-round cultural destination.

In the wake of economic challenges brought on by COVID-19, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) awarded Newark Alliance with a $1.5 million grant through its Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation program to help restore public spaces.

As part of the initiative, Festivals United was launched. Organizers chose Juneteenth as their inaugural celebration to reflect the coalition’s mission to ground Newark’s revival in joy, culture and togetherness.

“We would be able to work alongside the city’s goals of promoting the City of Newark as a destination–an activated city all year round,” said Ashley Mays, chief marketing officer of Newark Alliance and president of Newark Happening. “And start chipping away at that narrative that people have, that old stereotype that people have about Newark.”

Located at Harriet Tubman Square Park, the festival welcomed the community with 1,200 free meals, courtesy of four local vendors and Audible, and family-friendly games and activities to bring the family together. This year marked the third annual Juneteenth Around The Square hosted by the Newark City Parks Foundation.

Even a rainstorm couldn’t dampen spirits at the festival, where attendees continued to savor delicious food and enjoy lively performances. Mama Zul and DJ Fauzi were among the many talented artists who took the stage. Community members also had a unique opportunity to connect with history, learning about the park’s significance.

“But really the idea is [about] coming together as a community, a giant community cookout, a giant community celebration of Juneteenth. This is a historic park. It’s not a square, it’s shaped like a triangle, but it’s called Harriet Tubman Square because it’s about the surrounding area… which was a big location for the Underground Railroad,” said Marcy S. DePina, executive director of Newark City Parks Foundation. 

Rosheka Faulkner, a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University, was among the attendees and emphasized the importance of community events like this for the city.

“I was looking for something to do for Juneteenth, and I knew that this was the yearly event that was happening. And I thought it was a good way to spend the day,” Faulkner said.

Other upcoming events as part of the FUN initiative include the  Afro Beat Fest, the largest annual family festival celebrating African diaspora culture, produced by First Lady Linda Baraka. Newark Pride Festival, Karaoke on Halsey, and the Lincoln Park Music Festival also fall under this program.

Lauren LeBeaux Craig, executive director of Newark Arts, which produces the Newark Arts Festival, emphasized the importance of organizations coming together to produce a network of festivals. This effort will help demonstrate what Newark is truly about and help the city grow the city’s arts culture, Craig said.

The Newark Museum of Art also invited community members to visit the museum with free admission to explore collections and exhibitions that included the newly reinstalled “Seeing America: 18th and 19th Century” galleries. 

“It really matters what we’re doing. A lot of people consider arts and culture as fluff and just aesthetic, but it actually is a huge creative economic engine that powers cities,” Craig added.