An estimated 5,500 to 6,000 people turned out for MeadowFest in Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus last Saturday.
The festival was sponsored by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and hosted by the Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau, with additional support from the Hudson Reporter newspapers.
The fourth annual event, founded as a celebration of the Hackensack River and ecology in the Meadowlands, has clearly grown since its inception. But the most popular staple attractions of past MeadowFests remained.
The kid-friendly event featured animal rides, a petting zoo, a birds of prey demonstration, pontoon boat rides, live music, and other attractions.
The kid-friendly event featured animal rides, a petting zoo, a birds of prey demonstration, pontoon boat rides, live music, and other attractions.
“We’re generally happy with how it went,” said event spokesman Ron Simoncini. “People were psyched for the event. I think we had the right attractions for the crowd that showed up. The park was full all day. There was always a line for the boat rides. There was always a line for the shuttle buses [to off-site parking areas]. So that says to me that we had the right recipe.”
But holding MeadowFest the day before Father’s Day may have hurt the overall turnout, Simoncini said. Next year, he added, MeadowFest organizers may move the event to a different weekend.
In press materials released before MeadowFest, organizers stated that they hoped to attract 8,000 or more attendees this year. In 2007 an estimated 7,500 attended the festival. Fortunately for Fest-goers this year, the five-hour event was winding down when a torrential rainstorm began. Most drenched attendees hightailed it to their cars while others caught shuttle buses.