Art All Night festival goes all-virtual amid pandemic
TRENTON » Welcome to the new normal, art lovers.
Art All Night 2020 has been altered but not canceled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Due to this public health emergency, the popular 24hour event will now take place as a fully virtual affair this weekend beginning 3 p.m. Saturday through 3 p.m. Sunday, officials announced.
“As uncertainty continues over when and how New Jersey will recover from COVID-19, the likelihood of holding a festival in August, in Trenton, with thousands of attendees seemed increasingly remote,” Artworks Executive Director Lauren Otis said in a statement. “We realized it was prudent to make other plans, and the more we explored the idea of a virtual event, the more we realized how exciting the possibilities were.”
Artworks produces the annual arts festival, which usually attracts large audiences to an urban warehouse. More than 10,000 people attended the 2019 Art All Night festival, including Gov. Phil Murphy.
The prior 2018 Art All Night ended in chaos due to a mass shooting involving police. The infamous gun violence did not prevent organizers from hosting the 2019 in-person event, and the COVID-19 pandemic shall not prevent this year’s AAN from taking place online.
“Art All Night is going to be different this year, but a lot is different around the country and around the world,” AAN Director Joseph Kuzemka said in a statement. “We’re stoked to be able to present a virtual Art All Night to our audience, enabling us all to connect and interact happily as we celebrate our large, diverse and creative community in the midst of these unsettling times.”
Visit ArtAllNightTrenton.org for more information.