While Newburgh City officials mull over reduced hours or a smaller footprint for the annual Newburgh Illuminated Festival, organizers have hinted that they are open to moving it to the Town of Newburgh if permits aren’t granted.

While the annual springtime festival, held along Broadway and Liberty Streets has traditionally run until 10 p.m., city officials favor an earlier end to the festivities proposing that it end at the daylight hour of 7 p.m. Organizers and supporters gathered at City Hall on Monday, April 10 to voice their concerns in response to the festival conditions and approvals. City council was open to concluding the festival at 8:30 p.m. instead of the 7 p.m. shutdown time.

Newburgh Illuminated, created by the late Mayor Judy Kennedy is a celebration of the city with music, art, fashion, dancing, various cuisine, vendors, community organizations and other local events over the course of a full day.

Supporters and patrons of the festival are welcomed from both near and far to take part in the festival and to see Newburgh illuminated in all that it has to offer. The regional festival has hosted hundreds of vendors, food vendors, local organizations and businesses since its inception.

Comments addressing the permit and other concerns were stated over the course of an hour and a half. This year’s festival is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 3.

“I know I’ve had conversations with many of you about many things in our city and particularly, of course, I’m here to discuss Newburgh Illuminated. You have our permit before you,” said Paul Ernenwein, past chair of Newburgh Illuminated. “Newburgh Illuminated has been an incredible success. What did it succeed in? It extinguished ignorance. It extinguished the ignorance in our adjoining towns and cities. It extinguished the ignorance throughout the Hudson Valley.”

During public comment, Newburgh Illuminated organizers had stated they submitted several permits which had not yet received approval. Further comments alluded to various security issues that occurred at the previous festival to which were said to have been addressed. Lack of communication between the council and city and business owners were also brought forward during the public comment period
“I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars into this thing out of my pocket and what do I get out of it? I get one thing. I get to see these guys smile,” said Rich Fracesse, owner of Silk Factory. “Our reward is to make people smile.” Fracesse also mentioned during his public comment that Illuminated organizers and leaders from the Town of Newburgh would be conducting a meeting the following day [April 11] suggesting that the festival would move to the Town of Newburgh should there be no approvals.

Other speakers included Chuck Bivona, owner of Bivona’s Simply Pasta; Angela Paul-Gaito, owner and instructor at APG Pilates; Sam Satanovsky, owner of Toasted; Efrain Acosta, owner of Casa De Fxdes BarberParlor; Jonathan Falcon, owner of Liberty Street Wines and Liquors; Carlos Navarro Alvarez, owner of Palate Wines and Spirits; Michele Basch and her husband Dan who own The Wherehouse; and Eric Jarmann, also of Newburgh Mercantile and managing partner of Gritworks.

Jacqui Jarmann, owner of Newburgh Mercantile, asked for additional clarification on the placement of the stage by her store as her business is one of the last on lower Broadway. With the stage movement, this could potentially lead to a loss of revenue for her business.

“The mainstage for Newburgh Illuminated was moved from right next to my shop to in front of city hall. So that means my business is behind the stage. So I need to know, will the public have access to go past the stage to come and visit my business or will we be blocked off?” said Jarmann. “I understand the need for control, I understand the need to keep the community safe, I understand that you had to do something with the borders to contain things, I get that, but don’t sacrifice my business.”

Police Commissioner José Gomérez and Police Chief Anthony Geraci were then called to the microphone.

“At no point in time is the police department denying the City of Newburgh Illuminated permit. The permit is going to be approved,” said Gomérez. “The permit is not up to Ann Street. We [city police] are not opposed to the festival. However, we are in charge of the safety of our citizens and we made those recommendations based on prior experience.”

According to Gomérez, the permit footprint would see the festival go up Broadway and then down Liberty to Spring Street. However, the gravel lot and remaining block in front of the Foundry, which has seen various construction materials placed, would not be included in the footprint. The previous year, the festival continued up to South William Street. The need for emergency vehicle access from the fire and police department was also addressed when making the recommendations. “We are proposing that it’s going to stop at seven so we have ample time to disassemble the festival and everybody can go home in a safe and orderly fashion,” said Gomérez.

“We respect each one of you individually that are part of Newburgh Illuminated and collectively,” said Geraci. “We want to see this occur. Some people that spoke on the microphone and public comment period said that we’re against them. That’s, that’s completely mischaracterized.”

Geraci clarified that the first permit submission was denied as the festival was proposed from noon to 9 p.m. Last year the festival ran to 10 p.m. which led to several hours of cleanup into the late night. A second permit was submitted along with another permit as the festival is a publicly sponsored event which the city requires submission of to move forward. He further stated the permit approves the festival going up to Johnston Street and a time set from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Following public comments and the commissioner and chief’s plan, council members offered their comments on the matter.

“If you’re threatening to go to another place, you are very welcome to do that. Let’s go in a different direction of saying we’re going to work together for this,” said Councilman Anthony Grice. “The professionals who work that event, I think what they’ve offered was sound.”

“I’ve attended every single year. I’m a huge supporter. I love Newburgh Illuminated. I expect it to continue expanding each and every year,” said Councilwoman Giselle Martinez. “The permit is not being denied, it’s being approved which is something that we should be celebrating. We want to make this work for the community.”

“I know how important it is for us to get exposure, to bring people into the City of Newburgh. I love this festival, I would hate to see it go somewhere else,” said Councilwoman Ramona Monteverde. “Let’s get back to the table, let’s talk.”

Other council members wanted to talk more with the Illuminated organizers to address any concerns and other miscommunication. Mayor Torrance Harvey stated that he would have wanted to meet with the executive team and additional leadership that were discussing the conditions for the festival.