originally published: 05/22/2025
(NEWARK, NJ) -- For almost 30 years, Horizon Sounds of the City has attracted thousands of fans to New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)'s Chambers Plaza for Newark's largest outdoor dance party. Each performance feels like a festival thanks to the weekly presence of food trucks, sponsor giveaways and resource tables run by healthcare organizations and Newark nonprofits.
Horizon Sounds of the City, kicks off early this season! This summer, the series will begin on Friday, June 27, 2025 at 5:00pm, with DJ Felix Hernandez’s Rhythm Revue Dance Party headlining a weekend of concerts presented as part of the Prudential North to Shore Festival.
This summer’s concert series marks the first large public event held in the newly redesigned Chambers Plaza, which celebrated its grand reopening on May 14, 2025. The Arts Center’s “front yard” now also includes a beautiful grassy lawn edged with permanent seating, Essex County Green, made possible thanks to support from Essex County, led by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo.
Chambers Plaza now features a larger, level floor composed of gray and merlot-red bricks, complemented by new lighting and audio equipment, and native plantings. The redesign is part of a $336 million campus-wide redevelopment project that will create a new, arts-infused neighborhood on the NJPAC campus by 2027.
“The return of Horizon Sounds of the City is extra special this year because we will welcome our community for a first look at our new campus,” says John Schreiber, President and CEO of NJPAC. “Horizon Sounds of the City has always been the summer’s best party, but in this reimagined space, with a bigger ‘dance floor,’ new lights, audio equipment and more, these performances will be even more exciting.”
Horizon Sounds of the City’s opening night on June 27 includes a healthy food drive to support Growing Healthy Pantries, in partnership with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Attendees are encouraged to bring items, such as canned fish or meat, shelf-stable milk, boxed meals, canned and packaged meals, peanut butter (plastic jars only), canned vegetables and fruits or diapers and feminine hygiene products to Horizon’s tent to support neighbors experiencing food insecurity. (No glass, cellophane, bottled water, soda or baby food, please.)
The Growing Healthy Pantries Initiative is a collaborative effort among New Jersey’s five food banks. The goal is to provide access to healthy food choices and resources to improve long-term household stability.
“The Horizon Sounds of the City concert series, and the festive atmosphere it creates, is an example of how live performances can boost our mood and lower stress,” says Jonathan R. Pearson, Executive Director Corporate Social Responsibility, Horizon. “Another way to improve well-being is through giving, and we are happy our 2025 concert series launches with a food drive to benefit Growing Healthy Pantries and our food insecure neighbors.”
Most Horizon Sounds of the City performances will include an opening act, such as students from NJPAC’s Arts Training programs and the city-wide Dodge Poetry initiative.
The June 28–29 concerts that are part of the Prudential North to Shore Festival will be preceded by appearances by local artists who are recipients of Community Arts Awards. Known as Official Selections, these awardees were chosen by a committee of Newark arts and community leaders to open a show for a headlining artist, and will receive a grant for their performance. Other Official Selections received grants to produce free or popularly priced events during the festival’s Newark run, June 14–29.
Generous support for Horizon Sounds of the City is provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, RWJBarnabas Health and Mars Wrigley. Additional support provided by Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, TD Bank, Gia Maione Prima Foundation, L+M Development Partners, Patrón Tequila, Belvedere Vodka, and High West Whiskey.
Friday, June 27, 2025 @ 5:00pm - Felix Hernandez Rhythm Revue Dance Party. Horizon Sounds of the City Prudential North to Shore Festival. Chambers Plaza; FREE. WBGO DJ Felix Hernandez kicks off a summer of fun with his famous Rhythm Revue Dance Party. He’ll spin classic soul and R&B artists including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Marvin Gaye. Bring your friends and fam for this fun and funky good time.
Saturday, June 28, 2025 @ 5:00pm - Milo Z. Horizon Sounds of the City Prudential North to Shore Festival. Chambers Plaza; FREE. Milo Z is ready to pump up the crowd. A New York City institution, this high-energy funk band has tight grooves, funky dance steps and a phenomenal horn section. Milo Z’s motto: “Make them dance, make them sweat, leave them longing for more.” Prudential North to Shore Official Selections open the show! Come early to see Newark tap legend Maurice Chestnut and hip hop prodigy P.Genz.
