Hoboken celebrates Fall Arts & Music Festival
Andrew Scagnelli
Issue date: 10/2/09 Section: Local News
On September 27th, Hoboken held the fall edition of its semiannual "Arts & Music Festival," which featured the usual smorgasbord of food, shops and live performances. The event closed down Washington Street, running from Newark Street to 7th Street, and booths lined up along both sides of the street. This festival, although waterlogged, was another success, even with the lower turnout.
The shops featured the normal array of festival material. Knickknacks were on prime display, giving potential shoppers the chance to add a bit of flair to their homes. T-shirts, another festival standby, were on display, as was jewelry.
Food offerings ran the gamut from typical festival foods like funnel cake to the fare of some of Hoboken's restaurants.
As always, music was a major feature in the festival, even with the rain complicating matters. The live bands for this festival were split between three stages; two main stages located at the north and south ends of the festival, and a children's stage on third street. Headliners included Leon Russell, Alfio Sydney, Red Molly, and others, as well as Stevens' very own Bandwidth. The range of music varied wildly, from Russell's twangy country rock, Alfio's opera stylings, and Bandwidth's classic rock.
The main story of the festival, however, was the rain. Mother Nature did not comply, as she often has in the past, and the night before the festival was marked by torrential downpours. For the majority of the day, the skies were dark and overcast, and the threat of rain was imminent at all times. Because of this, turnout was low in comparison to previous years, and all merchants involved did less business than they would otherwise because of the diminished foot traffic.
The festival was sponsored largely by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and its PATH service, as well as Verizon FiOS and IKEA.
The shops featured the normal array of festival material. Knickknacks were on prime display, giving potential shoppers the chance to add a bit of flair to their homes. T-shirts, another festival standby, were on display, as was jewelry.
Food offerings ran the gamut from typical festival foods like funnel cake to the fare of some of Hoboken's restaurants.
As always, music was a major feature in the festival, even with the rain complicating matters. The live bands for this festival were split between three stages; two main stages located at the north and south ends of the festival, and a children's stage on third street. Headliners included Leon Russell, Alfio Sydney, Red Molly, and others, as well as Stevens' very own Bandwidth. The range of music varied wildly, from Russell's twangy country rock, Alfio's opera stylings, and Bandwidth's classic rock.
The main story of the festival, however, was the rain. Mother Nature did not comply, as she often has in the past, and the night before the festival was marked by torrential downpours. For the majority of the day, the skies were dark and overcast, and the threat of rain was imminent at all times. Because of this, turnout was low in comparison to previous years, and all merchants involved did less business than they would otherwise because of the diminished foot traffic.
The festival was sponsored largely by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and its PATH service, as well as Verizon FiOS and IKEA.