Enjoying Day One of the three-day Lincoln Park Music Festival on Friday, July 28, are, clockwise from top left, Irvington Recreation Department and Cultural Affairs Director Donald Malloy, publicist Valerie Merritt, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District Executive Director Anthony Smith and concert promoter Sue Sue.
NEWARK, NJ — Orange and East Orange were well represented at the three-day Lincoln Park Music Festival in downtown Newark that began with gospel music and reggae on Friday, July 28, followed by house music on Saturday, July 29, and ended with hip-hop on Sunday, July 30.
“I’m here with Saint Michael’s Medical Center here in Newark. We’re doing diabetes testing here at the Lincoln Park Festival,” Sharon Bagley, a co-founder of the Not Orange anti-violence organization, said at the event July 28. “I’m here every year.”
According to Bagley, the best thing about the music festival is the community aspect of it. She said she would like to see something similar to it happen in Orange.
“It’s good because it brings the community out,” Bagley said “It’s for everyone; it’s not just for one particular crowd or group. It’s for the seniors, young adults, our youth and the city of Newark.”
Orange did present its own gospel festival in Monte Irvin Orange Park on Saturday, June 17, and Bagley said the city also has an upcoming concert in the works.
“Orange does have a concert that coming up. I don’t know the date but it’s coming soon. I believe it’s the Caribbean Fest. It’s really nice. A lot of people come out to that. It’s not only for the town of Orange — it’s for everyone.”
Geoffrey Burbage, the treasurer of the Council on the Status of Men in East Orange, was one of thousands who filled Lincoln Park in downtown Newark on July 29, for the house music portion of the festival. Every year, the house music concert is the biggest draw of the three-day festival and this year was no different.
“I’m a house music head,” said Burbage on July 29. “I’m going down there later today to listen to the music and have a good time. House music is all about movement and freedom and dancing to the beat of a great song.”
Orange Councilwoman at Large Donna K. Williams describes herself as a “true hip hop head” but, according to U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. and former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, that is a title that she may have to share with them and the hundreds of other old school rap music fans who showed up for the third day of the music festival.
“It’s a beautiful day in the park. Why not be out in it,” said James on July 30. “The park, the music, people, its family; extended family and we’re all going to stay in Newark. We’re not going anywhere. Our best days are ahead of us.”
Payne, who normally wears a suit and tie wherever he goes, was dressed down in all black among his “black people” at the event on July 30, and proud to be there with his constituents.
“I’m home so this is what it is. Back on Bergen Street, they used to call me the oldest homeboy they knew,” Payne said. “I’m a big fan of hip hop but this really a great event and it’s amazing how it’s grown. Yesterday for the house music must have been the largest attendance I’ve ever seen.”
Payne said he is proud of the festival’s longevity and ongoing relevance, and grateful he was able to come home to Newark and enjoy it, despite the current political climate in Washington, D.C.
“We’re very busy. In fact we didn’t think we were going to come home Friday,” Payne said. “If the Senate had passed that bill, then the House would have had to go back into session. But John McCain came through for the people of the United States, so we’re happy.”
Payne also said he’s happy to know he played a small part in getting the music festival off the ground.
“Just to think that I had something to do with the start of this and the inception and what it’s grown into really means a lot,” Payne said at the event. “Dana Rone and myself, when this festival was in trouble the first year and did not have the money, rallied the Newark City Council to each give a certain amount of money and they were able to move on. So, to see it 12 years later and to know that I had something to do with that means a great deal to me. I’m just glad to see this; glad to know that I have played a little part in its inception and it’s taken off and grown into what it is.”
According to Williams, “there is a natural intersection between hip hop and politics, like Broad and Market Street. Hip hop music deals with some of the social ills going on in our community.”
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