Byram Cove Party planning 3-day summer kickoff concert

HOPATCONG – It’s almost time to “tie up” on Lake Hopatcong, as summer nears and boats begin to return to the water.

Some of those boats will belong to members of Byram Cove Party, the nearly 5,000 member strong Facebook group devoted to fun times on the lake.

But Byram Cove Party founders Scott Carter and Brian DeVries plan to put their following to use to host a three day summer kickoff music festival called AquaMania.

Billed as a celebration of the start of boating season on Lake Hopatcong, the festival will be held May 15 through 17 at Patrick’s Pub on River Styx Road in Hopatcong.

Attendees can enjoy prizes, drink specials, and more than half a dozen live local bands and DJ’s playing 35 hours of free live music.

AquaMania is an event years in the making for Carter and DeVries. The pair say they are regularly contacted by local businesses to advertise events on their popular Byram Cove Party Facebook page.

“Since we love to promote and help out the local economy, we always do our best to help them out with promotions on our site, as well as rallying up our own troops to attend and help-out,’ Carter said. “Proudly, we've been able to help contribute towards bringing in a pretty nice crowd.”

Through doing this, Carter and DeVries have developed relationships with local businesses and bands, and decided to organize their own event.

The ball started rolling in February when they saw local alternative grunge cover band Who Wants What play a show and began talking about launching a collaborative event.

Carter and DeVries then decided to launch AquaMania prior to the traditional summer kickoff of Memorial Day to “get boats in the water” a little sooner on Lake Hopatcong.

“The start of boating season is always an extremely exciting time and we quickly realized that there isn't really anything to celebrate it anywhere around the lake,” Carter said. “We didn't want it to interfere with anybody's Memorial Day weekend plans so we figured that the weekend before would be a good weekend to cure everyone's cabin fever.”

The pair next decided to host the event at Patrick’s Pub, a lakefront restaurant and bar located on River Styx Road in Hopatcong, because they wanted a location that was accessible by both car and boat.

“Being that Patrick's Pub is the new pub on the lake, we liked the idea of trying to give them a nice boost to start their first boating season and parlay that momentum throughout the season and off-season,” Carter said. “It didn't take long at all for them to agree that it was a great idea. Not only were they on board, but they asked if we could make it a three-day event.”

Once they had a set date and location, Carter and DeVries enlisted the help of other Byram Cove Party-ers, holding weekly planning meetings and securing entertainment. They decided all music have to follow a specific criteria.

“We wanted to balance this event with our very own home grown talent from the Lake Hopatcong area. This supports our local artists and it brings in the local community to the event,” Carter said. “They need to be a cover band so that everyone knows the music in order to maximize the interaction between the bands and audience.”

All acts also needed to be “high energy” and be willing to perform for free so the event would have no cover charge.

Who Wants What also helped enlist fellow cover bands that fit the criteria, including Under a Ton, Sweet Tooth, and Change of Plan. DJ Mike D contacted the group and volunteered, and DJ Shatner was recruited to preform and be the weekend’s Master of Ceremonies.

“We posted on our BCP Facebook page that we were looking for acts and the responses piled in,” Carter said. “We were taken back by the talent and goodwill of everyone that volunteered to participate in the inaugural AquaMania.”

They had more bands then they could handle, and had to narrow down the weekend’s final performers to the band Citrus Distress, DJ Electro Tech, and DJ Paul Petsu.

Bagpipers will kick off the festivities Friday evening by playing the National Anthem and a to-be-determined radio station will broadcast Saturday from Patrick’s Pub.

Carter and DeVries also added some non-musical entertainment, including Fly High Watersports, which will offer lessons and demonstrations of their water-propelled jet pack.

Also on board is reptile specialist Gerald Andrejcak, who gained national attention last summer when he searched for a rumored boa constrictor in Lake Hopatcong.

This time, Andrejcak is bringing his own boa to the lake, along with other reptiles, at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16.

To benefit the community, AquaMania T-shirts will be for sale, with all proceeds benefiting weed harvesting for the Lake Hopatcong Commission.

“Every year it seems like the funding for the harvesting is always an issue and we believe that this is one of the most important things that goes on in our lake. It affects every homeowner and every boater,” Carter said. “Just take a look up at places like River Styx or Henderson Cove and you will quickly see what we're talking about. We don't know how much we will raise, but hopefully we can help make a difference with whatever we can bring in.”

Carter and DeVries are hoping a few hundred people will attend the first AquaMania, but based on the response they’ve received so far, they’re hopeful they might blow past their initial estimate.

To enjoy the show, people can go to Patrick’s Pub, or navigate their boats to the area and enjoy the show from the lake.

“They can raft up in order to watch the bands from the water,” Carter said. “Hopefully they don't forget to dock up and enjoy the food and drink specials though.”

Since it’s early in the boating season, Carter and DeVries expect most attendees will drive to AquaMania, but boaters are encouraged to keep the channel under the bridge open.

“AquaMania will be more than just a concert. It will be a community festival for all to and look forward to year after year,” Carter said. “It is going to be a fun, high-energy experience that hopefully raises some money for the lake and jump starts the lake economy for the local businesses.”

Check the Byram Cove Party Facebook page in the coming weeks for additional updates.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com

If you go:

AquaMania

What: A three day music festival on Lake Hopatcong

Where: Patrick’s Pub, 470 River Styx Road in Hopatcong

When: Friday, May 15, from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17, from noon to 2 a.m.