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Community Corner

Hat City Streets Fesitival

All hats are on for the second annual Hat City Streets Festival, presented by ValleyArts on Saturday, June 7 from 11am to 7pm. The festival is a day-long celebration of music, visual art exhibitions, dance, family activities, delicious food, and non-stop fun that reflects the spirit and diversity of the region and celebrates the creativity of Orange. The Festival is free and open to the public.

The Hat City Streets Festival is centered at the corner of Forest and Tompkins Streets, which will be closed for the occasion, and on the grounds of the International Central Gospel Church (438 Valley Street, Orange NJ). Festival programs will also take place at the ValleyArts Firehouse Gallery, Hat City Kitchen, Ironworks Community Art Center, and other nearby spaces in the Valley Arts District. Free parking is available at nearby churches, and on the streets.   

Principal funding for the Hat City Streets Festival has been provided through an Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, one of 59 awarded in the United States this past year. Lead co-sponsor is 50 & 55 South Essex, the new apartment and retail complex located next door to the Orange Train Station 50-55southessex.com.  

The Hat City Streets Festival will feature concert headliners that range from reggae to pop to blues; appearances by marching bands, step teams, choirs, and dance ensembles; arts exhibitions by professional artists from around the region; and a variety of arts activities for children and families, including hat-making workshops that evoke the neighborhood's past as the hat-making center of the world. A variety of young performers and artists from the community will also participate through the ValleyArts alliance with the Orange Public Schools. The complete program will be announced in mid-May. 

Also on view throughout the day at the Firehouse Gallery will be Open Orange, the juried exhibition that features more than 100 works by 36 artists from New Jersey and New York.

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