MAPLEWOOD — The 18th edition of Maplewoodstock went off mostly as planned and organizers will take a little time off before they begin preparing for next year’s show.
“As good as can be expected considering the weather,” said Thomas Kerns, chair of the Maplewoodstock Committee. “We got through all of day one. Sunday we went until about 7 p.m. and got two songs into our headliner before we had to stop.”
A storm that included thunder and lightning forced organizers to shut things down after one of the headliners, Louis Cato, had gotten through the first two songs of their set.
“It was a win for us,” Kerns said. “It could have been worse”
Kerns is one of eight people on the all volunteer Maplewoodstock Committee that includes Katie Clayton, Brad Goldman, Tarquin Learned, Jim Robertson, Susan Rogers, Jamie Ross, and Gary Shippy.
One question the committee has begun debating is whether next year’s event should be celebrated as the 20th anniversary of Maplewoodstock or should they wait and celebrate the 20th edition of Maplewoodstock. The event started in 2004 but two years were missed because of the pandemic.
“We start planning the event, usually at the end of August, early September,” Kerns said.
Each of the eight people on the committee has their individual lane – a thing that they take care of whether it’s working with the town or with vendors or some other aspect of the production.
“As far as the bands, we put a notice out to the community in February, opening up our website for submissions, saying any bands who want to play, should apply,” Kerns said.
For this year’s event, 121 bands applied to play. Committee members listened to samples and met in a basement to hash it out, selecting 18 bands to go with the two headliners each night.
The headliners, this year it was Red Baraat, Mihali, Remember Jones and Louis Cato, are solicited by one member of the committee who reaches out to agents and acts to negotiate prices. Local bands are paid a stipend for their performances.
“We have a relatively limited budget,” Kerns said. “Whatever we can spend on the headliners is the last consideration.”
The budget varies from year to year and the committee generally uses whatever money they have; this year it was $125,000.
Money comes into the organization from a variety of sources, including donations, sponsorship fees, vendor fees, ad sales and the sale of merchandise, Kerns said.
Another revenue generator is the beer and wine garden managed by the South Orange Elks Club, which shares the profits with the festival.
“We usually start the process with nothing,” Kerns said. “We use up all the money the previous year.”
In addition to paying the bands, money is used to pay for a professional production team to set up the stage, run the show and provide equipment. It is also used to pay for the services of the police, emergency medical services and the Department of Public Works.
“Costs have significantly increased the last couple of years,” Kerns said. “The equipment is more expensive to rent. The production equipment, amps, drum kit, they stay on the stage all day and they cost money, they have gone up significantly.”
The event hasn’t changed that much since it began but the committee does tweak things from year to year.
“One of things we did in 2022, we spread it out a bit,” Kerns said. “It used to just be on the amphitheater side. But because of all the new landscaping, we thought we should spread it out.”
As a result, most of the food and merchandise vendors were set up across the river on the baseball field though some vendors were on the amphitheater hill this year.
“The main part, the music part, seemed to be working,” Kerns said. “And we will probably continue doing it the way we are
doing it.”
Organizers work very closely with the Township of Maplewood.
“One misconception is that this is a township sponsored event and I want to underscore they are big supporters and we could not do it without them,” Kerns said. “They supply police, Emergency Medical Services, Department of Public Works, which we pay for.”
The event actually grew out of a bunch of bands wanting to play together. They approached Jim Buchanan, who was the director of arts and culture in the township, in 2004 and he helped get the ball rolling. Buchanan died earlier this year at the age of 80.
“It’s a labor of love,” Kerns said. “We are all from the community. We love Maplewood South Orange. Not all of us are musicians. It’s just something we love doing.”
About the Author