Sunday, June 29, 2025 @ 5:00pm - Lettuce. Horizon Sounds of the City Prudential North to Shore Festival. Chambers Plaza; FREE. Lettuce shreds. And jams. And cooks all night long. Get down with the GRAMMY®-nominated music collective and their chill mix of funk, hip hop, rock, psychedelia, jazz, soul and go-go. Good times and great vibes! Get the party started with these local favorites and Prudential North to Shore Official Selections: Drummer Sed Marsh has hit the sticks with artists including Patti LaBelle and Angie Stone. His NJ-based band gets down with soul, gospel, funk and jazz. Gail Campbell, a mesmerizing singer from Newark, delivers powerful vocals with her own unique style of soul, jazz, gospel, rock, blues and hip hop.
Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 5:00pm - The Legendary Wailers with Junior Marvin. Horizon Sounds of the City. Chambers Plaza; FREE. It’s nothing but good vibes at this outdoor reggae jam. Bob Marley’s former guitarist Junior Marvin carries on the legacy of The Wailers, playing their hits the way Bob intended. You’ll hear “One Love,” “Get Up, Stand Up,” “No Woman No Cry” and so much more.
Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 5:00pm - Lyfe Jennings. Horizon Sounds of the City; Chambers Plaza; FREE. For R&B star Lyfe Jennings (“Must Be Nice”), music is life — and life is worth singing about. The platinum-selling artist brings you on an intimate musical journey with his raw talent and personal lyrics.
Thursday, July 24, 2025 @ 5:00pm - DJ Tunez. Horizon Sounds of the City; Chambers Plaza; FREE. DJ Tunez and his live band throw a party that’ll keep you dancing all night long. On a mission to spread Afrobeats culture around the world, he blends classic Afrobeat with hip hop and today’s club hits.
Thursday, July 31, 2025 @ 5:00pm - Cimafunk. Horizon Sounds of the City; Chambers Plaza; FREE. Move to the Afro-Cuban sounds of Cimafunk! The GRAMMY®-nominated cultural phenomenon celebrates Blackness across borders. It’s “a euphoric soul train, serving up funkadelic grooves … with the joy of being alive in its every note” (NPR).
Thursday, Aug 7, 2025 @ 5:00pm - MC Lyte. Horizon Sounds of the City. Chambers Plaza; FREE. MC Lyte, the legendary pioneer of hip hop, brings you back to the old school (and beyond). She’s been making history since the 1980s, as the first female rapper to release a solo album (Lyte as a Rock), earn a GRAMMY® nomination, perform at Carnegie Hall and receive a gold single (“Ruffneck”).
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is the most diverse performing arts center in the country, and the anchor cultural institution for both the city of Newark and the state of New Jersey. It is an artistic, cultural, educational and civic center where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC brings communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state’s and the world’s best artists, while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC Arts & Well-Being develops initiatives and programs that amplify the health benefits of the arts and measure the impact of the Arts Center on community health and well-being. NJPAC has attracted more than 12 million visitors (including more than two million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.
The Prudential North to Shore Festival, launched in 2023, features all the talent, diversity and creativity that New Jersey has to offer, packed into two extraordinary weeks of performances, parties and conversations. Programs and events are held in three of the state’s most iconic cities: Each June in Asbury Park and Newark, with extended year-long programming in Atlantic City. The Prudential North to Shore Festival brings hundreds of thousands of arts lovers together every summer, for 650+ events at more than 250 venues, for an over-the-top showcase of Jersey excellence.
Inspired by Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy’s vision of a celebration worthy of the Garden State’s legacy of innovation and excellence in the arts, Prudential North to Shore is “the festival only Jersey can handle.” In 2025, the Festival is sponsored by Prudential Financial, NJEDA, NJM Insurance Group, OUTFRONT, United Airlines, Mosaic — from NJ.com, New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, RWJ Barnabas Health, Cuervo Tradicional, Finlandia Vodka of Finland, and Yah Yah Cognac Liqueur.
