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House Head Summerfest 2018 GOSPEL of HOUSE MUSIC
SPONSORSHIP PRESENTATION & PROPOSAL
House of Black Julie Black, Owner/Producer
Black Star Entertainment Group LLC jblack@blackstarbooking.com West Orange, NJ 07052 973.687.6810
1
Overview
It began on Saturday, August 8, 2015, the first House Head Summerfest (HHSF) produced by House of Black, at the Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center (OSPAC) in West Orange, New
- Jersey. It was the start of a three-year journey, which culminated on August 13, 2017, with
the start of a new tradition with the introduction of GOSPEL Summerfest (GSF). House of Black is the brainchild production company of budding empresario, Julie Black- Peart, known to the entertainment industry as Julie Black. She is a former booking agent who has been producing events, from small comedy and jazz concerts in her backyard to the Summerfest events at OSPAC. While naysayers tried to convince Julie there was no room for another house music event, she forged on to see the Summerfest grow annually, from 1,500 patrons in year one, to approximately 3,500 in 2017. House Head Summerfest earned legitimacy as a go to event by the New York Times Thing to Do Calendar in 2016, and has been touted as “a classy event”, compared to the others. GOSPEL Summerfest is in the development phase. In 2017 it was met with positive responses from both patrons and performers and has expected growth for 2018 and beyond. Armed with a love for house music and living in the suburb of West Orange, NJ, Julie’s vision was to bring this music genre to the staunch lovers of house - house heads, in Essex County. Knowing the other New Jersey house music festivals were well established events, sponsored by their respective towns and big brand names, Julie was determined to bring an event to her hometown, and make it different from the rest. With no sponsors, she did it on her own; creating an event for people like her, mature adults, who in years past, spent until the wee morning hours at clubs like Paradise Garage, The Shelter, Club 88, Zanzibar and a host of
- thers. Most importantly, without a budget, Julie took a leap by asking every host, artists, DJ,
security and helping hand if they would donate their time; and they did, until 2017, when she chose to bring in some non-local talent to enhance HHSF and the GSF. To compete, she made the Summerfest a free event that was a cut above. She chose a venue with serene surroundings and actual bathrooms. “This is not a port-a-potty event,” she says. She provided a variety of food and vendors; a place where people could dance and reminisce to the music they love. Most important she enlisted talent the people would want to see and hear, all with an incentive to give something back. So, the mission of OSPAC, a non-profit
- rganization, became hers: To create an environment where Essex County artists of all socio-
economic and cultural origins may explore, create and communicate their craft in a supportive and nurturing environment; to present works of artistic expression by local, regional and visiting artists in an effort to foster the communications of ideas and perspectives; and to provide