6th Annual NEW BRUNSWICK HEART FESTIVAL Returns August 9

The 6th Annual New Brunswick Heart Festival returns to downtown New Brunswick on Saturday, August 9, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., celebrating the vibrant arts and history of New Brunswick and Middlesex County. Presented by State Theatre New Jersey, New Brunswick Cultural Center, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC), and the Arts Institute of Middlesex County, the festival is free and open to the public and will take place outdoors on Livingston Avenue (Monument Square, 2 Livingston Ave).

Hosted by New Jersey Radio Hall of Famer Bert Baron and TSO Productions founder Sharon Gordon, the family-friendly festival features live music and dance performances, free dance classes for kids, food, craft, and art vendors, arts and crafts for children, and free face painting, Henna, caricatures, and balloon animals.

Kicking off the celebration is a 1:00 p.m. performance inside the State Theatre of LUMIA: A Futuristic Cirque Show, a 70-minute spectacle combining acrobatics with cutting-edge visual technology, including holograms, LED suits, interactive lasers, and robots. Tickets for LUMIA are priced from $39–$62 and are available at STNJ.org.

The outdoor stage lineup features headlining disco and Motown band The Discoteks, Afro-Peruvian music and dance by Socabón Peru Cultural Association, a tap performance by Omar Edwards, music by the New Brunswick Brass, and dance showcases from InSpira Performing Arts & Cultural Center and Grupo de Danza Folklórica La Sagrada Familia. Other performances include DJ sets by DJ IZM, a set by George Street Playhouse, vocals by Myles Cherette (ACT-SO Bronze Medalist), and pianist Elias Nicozisis, winner of this year’s State Theatre Jersey Talent show. A hustle dance class with Amy Garcia Phillips and the Contento Dancers will also be part of the event.

Festival activities also include a health and wellness area hosted by Garden of Healing and a local history experience presented by historical interpreters from East Jersey Old Town Village and the Cornelius Low House. Creative offerings include arts and crafts with Dibble and Dabble, button-making with the New Brunswick Free Public Library, Japanese ink drawing with the Highland Park Arts Commission, and chalk art with Sharpened Mindz. Princeton Ballet School will host free children’s dance classes, including Beginning Dance for ages 4–8 at 4:00 p.m. and Contemporary for ages 9–16 at 5:00 p.m.

Festival partners include the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, Hub City Jazz Festival, George Street Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre Company, American Repertory Ballet, Consulate of Mexico in New Brunswick, Live Well-Vivir Bien New Brunswick, the City of New Brunswick, the County of Middlesex, and many more organizations committed to the community’s cultural vibrancy.