Here are a lot of questions and answers about Maplewoodstock. If you don’t see an answer to your question here, please email us at maplewoodstock@gmail.com.
What is Maplewoodstock?
If it’s not obvious by now, Maplewoodstock is a two day festival of local music and arts put on by your friends and neighbors. We started in 2004 with one day and a few local bands. Over the years we have evolved to two days, with food and arts vendors, a KidsZone, and some headline regional and national music acts.
Our Mission Statement is to provide the best possible free, two-day festival of music and arts that is of and for the community.
Maplewoodstock is produced by Music & Arts Education Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit company headquartered in SOMA. The festival itself is led by an eight-person team who runs the festival and raises all funds needed to put on a free event via merchandise sales, sponsorships, and vendor space rental fees. Even though we receive lots of support from Maplewood Township, Maplewoodstock is entirely self funded.
Our main contact is via maplewoodstock@gmail.com. We are all volunteers, so it may take a few days to get back to you.
About our Supporting Organization
Maplewoodstock is produced by Music & Arts Education Project, Inc. (MAEP), a newly formed, SOMA-based, 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for the inclusion and broadening of a comprehensive arts and music curriculum in all schools, in all grades, and for all students. MAEP seeks to demonstrate (i) cognitive development of participatory arts and music programs, (ii) positive social and emotional development of performing arts and music programs, (iii) the inherent diversity, equity, and inclusion that is the cornerstone of the arts, and (iv) the positive community impact of public art displays, music performances, and literary performances.
MAEP is proud to produce Maplewoodstock as its flagship annual event. In the months ahead, stay tuned for additional programming and information sessions aimed at furthering our mission of enhancing arts education in our schools and community!
MAEP needs your support (financial and otherwise) to achieve our goals. Please visit https://maplewoodstock.com/support-maplewoodstock/ to learn more.
When is it?
Maplewoodstock is usually scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday following Independence Day. Although, some years, we move to the following weekend so we don’t fall so closely on the heels of Independence Day. Each day typically kicks off about noon and ends around 9 pm.
For 2024, our festival will be held Sat, July 13, and Sun, July 14, 2024.
Where?
The same spot as always. See Memorial Park in Maplewood, NJ, on Google Maps at 580 Valley St, Maplewood, NJ 07040
What bands are playing?
Click on our MUSIC link to see our schedule.
- We typically book our 2-3 headline bands in Dec/Jan.
- We typically open our band application process in Feb.
- We typically choose and confirm all bands in April.
- We typically announce the full lineup in May.
Can my band play?
Each year we open up a band application process in January and February. We usually make our lineup selections in May. Watch our MUSIC link to see the details about applying.
How do you pick the bands?
We have a music selection sub-committee that tryies to curate the best lineup of free music of and for the community. There are 3-4 slots reserved for regional or national acts. The other 18-19 slots are for a calibrated mix of new sounds and old faves, with an emphasis on acts from our local/community.
There is a $25 application fee for each band. This fee helps fund the event (which is 100% self-supporting and all money raised goes into the festival costs) and helps ensure that bands who do apply are “serious” enough about their talent level to apply.
Only the 2-3 headline bands get paid “scale.” All other bands who play get a nominal $150 paycheck. We understand that some bands decline to apply due to this policy. However, Maplewoodstock is a free festival, put on by volunteers — we give you a huge audience to present your music.
Please read our Band Application FAQ for more info.
Does it cost money to come to the festival? Do we need tickets?
No! It is free and open to everyone to attend. No gates; come early, and stay late! 100% free.
Scam alert: if anyone is offering to sell you tickets, it is a scam. We are a free event.
So, how do you fund the festival?
Maplewoodstock is 100% self-supported by Music and Arts Education Project, Inc., a newly formed, SOMA-based, 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for the inclusion and broadening of a comprehensive arts and music curriculum in all schools, in all grades, and for all students. Fundraising is generated through (1) our merch sales (t-shirts, hats, lawn signs), (2) our sponsors and advertisers, and (3) fees from our food and art vendors and band applicants.
What about parking?
Street park on the streets (just observe all posted signs about where and when you can and can’t park).
Oakview Ave. will be closed to vehicle traffic between Valley St. and Dunnell Rd, aside for those needing access as festival organizers, vendors, or bands to load and unload. Dunnell Rd. will also be closed in front of the Maplewood train station. This also to accommodate bands off-loading equipment and arts and food vendors doing the same. Vehicle access passes will be provided to bands and vendors needing to load and unload.
What about Accessible Parking?
Designated Accessible Parking spots are located on Dunnell Road. Please visit maplewoodstock.com/about/accessibility for more information.
Can I get there on public transportation?
For sure. Since we are right across from the Maplewood train station on NJ Transit.
Tickets? Seatings?
