If you were one of the nearly 1,000 people who enjoyed the top-notch performers at the first annual Liberty Jam Music Festival at Liberty State Park last Sunday, June 25, then the day was a delight.
If you one of those who paid anywhere from $42.50 to $100 but were bothered by the miserable rainy weather or the lack of organization, you may have been disappointed.
The fundraising event was to benefit the Friends of Liberty State Park (FOLSP), a volunteer 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the park’s preservation, with proceeds from the festival going toward park improvements.The audience benefited from seeing headliners such as Cheap Trick, George Clinton and his band Parliament Funkadelic, Los Lobos, Patti Smith, the Fab Faux, the Smithereens, John Eddie, and Exit 105, for nearly 10 hours.
Sam Pesin, president of FOLSP, said last week that while he wasn’t surprised that the event had a low turnout and would lose a good of money, attributing it to both the weather and to Bruce Springsteen’s concert that took place at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel last weekend.
He said the Friends group was scheduled to meet with LibertyJAM organizers about the proceeds.
Pesin also said he looks forward to this event being an annual gathering. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com