LIGHT OF DAY WINTERFEST Celebrates 20th Anniversary
With a goal of reaching the $6 million mark in its ongoing battle against Parkinson's disease, LIGHT OF DAY WINTERFEST: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY, presented by the Asbury Park Press, celebrates its momentous milestone year as the anchor event for the world-renowned Light of Day Foundation with over 50 events by 150 music acts in five cities and three states, from Jan. 10-20, 2020. Those cities are Asbury Park, NJ, Montclair, NJ, New York City, Rockland County, NY, and Philadelphia.
A ticket announcement will be made next week. The on-sale date for tickets is, as the Bruce Springsteen song that inspired the organization's name says, "just around the corner." With 11 surprise annual performances, Springsteen has helped catapult the festival to international notoriety as it's raised $5.5 million through its first 19 years. His unannounced appearances traditionally occur during Bob's Birthday Bash, the main event at every Light of Day WinterFest.
Bob's Birthday Bash is named for Bob Benjamin, the artist manager and music industry veteran who founded Light of Day in 1998 - two years after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease - as a 40th birthday party fundraiser at a Red Bank, NJ café that brought the first $2,000 to the organization. Two decades later, and Benjamin's personal battle against Parkinson's is ever-expanding through Light of Day as he continues to steer the Foundation with grant money to organizations which fund specific research initiatives, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation, CurePSP, the Parkinson's Foundation (formerly the Parkinson's Disease Foundation), and the Parkinson's Unity Walk.
The Light of Day Foundation also supports "boots on the ground" programs designed to help people with these diseases live better lives on a daily basis, including co-sponsored projects with Joan Dancy & PALS, with a mission to help New Jersey residents in nearby Monmouth and Ocean Counties afflicted with ALS by providing a better quality of life for them and their families.
The Light of Day Foundation, Inc., utilizes the awesome power of music to raise money and awareness in its continuing battle to defeat Parkinson's disease and related neuro-degenerative diseases, specifically Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), within our lifetime. The Foundation's mission is to fund research, treatments and programs for patients who suffer from these diseases, as well as their families and caregivers, in order to improve quality of life on a daily basis. Gifts to the Light of Day Foundation, Inc., are tax-deductible to the full extent of the Internal Revenue Code. The Light of Day Foundation, Inc. is designated by the IRS as a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization. The Light of Day Foundation, Inc.'s Federal ID # is 20-1560386. Light of Day - the concerts and the organization − grew from a birthday party and fund-raiser held in 1998 at the Downtown Cafe in Red Bank to celebrate the 40th birthday of artist manager and music industry veteran Bob Benjamin, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1996.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Ross
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Disney's Newsies Vanguard Theater (6/11-6/28) |
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Spamalot State Theatre New Jersey (6/27-6/28) |
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Oliver Algonquin Arts Theatre (10/25-10/25) |
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High School Musical Sing Along! Dream Live at American Dream (8/23-8/23) |
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Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey State Theatre New Jersey (11/08-11/08) |
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Sutton Foster & Kelli O''Hara with The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center (8/23-8/23) |
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by The United European Ballet Company Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) (10/15-10/15) |
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Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert Count Basie Center for the Arts (5/21-5/21) |
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A Taste of Ireland - The Irish Music and Dance Sensation Lackland Performing Arts Center (6/25-6/25) |
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NIC+DESI In Concert Robert Shackleton Playhouse (12/13-12/13) |