We are free to attend, so no tickets needed. Seating is first come/first serve. Bring a blanket; throw it down; respect our marked-out aisles and canopy zones.
Maplewoodstock’s Canopy and Space Policy lays out our guidelines for managing the limited number of spaces where we allow canopies to be placed. Please review https://maplewoodstock.com/canopy/ for more information.
How many people attend Maplewoodstock?
We have grown over the years, and we estimate that about 7,500 people attend over the course of the weekend. The crowd usually builds throughout the afternoon, with peak crowds between 5 pm and 8 pm. You can see some crowd shots on our Flickr photo sharing site (like this one) that show how the hill fills in with attendees.
Will there be food to purchase there?
Yes! About 20 local restaurants set up tables to sell their delicious foods. In the past we’ve had everything from hamburgers/hotdogs to Indian food, Portuguese sausages, jerk chicken, and more.
Can I bring my own food?
Yes! Many people bring a blanket and a picnic basket and hang out all day long.
Can I cook my own food — fire up a grill?
No fire or charcoal grilling by attendees is allowed. Only qualified food vendors are permitted to cook food.
Is beer and win for sale?
Yes! Visit our Beer Garden, where local craft beer and a selection of wine will be available for purchase. Entry or purchase requires proof of age (21+), and all alcoholic beverages must stay within the designated Beer Garden area. Operating hours are from noon until about 10 pm on Saturday and noon to 9 pm on Sunday. Visit our Beer Garden page for more information.
Can I bring my own alcoholic drinks?
The Village of Maplewood provides Maplewoodstock a permit to run this event in a public park. Use commons sense and discretion. If you bring in a bottle of wine, nobody’s going to notice. If you roll in a keg, we’ll have to ask you to remove it.
We discourage glass containers of any sort, to reduce the risk of broken glass.
Can I set up a tent, canopy, umbrellas, etc?
Please review our Blanket and Canopy Policy. If you look at some of the photos of our event on our Flickr channel, you can see that tents and canopies are restricted to the perimeter and chairs-with-hoods are for down front. We will have a line upon which canopies cannot be established.
Also, we usually mark out a few aisles in the grass to facilitate movement of guests. Please don’t put your blankets in the aisles. Let’s keep them free for circulation.
What happens if it rains or a storm rolls in?
The long-time policy of Maplewoodstock is “Safety first.”
The stage and production equipment are built for outdoor events, so bands will keep playing in drizzle or light rain.
However, the production company and township emergency personnel will make any emergency determination to pause the festival if there is lightning within 8 miles of the event, high winds, or pouring/driving rain.
In such an event, we will make stage and social media announcements asking people to seek cover outside our events space (e.g., your nearby home, your car, within the pedestrian tunnels under the train tracks, etc.).
Are there toilets?
Maplewoodstock provides several Port-o-Potties at more than one location. These offerings typically include a hand-washing station and Accessibility friendly stations.
Our map points out some of these locations, and please feel free to ask our on-site volunteers for directions.
Can I bring a dog?
Town ordinance applies: dogs must be on leash, and you pick up after the dog. Please note: this is a VERY crowded — yet mellow– event. Uncontrolled dogs making a nuisance or mess will be asked to leave.
Is there wifi available for attendees or vendors?
The festival does not supply any wifi.
Are there ATMs available for attendees or vendors?
We don’t supply on-site ATMs because the Maplewood Village is steps away under the train tracks — where there are several banks with ATMs — in addition to grocery stores, liquor stores, and restaurants.
I am a food, arts + crafts, local service vendor. How can I get a table? How much does it cost? What about a tent? What about power?
If you want to be an arts vendor at Maplewoodstock, watch our ARTS VENDOR page for details on the application process.
Similarly, if you want to be an food vendor at Maplewoodstock, watch our FOOD VENDOR page for details on the application process.
I am a local non-profit or community organization. Can I get a booth?
Maplewoodstock does not host non-profits. We decided many years ago that we wanted to be free from causes, and offering our festival to one non-profit then requires us to offer it to every non-profit and political organization that might step forward.
And, the way we fund the festival (because this is a privately-funded event, not a town-funded event) is from the fees we gather from our vendors and sponsors.
Having non-profit booths (whether free or funded) does not fit our mission.
I am a local business. Who can I talk to about sponsoring opportunities? Can I get my company’s name on a banner or in the program?
Yes; we do have sponsorship opportunities. See https://maplewoodstock.com/sponsorship/ or email us at maplewoodstock@gmail.com.
I am Deaf; how can I enjoy the festival?
Sign Language Interpretation
For those who use ASL to communicate, we have sign language interpreters (starting in 2017) for the entire event. When facing the stage, the Deaf section is to the right and towards the front. There are signs indicating the Deaf section for anyone needing access.
What else can I do in the town of Maplewood before, after, during the festival?
