Local restaurants will take a larger role in RiverFest this year as 24 local eateries serve fare in Marine Park this weekend. With the rebirth of Red Bank River- Fest, organizers have once again made local dining the main course, with music as a pleasant side dish.
The three-day festival will take place in Marine Park from June 3 to 5 and will feature culinary offerings from 24 local restaurants, in addition to live music.
“It’s not just hot dogs and hamburgers; it’s really good upscale samplings of some phenomenal things,” Lynda Rose, Eastern MonmouthArea Chamber ofCommerce president, said.
The restaurants will offer something for every taste in a variety of styles, said Danny Murphy, owner of Danny’s Grill and Wine Bar and an original founder of RiverFest in 1980.
“The restaurants are juried,” Murphy said. “We don’t let just anyone in.”
Participating eateries are Buona Sera, Dish, The Bistro, The Downtown, Pizza Fusion, Readie’s Fine Foods, Temple Gourmet Chinese and others. There will also be gourmetcooking demonstrations.
New nonfood additions to the festival include an openmic stage, Rock the River on the Waterfront, and scenic cruises on the Navesink River, Rose said.
Rose said that there would also be handmade items and artwork in the Artisan’s Alley area and rides and activities in the Children’s Palace.
“The entire festival is new; it’s not what it’s been for the past five years,” Rose said.
In recent years, the chamber shared the festival with the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation, but members of the borough’s restaurant community felt that the emphasis was on the music and the food aspect was ignored.
“It will be what it was in the past,” said Murphy, a proponent of the new format.
Deanna Hunt, of This Is It! Productions, said that it has been a yearlong process of coordinating restaurants, sponsors and vendors for the unique festival, which has drawn 100,000 to 125,000 attendees over the three days.
“We produce a lot of events, and there’s nothing quite like this event where you bring 24 area restaurants together in one place for three days, serving some really fabulous foods,” she said.
This Is It! was one of the many previous organizers to return for the 2011 festival, Murphy said.
Performers include local favorites like Tim McLoone and the Shirleys, Pat Guadagno, the Candle Brothers, Quincy Mumford and The Reason Why, and Chuck Lambert, Rose said, with a variety of genres represented including rock, gospel and Latin jazz.
Murphy said that in addition to generating publicity, the festival brings together local restaurateurs.
“It made all the restaurants start working together and getting to know each other,” Murphy said.
“Before that, restaurants were traditionally lone wolves.”
This growing camaraderie benefits the businesses, he said. “All the restaurants got to know each other andwe start working together; there are friendships involved, joint advertising, joint promotion,” Murphy said.
“It’s changed the face of the restaurant industry in the last 30 years.”
It also gives new and emerging restaurants an opportunity to showcase their dishes, Murphy said.
“New restaurants that people don’t know or haven’t been to are there to show what they can do,” he said.
“It’s all about generating business to Red Bank.”
Rose said that festivals like RiverFest benefit the entire town.
“It’s a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ situation,” she said.
“It brings people out spending money and showcases everything Red Bank has to offer.”
Rose said that she hopes that the downtown retailers would stay open to capitalize on the attendance of the event’s popularity.
“Bring a blanket and plan on staying for the day,” Rose said.
RiverFest begins at 5 p.m. June 3 and at 11:15 a.m. on June 4 and 5.
More information can be found at www.redbankriverfest.org.