Entertaining the audience with an original rock and roll song during the Cinnaminson Music Festival on Sept. 13 in Wood Park are members of the Soup Band, which plays shows throughout New Jersey, including at the famous Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
Playing favorite oldies on one of the two second stages at the festival are members of the JoBonanno & The Godsons band.
Music permeated the fresh summer air as hundreds of people sat on chairs or put down blankets on the Wood Park grass to enjoy the music of 10 well-known New Jersey bands on two stages during the second annual Cinnaminson Music Festival.
The five-hour event began at 3 p.m. on Sept. 13 and was topped off by a fireworks display after the skies grew dark.
The music began with the JoBonanno & The Godsons band playing rock and soul favorites from the 1960s and ’70s on the stage erected on the baseball field. They were followed by the up-and-coming Soup Band on the second stage, near the intersection of Pomona and Riverton roads, who played originals and covers.
The live performances didn’t stop until the fireworks, and included shows by the Nitro Blues band, the Dead Flowers, Lito and the Shepherds, Twisted Livin’, Pack of Larks, Sunrise Cries, the Broad Street Brass Band and Lackadaisical Lemon.
“The event planning started in January,” explained township police Sgt. Michael Czarzasty, who has spearheaded the idea to have a music festival each year. “This was mainly to acquire the bands and food trucks for the event – because both entities are always booked months in advance – and to give everyone a chance to schedule accordingly.
“The Cinnaminson police department, in unison with the township, hosted the music festival to add another facet to the Cinnaminson community event catalog.”
The expansion of this year’s festival to two stages and plenty of room for families to have fun was planned for last year, but due to weather conditions, all the bands were relocated underneath a tent. Besides the music, adult festival-goers were able to gather in a beer garden hosted by Whistlers Inn and get something to eat at the six food trucks set up in the parking lot.
“The event was a success,” Czarzasty maintained. “The bands loved the event, as it allowed them to perform in front of new audiences and play the music that they love. We also received a lot of positive feedback from the community, as well as those who asked for the event to continue again next year.”
Sponsors included Riggs Distler, Eickhoff ShopRite and the Cinnaminson Police Association.
