SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — This weekend the SouthNEXT festival returns to the SOMA community with its “Creative Collision of Inspirational Ideas, Arts and Music.”
SouthNEXT, New Jersey’s festival that explores people’s similarities by celebrating their differences, returns to the South Orange Performing Arts Center, 1 SOPAC Way, on Saturday, Oct. 19, and to Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave, on Sunday, Oct. 20. The program runs from noon to 6 p.m. on both days, and on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. will be the first SOMA’s Got Crazy Talent Contest.
Festival founder and South Orange Village Trustee Steve Schnall announced this year’s dual themes: Saturday’s “Hope In A Time of Anxiety” and Sunday’s “Social Justice.” Both days will be filled with the engaging speakers and sessions that SouthNEXT attendees have come to expect.
“Each year SouthNEXT brings together local artists, speakers and performers to catalyze the kind of ‘creative collisions’ that spark new ideas and inspire new solutions to some of the most pressing communal challenges of our times,” village President Sheena Collum said.
Featured sessions at this year’s SouthNEXT include: Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Dolores Huerta on civic activism; a workshop to build community and guide an urgent, constructive conversation in the face of seemingly overwhelming current events; “Higher Learning,” an exploration into the science behind cannabis; a discussion on whether mindful virtual experience can increase shared community compassion; a discussion on whether, in the future, robots will be serving humans or the other way around; an interactive art experience prompted by considerations essential to our lives; and Scott Kettner and his internationally touring band Nation Beat will perform their unique blend of Brazilian and New Orleans music.
RWJ/Saint Barnabas Medical Center and Seton Hall University return as SouthNEXT’s lead sponsors with local sponsors South Orange Village and SOPAC. This year, there will be free access to almost all the sessions; only the special headline event with Huerta will require the purchase of a reduced-price ticket for SouthNEXT registrants.
Go to www.southnextnj.com for more information on the lineup of music, arts and ideas, and to secure your access by registering.
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