(NEWARK, NJ) -- Rising Newark artists will step into the spotlight over three days at the Audible Showcase Stage, a new feature of the Prudential presents North to Shore Festival, which comes to Newark June 23-30, 2024.
From 6:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday, June 28, and from 12:00pm to 6:00pm on both Saturday, June 29, and Sunday, June 30, the Audible Showcase Stage will offer a continuous series of FREE performances by hip hop and R&B artists, comedians, spoken word poets, instrumentalists, dancers and more, with DJ sets in-between, on an outdoor stage in the city’s Harriet Tubman Square, adjacent to the recently installed monument to Tubman, Shadow of a Face.
Performances are just the start of what’s on offer. The Audible Showcase Stage will effectively be a festival-within-a-festival with games, live music and activities for children throughout the park and food trucks on the park periphery offering a range of cuisines and beverages for kids and adults alike.
This presentation, featuring a cohort of local artists all on one stage within easy walking distance of festival venues — such as NJPAC, The Newark Museum of Art and the Newark Public Library along with the shops and restaurants on Halsey Street — is a new feature of Prudential presents North to Shore Festival, the three-week, three-city summer celebration of arts and ideas produced by NJPAC, now in its second season.
“The Audible Showcase Stage is a way for us to shine a brighter light on a number of our city’s up-and-coming performers and, at the same time, it creates a hub where festival visitors can go to extend their stay here, take in performances that give them a real understanding of Newark’s incredibly varied cultural landscape, and maybe explore The Newark Museum of Arts or Halsey Street. It can be a destination or a stepping stone for further exploration,” says John Schreiber, President and CEO of NJPAC.
The majority of the local artists and groups appearing on the Audible Showcase Stage are Prudential presents North to Shore Official Selections — performers chosen from among hundreds of applicants to take part in the event by the festival’s committee of Newark arts professionals and community leaders. Each was given a grant to enable them to appear at the festival.
Overall, this season, the Prudential presents North to Shore Festival has granted $355,600 to local artists and organizations in its three host cities: Asbury Park, Atlantic City and Newark.
Audible has long been a champion of Newark, where it has been headquartered since 2007, and the company works to elevate emerging creators through a range of programs that amplify underrepresented voices around the world.
“As the leading storytelling company and one of the largest employers of creative talent in the NYC Metro area, Audible has always been committed to celebrating the creative community,” says Aisha Glover, Global Head of Urban Innovation at Audible. “The Audible Showcase Stage will highlight the vast creative talent right here in Newark, and we’re thrilled to share their dynamic performances with festival goers.”
“Newark is an international city of the arts and we wanted to curate a snapshot of all the different cultures that make up our city,” says Marcy DePina, Executive Director of the Newark City Parks Foundation, which was chosen to produce the Audible Showcase Stage in the park. “There are so many unique cultural expressions in Newark. Our goal was to highlight that diversity and make it really welcoming for everyone to come and take part.”
Official Selection artists to be featured at the Audible Showcase Stage include:
* Trinidadian singer, storyteller and activist Choy
* Vocalist and songwriter Aja Moyé
* Newark-native violinist J Read
* Nevisian-American comedian, writer and activist nicole soul
* New Jersey resident and alternative rock vocalist Rasha Jay
* Dominican dancer and choreographer Evelyn Tejeda
* Charisa the ViolinDiva, the Newark-based soul jazz violinist
* New Jersey-based choreographer Camille Moten Rennie and her troupe Company of Collaborative Artists
These Official Selection performers will be joined by other notable Greater Newark area performers including the world-renowned DJ, producer, label head, promoter, curator and influencer DJ Spinna on Friday; Eli Fola, the Nigerian-American, multi-disciplinary sound artist, saxophonist, DJ and producer behind “Yoruba Tech Soul” headlining on Saturday, and trailblazing NJ hip-hop artist P.Genz kicking things off on Sunday. Performances will be interspersed with sets by local turntablists including Newark’s DJ Wallah, DJ Shell Spin, DJ Sienna Chanel as well as hosts Alexandra Hill, Unicorn151 and Kitab Rollins.
