(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Telegraph Hill Records will present the 7th Annual What A Wonderful Year (WAWY) music festival at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park on December 29th & 30th, 2023. Dubbed Asbury Park's Annual Party, it’s traditionally the Jersey Shore's most diverse and inclusive annual event, covering a broad range of genres and building unity in the music community.

The year-end festival celebrates the thriving live music scene and the hundreds of performers that consider Asbury Park as their home base. More than 20 established and emerging rock, soul, hip hop and pop performers will make their way to WAWY’s multiple stages: Des & the Swagmatics, Jarod Clemons and the Late Nights, Via Ripa, Bryan Hansen Band, Lake Champagne, Kuf & Christine, Cranston Dean, Bobby Mahoney, Kiersten Blue, Songbird, Alexander Simone & WHODAT Live Crew?, The Foes of Fern, Beauty, Emerson Woolf & the Wishbones, We're Ghosts Now, Natalie Farrell, Big Boss Noff, Heather Hills, Space and Surfing for Daisy.

The music runs non-stop from 7:00pm to 12:30am each night with hosts Meg O’Shea of 90.5 The Night, Brian Erickson of The Extensions band, musician, songwriter and community activist Matt Daniels and well-known comedian Sandy Froonjian. Setlists for each night will be announced when 1-day and 2-day festival tickets go on sale November 2 at noon. Tickets will be available at the Stone Pony box office, Ticketmaster and direct through most of the performers.

In addition to bringing the music community together, WAWY will raise funds for the nonprofits, The Project Matters (TPM) and Interfaith Neighbors. TPM provides young artists with financial, business, legal, educational and emotional support, as well as instruments for in-school music education and the event will showcase their musician alumni. Interfaith Neighbors has numerous programs to help improve the quality of life of the community’s most vulnerable individuals and families. The WAWY donation will support Interfaith’s program, Asbury Park’s Got Talent, which engages youth with a positive and stimulating platform to showcase local talent. 

“WAWY is the city’s biggest gig for original acts, put on by the music community for the music community and it’s ideal for every kind of music fan there is. The goal is to give NJ music lovers access to their favorite bands and introduce them to new acts too.”says Joe Pomarico, CEO of WAWY organizer Telegraph Hill Records. “The local businesses and creatives really come together to help us make this happen.”

The event and the donations to the non-profits are made possible with the support of generous sponsors, including: Vydia, Verse Apparel, Last Wave Brewery, Mogo Fusion Tacos with support from Asbury Park Vibes, 90.5 the Night, and WeStar Productions.

Telegraph Hill Records is an Indie record label based in NYC and Asbury Park. They are known for elevating the local music community outside of the studio walls through musical and charitable collaborations with many bands and special all-inclusive project. They serve as ambassadors for the entire Jersey scene.

What A Wonderful Year music festival is run by the team at Telegraph Hill Records andhas raised nearly $10,000 for local charities including the Asbury Park Music Foundation, The Project Matters, Asbury Park African-American Music Project. It has evolved into “Asbury Park’s Annual After Party,” and is meant to celebrate the year in local live music. WAWY was originally founded in 2017 by Asbury Park-based musician Joey Henderson before passing the torch to THR in 2019. WAWY, Parkfest Bradley Beach, SurviFern and Zeik Dental Jam are the four annual events produced by Telegraph Hill Records.

Additional information, tickets, sponsors, charities and the show’s performers, with links to their music and a show playlist, is available at www.whatawonderfulyear.com.