North 2 Shore, the largest festival in New Jersey, is coming to an end this weekend. The end arrives after 243 events at more than 100 venues across the state for the past three weeks.
Since it all began on June 10, thousands have gathered to hear some of the biggest stars in the nation, including Gabriel Iglesias, Matchbox Twenty, the B-52s and Kevin Hart.
Festival audiences also discovered bands and singers who are native New Jerseyans, artists like Rahway nativeEric Roberson who performed with Avery*Sunshine last week in Atlantic City, or comedian Sommore, who hails from Trenton. And there was Mary Cross, whose band first performed in Atlantic City 15 years ago. She returned to the city during North to Shore for a sold-out performance last week.
Local painters and dancers also entertained crowds, as did Newark’sAlicia Whavers, who won one of the dozens of North to Shore grants to get her new project to the stage. She also had a sold-out performance during the festival.
Mosaic, New Jersey Advance Media’s new website, provided wall-to-wall coverage of many of these acts. Our mission is to celebrate the richness of the state’s diverse cultures, and no festival in New Jersey is more diverse than North to Shore. We also covered it because it was clear New Jerseyans would enjoy this celebration of the arts.
First Lady Tammy Murphy says in an op-ed this weekend that it became clear during the first year of the festival last year, that there is “a strong desire” for the festival. That year, North to Shore drew 220,000 guests and generated almost $8 million in ticket sales.
This year, officials are expecting even better numbers when all the receipts from North to Shore 2024 are tallied. Murphy says they’re “on track” to generate more than $13 million in revenue, even though two-thirds of the festival events were free to the public.
So there’s plenty of time this week to learn about the few remaining events and to catch up with the festival stories you may have missed. All of those stories liveon Mosaic. The last events include comedy shows by Inglesias, Hart and Zarna Garg, a concert by Jhené Aiko and her friends and the massive Audible’s Showcase this weekend in Newark.
No one has turned the lights off yet, so we hope you enjoy New Jersey’s largest festival until its bitter-sweet end.
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