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History
The idea for the Bloomfield
Harvest Festival came to the mind of the former Mayor, James P. Norton, after he and his
wife, Dorothy Norton visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and saw their Musikfest in August of
1992. The former Mayor said it was a town similar to Bloomfield, where the industry
had left the town devastated, stores and businesses were forced to close so they came up
with the idea to have a Musikfest. The Musikfest was created to help bring people
back to Bethlehem and to showcase the stores and businesses in the area. With
great support from the stores and businesses in the area this festival runs for seven days
and attracts more than 100,000 people.
Mayor Norton thought that this
would be a great way to put people into the streets of Bloomfield, to showcase the
Historical Section, the Town Green, and the stores and businesses in the Center. In
the first year, there was a lot of enthusiasm and there was tremendous cooperation from
Essex County. In 1993 The Harvest Festival was presented to the Township of
Bloomfield. It spanned down Bloomfield Avenue and down Broad Street. There was
a lot of participation from the stores along Bloomfield Avenue. Mayor Norton
wanted this festival to show off the history of Bloomfield Center before and
after . The Harvest Fest is a two day event in September. It runs down
Broad Street from Bloomfield Avenue to Belleville Avenue. The crowds have grown
over the years since our first Harvest Fest. Estimated number of people and
families who have visited the two-day event since 1993 is over 70,000.
Each year the Harvest Fest adds
more and more attractions. They have gone from one stage of entertainment to two
Multicultural Music Stages. The Children's area has added more rides and
even Games of Chance with programs by puppeteers such as Bob Conrad, from Conrad
Productions. There is also a Rock climbing wall and for the second year we will have a Wrestling Exhibit.
 
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