A Taste of Jersey festival debuts in Budd Lake

• A Taste of Jersey festival will be held at Vasa Park in Budd Lake on Saturday, Aug. 1, starting at 3 p.m.
• Performers include singer-songwriters Jack Tannehill of Randolph and Christine DeLeon of Dover, and the New Jersey-based bands Jersey Girls and Country Comfort. Headlining the festival is Slippery When Wet, a group that covers music by Sayreville native Jon Bon Jovi.
• Food trucks with a variety of cuisine will be on hand, as well local crafters. The event is being sponsored by the local chapter of the Vasa Order of America, which is dedicated to preserving Scandinavian culture.

If Bruce Springsteen is not able to make it to Budd Lake this weekend, it is not for lack of trying on Kevin DeFeo’s part.

Actually, DeFeo was looking to book a Springsteen cover band to appear at the festival, A Taste of Jersey, which will take place at Vasa Park on Saturday.

However, DeFeo is more than happy with the acts that he did hire for the festival, which he hopes will become an annual event.

He cites the headlining act, Slippery When Wet, a group that covers the 1980s and 1990s hits of Sayreville’s Jon Bon Jovi. “Bon Jovi’s music is as distinctly Jersey as you can get,” DeFeo says.

But DeFeo notes that New Jersey offers plenty of other musical traditions to tap, including singer-songwriters, pop, and even country. All those styles are represented in A Taste of Jersey.

Playing the festival are Jersey Girls, who specialize in girl-group hits of the 1950s and 1960s, and Country Comfort, a contemporary country ensemble.

Rounding out the bill are two generations of folk-influenced artists: Jack Tannehill of Randolph, who began his career in the 1980s, and Christine DeLeon of Dover, who started performing 10 years ago.

“Jack and Christine are great singer-songwriters with a strong local following,” DeFeo says. Both will be accompanied by violinist Renee Paddock of Ledgewood.

Paddock is no stranger to Vasa Park. She and her husband Clark have coordinated the annual Groove in the Grove events for the past five years. In fact, DeFeo credits those festivals as the model for A Taste of Jersey.

DeFeo is treasurer of the local chapter of the Vasa Order of New Jersey, a fraternal organization centered on Scandinavian culture. The group is based at Vasa Park in Budd Lake, which is sometimes hired out as site of concerts and festivals.

“We’re very proud of Vasa Park,” DeFeo says. “We have beautiful grounds. We have a playground for the kids. It’s a great place to hold events.”

More than a year and a half ago, DeFeo and other members of the order’s board of directors began discussing the idea of sponsoring their own music festival, rather than simply leasing their property.

Though A Taste of Jersey centers on music, the festival also offers cuisine in the form of several food trucks. DeFeo notes that, in recent years, these concession trailers have become increasingly popular.

“It’s become a phenomenon, especially in New Jersey,” he says. “I think it started when we hosted the Super Bowl (in 2014). Two nights before the game, there was a party in Secaucus where you had every type of food truck imaginable.”

In addition, local craft vendors will be selling a variety of merchandise at A Taste of Jersey.

DeFeo says he sees the festival as a celebration of the diversity in New Jersey. “Something about New Jersey is different from other places,” he says. “Mention ‘New Jersey’ to many people, and they think of ‘The Sopranos.’ ”

“In some ways, New Jersey is like ‘The Sopranos,’ ” DeFeo adds with a laugh. “We have the concrete and the grit. But that’s not all they we’re about. We have farmland. We have mountains. We have the shore. New Jersey has it all.”

For that reason, DeFeo says that he and the other members of the Vasa Order board hope that A Taste of Jersey will establish itself and grow.

“We see this as the foundation for an annual event,” DeFeo says. “In future years, I’d love to focus on other Jersey-oriented scenes. We could bring in acts from other parts of the state. We have so much to offer, and we want everyone to know it.”

A TASTE OF JERSEY

WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1. Gate opens at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Vasa Park, 1 Wolfe Road, Budd Lake

TICKETS: $10, $5 for children 5 to 12, free for children under 5. Free parking.

INFO: 973-527-7152 or vptasteofjersey@gmail.com