In the event of inclement weather, performances will be held in the Newark Public Library’s Centennial Hall across the street from the park.
Through a first-ever collective and collaborative effort, a coalition of Newark organizations including NJPAC, Newark Parks Foundations, the Newark Arts and Education District, Newark Alliance, Newark Arts, The Newark Museum of Art, the Newark Public Library, FORSA Media, SO FRESH Fest, Lauren LeBeaux Lifestyles and Audible worked to offer a range of additional complementary festival events held near or adjacent to the Audible Showcase Stage so festival-goers can spend an entire day (or weekend) at events within easy walking distance to Harriet Tubman Square.
Explore the lineup at the Audible Showcase Stage and surrounding events:
ON FRIDAY, JUNE 28
* From 6:00pm to 9:00pm, the Audible Showcase Stage in Harriet Tubman Square kicks off the weekend with DJ Spinna, hosted by Alexandra Hill.
ON SATURDAY, JUNE 29
* From 12:00pm to 6:00pm, the Audible Showcase Stage will feature performances from dynamic Newark artists including host Unicorn 151, DJ Shell Spin, Choy Band (12:00pm), Aja Moyé (1:00pm), Evelyn Tejeda (2:00pm), J Read (3:00pm) and Eli Fola (4:30pm).
* From 10:00am to 5:00pm, The Newark Museum of Art, which faces the park at 49 Washington Street, will offer free admission and drop-in art-making activities on its plaza for families.
* From 12:00pm to 4:00pm, the Newark Public Library, which faces one end of the park at 5 Washington Street, will host a free Family Fun Day and Interactive STEAM Fair, with art-focused activities for kids including paint-making and graffiti print making.
* At 1:00pm, Newark Arts will launch a Prudential presents North to Shore edition of its Martinis & Murals bus tour of Newark’s public art works — including lunch and cocktails — that leaves from just down the street at Vermella Broad Street (355 Broad Street). (Tickets available through Eventbrite.com.)
The Newark Alliance will host a family-friendly, free Night Market along Halsey Street, between New and Bleeker Streets, from 3:00pm to 9:00pm featuring DJs from bunkr.
* FORSA Media and DEYIOR present Luv + Grind – International Music Series with DJs spinning the romantic sounds of Africa and the diaspora, 9:00pm at Tinjune Downtown (494 Broad Street).
ON SUNDAY, JUNE 30
* From 12:00pm to 6:00pm, the Audible Showcase Stage in Harriet Tubman Square will offer performances from host Kitab Rollins, DJ Sienna Chanel, DJ Wallah, P.Genz (12:00pm), nicole soul (1:00pm), Company of Collaborative Artists (1:45pm), Rasha Jay (3:00pm), Charisa the Violin Diva (4:00pm) and DJ Wallah (5:00pm).
* From 10:00am to 5:00pm, The Newark Museum of Art will offer free admission and drop-in art-making activities on its plaza for families.
* SO FRESH Fest will host Rest Fest from 11:00am to 4:00pm, with a series of restorative wellness activities including guided meditation, restorative yoga, breathwork, stress-reduction strategies, aromatherapy, sound baths and holistic health practices at The Newark Museum of Art. (Tickets available at Eventbrite.com.)
* From 10:00am to 2:30pm the Newark Historical Renaissance Ride presents The Black Ivy Ride: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan and 100 Years of Newark Arts leaving from Harriet Tubman Square. (Tickets available through Eventbrite.com.)
* And at 1:00pm, Kween Moore presents Down In The Ro’ Open Mic Experience, one of Newark’s leading poetry and performance arts platforms at Tinjune Downtown (494 Broad Street).
The Prudential presents North to Shore Festival will present events in Newark June 23 through June 30, including performances by headlining artists Matchbox Twenty, Gabriel Iglesias, Stephen Colbert, Samara Joy and Brothers Osborne, among others.
Tickets for the Prudential presents North to Shore Festival are available at NorthtoShore.com.
