This weekend, Jersey City has live music, the New Play Festival, and the Holi Hai Color Festival. There’s also lots of ways to give back to the community, like the SJC Trees & Trash Action Campaign, the Great Jersey City Clean Up, and more.
Strangers Stopping Strangers and Hey Bulldog
at White Eagle Hall
This Friday night, Hoboken-based Grateful Dead tribute group Strangers Stopping Strangers and New Brunswick’s Beatles jam band Hey Bulldog will be co-headlining at White Eagle Hall.
- https://wl.seetickets.us/event/Strangers-StoppingStrangersHeyBulldog/540715?afflky=WhiteEagleHall
- Friday, May 19
- 7 p.m. doors; 8 p.m. show
- Location: White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave.
- Cost: $25
- Live Music
Cordas Americanas / Toomai String Quintet
with Adonis Gonzalez
“CVM welcomes Toomai String Quintet back to our stage with guest pianist and Latin Grammy nominee Adonis Gonzalez. Toomai’s program Cordas Americanas features music by some of Latin America’s most influential composers, spanning 1920s classical music to modern-day popular music.”
- https://www.convivomusic.org/events/cordas-americanas-toomai-string-quintet/
- Friday, May 19
- 7 to 8:30 p.m.
- Location: Grace Church Van Vorst, 39 Erie St.
- Cost: Free
- Live Music, Family friendly
New Play Festival 2023: “Echoes of a Lost Son”
by Chima Chikazunga
“A decade after losing a loved one, the relationship between a healing mother and her daughter-in-law is tested when a woman walks into their life claiming to have a child with the man they both lost in the 9/11 attacks.” This event will include a Staged Reading and Q&A session.
- https://wl.seetickets.us/event/Echoes-of-a-Lost-Son-written-and-directed-by-Chima-Chikazunga/544621?afflky=JerseyCityTheaterCenter
- Friday, May 19
- 7:30 p.m.
- Location: Jersey City Theater Center, 165 Newark Ave.
- Cost: see ticketing page for pricing
- Performance
GOMO’s Open Mic & Lounge
“Music, poetry, story, dance, and more are welcome on the open mic in this bubbly and bloodless rite of spring.”
- https://www.smushgallery.com/whatshappening/2022/12/15/winter-community-potluck-k6hk5-5lj9y
- Friday, May 19
- 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Location: SMUSH Gallery, 340 Summit Ave.
- Cost: on a sliding scale; see ticketing page for details
- Performance, Community event
SJC Trees & Trash Action Campaign
“Join Sustainable JC’s Trees & Trash Action Campaign (TTAC) and be a part of a community-wide effort to beautify our city and protect the environment! Our SJC TTAC volunteers will be helping to clean and green our neighborhoods in partnership with the Greater Neighborhood Alliance (GNA).”
- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-sjc-trees-trash-action-campaign-tickets-622819920147
- Saturday, May 20
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Location: Triangle Park Vicinity – meet at Rose Avenue Urban Farm, 59-61 Rose Ave.
- Cost: Free
- Giving Back, Community Event
- Ongoing event: next campaign event will be Saturday, June 3
The 5th Annual Great Jersey City Clean Up
“Hosted by the City of Jersey City, Keep Jersey City Beautiful (KJCB) inspires and educates people to take action toward improving and beautifying their community by mobilizing volunteers to roll up their sleeves and help clean our city on a single day!”
- https://jcnj.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=800474
- Saturday, May 20
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Location: multiple locations
- Giving Back, Community event
The All You Can Tournament 2023 – A Cure for the Community
This “video game tournament and free community e-Sports event” will have lots of different video games, as well as face painting, give-aways, and local entertainment.
- https://www.jerseycityculture.org/event/the-all-you-can-tournament-2023-a-cure-for-the-community/
- Saturday, May 20
- 10:30 a.m. check in; 12 p.m. start
- Location: Berry Lane Park, 1000 Garfield Ave.
- Cost: Free
- Community event, Games
Bond Vet – Jersey City Open House Party
This party, in celebration of Bond Vet’s Grand Opening of their third New Jersey clinic, will have pet cookies, human treats, and adoptable dogs.
- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bond-vet-jersey-city-open-house-party-tickets-625304110427?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
- Saturday, May 20
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Location: Bond Vet – Jersey City, 357 Marin Blvd.
- Cost: Free
- Pets, Community event
See the “Golden Rule” Sailboat at Liberty State Park
Head to Liberty State Park this Saturday to catch the Golden Rule sailboat, which originally “set sail in 1958 to stop nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, and which inspired the many peace makers and peace ships that followed.” This celebratory event will have live music and guest speakers.
- https://vfpgoldenruleproject.org/
- Saturday, May 20
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Location: close to Liberation Monument, Liberty State Park, 200 Morris Pesin Dr.
- Nature, Community event
Earl Morgan Branch Family Fitness Day
“Come out bring the whole family and enjoy a day filled with fitness, free smoothie samples, raffles, giveaways and more!”
- https://www.jerseycityculture.org/event/family-fitness-day/
- Saturday, May 20
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Location: Jersey City Free Public Library Earl A. Morgan Branch, 1841 Kennedy Blvd.
- Cost: Free
- Health & Wellness, Family friendly
Holi Hai Color Festival
This event, “the tri-state area’s most talked about and unique celebration of the Spring Festival of Colors that originated in India,” will be “an all-day festival promoting peace, equality, and unity through cultural diversity, performances, food, and color play. This year will be a special partnership between two neighboring cities Jersey City and Hoboken with activities bringing the communities together.”
- https://www.visithudson.org/calendar/holi-hai-2023/
- Saturday, May 20
- 12 to 8 p.m.
- Location: Exchange Place, Montgomery Street
- Cost: see registration page for details
- Community Celebration, Family friendly
Pushing Up The Daisies Festival:
A Benefit for the Historic Cemetery
The 12th Annual Pushing Up The Daisies Festival will be this Saturday at The Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery and will have live music all afternoon.
- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pushing-up-the-daisies-festival-a-benefit-for-the-historic-cemetery-tickets-625354120007?fbclid=IwAR14LuikWueH8iRiYQklPqekuYwKXHOLE5TwjkmJ5mf-mlYttI3DXJNlKFg
- Saturday, May 20
- 2 to 10 p.m.
- Location: The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery, 435 Newark Ave.
- Cost: see ticking page for pricing
- Live Music, Giving Back
Brooke Lanier’s “Berths and Ghosts” Artist Talk
at Novado Gallery
This Saturday, Brooke Lanier will be giving an Artist Talk on her solo painting exhibition “Berths and Ghosts” at Novado Gallery.
- https://www.novadogallery.com/brooke-lanier
- Saturday, May 20
- 2 p.m.
- Location: Novado Gallery, 110 Morgan St.
- Art
White Eagle Hall Presents New York Night Train’s
Soul Clap & Dance Off
See live rock music, hear classic soul records, and enter the dance contest on Saturday night at White Eagle Hall.
- https://wl.seetickets.us/event/New-YorkNightTrainsSoulClapandDanceOff/546360?afflky=WhiteEagleHall
- Saturday, May 20
- 8 p.m. doors; 9 p.m. show
- Location: White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave.
- Cost: $10
- Music, Dance
Jersey City Spring Half,10K & 5K Races
This fundraiser for JCFamilies is open to participants 14 years of age or older.
- https://jcfamilies.com/event/jersey-city-spring-10k-5k-races/
- Sunday, May 21
- 9:30 a.m.
- Location: Lincoln Park
- Cost: see registration page for pricing
- Health & Wellness, Giving Back, Family friendly
How Far Can You Walk: 2nd Annual 5K Walkathon
“Join Embrace Relief’s Second Annual 5K Walkathon and help us rebuild water wells in Africa, providing life-saving clean water for thousands!”
- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-far-can-you-walk-2nd-annual-5k-walkathon-tickets-570723648797?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
- Sunday, May 21
- 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Location: Liberty State Park, 30 Audrey Zapp Dr.
- Cost: see ticketing page for pricing
- Giving Back, Community event
**If you’d like to tell us about an event for a future issue, please contact emily.scott@jcitytimes.com**