by Matt Kelchner
Just as the summer season kicks off the 2015 season, one of New Jersey’s most popular beach towns is gearing up for the return of a new upstart and wildly successful festival. Jetty and their non profit arm Jetty Rock Foundation, Shore Point Distribution and Spice It Up are teaming up again to bring the Hop Sauce Festival back to the Jersey Shore.
The locally rooted celebration of food, arts and culture takes place Saturday, May 30th at the Taylor Avenue Waterfront in Beach Haven, NJ. With new partners, both local and national, in this year, the crew behind Long Beach Island’s coolest and most original event have their sights on taking things to the next level after last year’s phenomenal outing. Oh and did we mention Jukebox the Ghost is headlining?!
“Part of the mission of curating this in such a way derives from the fact of trying to bring original, creditable music acts to the island” music curator Joe Belsh explains to me as we chat about what’s in store this year. The Yetis, Bobcat Rob Armenti, Ski Lodge, Stone Cold Fox, Savoir Adore and Leisure Cruise will all be joining Jukebox the Ghost on May 30th.
The impressive and diverse group of artists on the bill give a little bit something for any music fan. Yet they all have a central theme that ties them together. “We’re trying to find acts who not only are great, but also value the same kind of things we do,” Belsh describes as he runs down the lineup. There is a big focus on bringing in a new and refreshing taste to the music scene on Long Beach Island. Belsh and company are spearheading this approach in a big way.
At this point you’re probably wondering what’s with the constant typos in “Hop Sauce”, but that’s no mistake. Yes hot sauces will be in abundance, but so will craft brews thanks to the partnership with Shore Point Distribution. And all that hot sauce needs to go on something right? There will be a ton of local shore eateries like El Swell and The Dutchman’s Brauhaus serving their best dishes.
In 2014, expectations were modestly set for the young upstart festival. “We were hoping just to break even,” Belsh details. Jetty Rock Foundation, the non profit portion of the shore based apparel and surf company, named the Hop Sauce Festival their flagship fundraising event. The amount of people that ended up making it out for the event made it anything but modest. “We were anticipating a little over 1,000 and ended up having over 3,000.”
With this kind of support, it was a no brainer to expand things this year. Aside from pulling in acts like Savoir Adore, Leisure Cruise and Jukebox the Ghost, some bigger names including Kettle Brand potato chips and Volkswagen of Tom’s River are on board as well. But the organizers behind the scene aren’t letting this detract them from their core views and values.
Belsh describes the festival as one that’s “on a community level scale but with aspirations of being much bigger.” The food and hot sauces are as locally and regionally sourced as possible. They’ve opened their arms to the other local businesses in the area as well.
As for the music, Belsh is particular about not just having national touring acts play. He is very passionate about finding newer, lesser known bands that he believes in and giving them the chance to shine on stage. Case in point: The Yetis, who he describes as having a Britrock meets the Shins sound to them. “I just want to help them get exposure,” Belsh goes on to say. “I’m excited about bands like that.”
In the end, it’s all about building and nurturing the local scene on Long Beach Island, as well as showing people not from the area that it’s worth checking out. “It’s ultimately rooted with the community vibe, but we want to bring people in from the mainland,” explains Belsh.
It’s all for a good cause as well. A portion of the proceeds raised by the Hop Sauce Festival go towards the Jetty Rock Foundation which is dedicated to improving their surrounding community through a variety of initiatives. Belsh adds, “ This isn’t a for profit festival. If it can be full circle where everyone wins, that’s what I’m shooting for.”
With the way things went last year, there’s no doubt that everyone is going to walk away from this year’s Hop Sauce Festival with smiles ear to ear. For more details and how to get tickets, head on over to the website.
