Destination: Great Neck has partnered with the Village of Great Neck to host a music festival and street fair
This weekend Destination: Great Neck will be hosting Gatsby Fest on Saturday, June 11, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and on Sunday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Destination: Great Neck (DNG) has partnered with the Village of Great Neck, celebrating its Centennial year in 2022, and will present this 2-day live music festival and street fair for all to enjoy, residents and visitors alike. Visit the Village Green at Middle Neck Road in the “Old Village” to enjoy musical performances including a swing band, several rock bands and vocalists.
Destination: Great Neck is a new community organization, founded in 2021. This is their second Gatsby Fest and the group has many other activities planned for the future, aiming to bring a focus on arts and culture, boost economic development and tourism for Great Neck, its nine historic villages and other unincorporated areas on the peninsula. Janet Nia Esagoff, a Great Neck attorney is founder of Destination along with eight other Great Neck residents that make up the Destination: Great Neck Executive Board and committees.
“We have a committed, diverse board from all over the community,” said Esagoff. “We started organizing last year, in March 2021, and we are really excited about all the potential that lies ahead .”
Esagoff and her fellow board members are looking forward to the entertainment and fun activities at Gatsby Fest. The event, partnered with the Village of Great Neck Centennial celebrations will have street vendors, street performers, dance troupes, food trucks and other exciting features.
“Destination: Great Neck has its own brand of musical acts,” said Esagoff. “One of them we are super excited about is an accomplished swing band which will be playing period jazz and ragtime music from the 20s. We will have a jazz vocalist this year and tribute bands, including Meatloaf and Blondie performances.”
“The Museum of Great Neck, which is a pop-up exhibit we did last year is returning,” said Esagoff. “We have some extraordinary exhibits that showcase Great Neck’s history that everyone was fawning over. This year, we are introducing the DGN Shoppe, which has retail items for sale including cups, flasks, Gatsby items and the DGN Tote. We commissioned a local artist to design a map of the peninsula for the bag and it looks terrific.”
“At 3 o’clock on Sunday, we are doing our first Faces of Great Neck award,” said Esagoff. “We are going to be recognizing certain people in Great Neck for their hard work and contribution to the community.”
Additionally, the Village of Great Neck and DGN has invited local officials and prominent community members to enjoy the festivities. Honorees include Joseph Rutkowski, retiring musical director of Great Neck Public School, Robert Lincoln, retiring commissioner of Great Neck Park District, Benny Poole, retiring security guard of Great Neck Public School at 90 years old, Jodi and Jordan Harouche of Jzips (a 501c3 charity) and Eileen Curley, a community organizer helping the needy.
The GN Centennial and Gatsby Fest will be a weekend full of fun and excitement for families to join in and celebrate all the town has to offer.
To learn more about the upcoming Gatsby Fest, email info@destinationgreatneck.com