Since Maplewoodstock is a two minute walk from Maplewood village, there is plenty of opportunity for you to eat in its restaurants and browse in its shops. Here’s the website to the Maplewood Village website, the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce and MaplewoodOnline’s business directory.
I love what you folks are doing. How can I help? How can I volunteer?
There are lots of opportunities to help. If you have professional skills you can offer to Maplewoodstock, please let us know:
- graphics design
- flyer, poster, t-shirt, etc. printing
- legal
- sales and sponsorship
Please see our Volunteer Page to see how you might offer your volunteerism.
Is there an email list I can subscribe to?
Generally no. Email lists only put a burden on us to find an email platform, deal with changed email addresses, deal with subscribe/unsubscribe requests, spam filters at all levels from international email infrastructure, to your email provider, to your own accounts preferences.
We simply ask that interested parties check our maplewoodstock.com website periodically and follow our social media channels that are linked in the header and footer of our maplewoodstock.com website.
Can I submit a donation to help fund the event?
Yes! Maplewoodstock is a project of Music & Arts Education Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Please contribute. We appreciate it.
How can I make suggestions for ideas for next year?
We are always looking to make the Maplewoodstock Music & Arts Festival the absolutely best free event of and for the community. So, please email suggestions to maplewoodstock@gmail.com.
Do you have a Lost and Found? I lost my [glasses | lawn chair | cooler | music stand | phone | etc.]
Well … sort of. Let’s explain.
We do our best to encourage folks who find items to turn them into the Maplewoodstock “HQ” (aka, the Merch Tent to the left of the stage). And, we do our best to reunite folks with their lost items within reasonable efforts.
And, the brutal truth is that the vast majority of lost items are lost forever. Items are not turned in; they are of moderate value; they are gathered up by others; they are trampled underfoot and thrown in the garbage when the hill is cleared each night. And, after 2-3 weeks post-festival, the few cheap items remaining are just tossed or possibly dropped in a local donation box.
Our recommendations? If you have something valuable to you (monetarily or sentimentally):
- write your name and cell phone # on the item to hope to increase the chance someone (us or a fellow attendee) might contact you;
- take a photo of the item (a generic description of “I lost my prescription glasses” is less helpful than “attached is a photo of me in my tortoise shell, cat’s eyes, Warby Parker glasses,” and;
- email us here or follow up to any Facebook posting about Lost and Found items on our social media channels.
Can I fly my drone?
Absolutely not. To ensure the safety of our attendees, drones are strickly forbidden and are subject to the appropriate laws and regulations. If there is a drone flight, it will be Maplewoodstock sponsored and announced from the stage in a very controlled way.
Can I take photos or videos of my friend’s band or my favorite band?
Absolutely yes. We do not provide any designated press area. You are welcome to set up a camera in front of the stage, but you cannot block anyone’s else’s view or occupy a space that is disruptive to the event. If you are a band that wants on-stage or back-stage access for photo/video, please email maplewoodstock@gmail.com prior to the event or check in with a festival organizer on-site for clearance.
Every band that plays should be aware that their photo and video likeness can be captured and distributed by any/all attendees.
The Maplewoodstock Committee traditionally posts band photos during and in the weeks after the event to our https://www.facebook.com/
If bands find photos of themselves on those sites, they are welcome to use for their own needs. We only gently ask for a credit of “@maplewoodstock” for those you take from our websites (unless a credit is noted or watermarked otherwise).
For the media:
We appreciate offers from the media to cover our event. We usually send a press release out around May 1 to local outlets. Otherwise, we aren’t really looking for more pre-event publicity, as our festival is usually attended at near-capacity.
Any media is welcome to come to “cover the event” on the Day-Of. However, we make no special accommodations for media — there is no “media tent” or “camera alley” or “artist availability” event.
Professional media can place a camera “on the field” to catch live stage action, but if they take up a footprint or profile that we feel is overly large or distracting, we reserve the right to ask them to relocate or leave. We cannot provide any power or reserved space.
If the media want to interview bands, we can make in-advance email introductions, but it is really up to the bands (particularly, the Featured and Headline bands) to agree or not.
Festival committee members are otherwise available to help media gain some ad hoc backstage access to ask bands or organizers if they want to be interviewed. We will chaperone media backstage, and we reserve the right to ask media to leave backstage at any time.
Media inquiries and request can be sent to our official maplewoodstock@gmail.com address.
Disclaimer:
While the Township of Maplewood strongly supports Maplewoodstock, this is not a Township event. Maplewoodstock is produced by Music & Arts Education Project, Inc., a local 501(c)(3) organization. The festival is organized and produced by the Maplewoodstock Volunteer Committee.
Neither Maplewoodstock Music & Arts Festival nor Music & Arts Education Project, Inc. are affiliated with Woodstock Ventures LLC.
