Recap of ChicpeaJC Turns 3

We started planning ChicpeaJC Turns 3 months ago. When I decided to plan the event and the launch of Content Creators Academy, I had this big vision. I wanted every element of the blog to be represented at this event. Food, Fashion, Music, Art, Shopping, Photography, Jersey City History and, most importantly, Youth.

Since CCAJC will be a program for creative youth, we wanted to showcase talented people under 25 at this event.

This party took months of planning. I would say in the three years I’ve been doing this, it was the most intense few weeks of my life. But it all came together and it was a huge success.

A few weeks ago, we held auditions in the office and selected models, performers, and artists to participate in the show. A week before the event, we had rehearsals and fittings, and everything was starting to come together.

Morning of the Event

We all arrived at 11am for rehearsals, and the rest of the day was a blur. We had to do so much leading up to the event that I thought we would never be able to pull it off. Producer and designer Jamez Eli arrived with his fashion squad and they handled the fashion show and music performances while I took care of last minute things.

The Event

Doors opened at 6 PM and DJ Scott Lauren started the party. Quickly after, a few of the amazing performers took the stage. Anadelia played alongside the Lo-Fi’s, our house band for the night, and King TJay performed with DJ Chrome Crowns. We waited anxiously for the mayor to arrive to kickstart the night.

In the meantime, people enjoyed the selfie station sponsored by Tails on Trails, our step-and-repeat, and our photo booth sponsored by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson River Properties.

For all the Photo Booth pictures go here: http://imgurl.co/chicpeajcturns3

People started eating, shopping, mingling, and listening to music.

CCAJC Launch

The Mayor arrived with his beautiful wife Jaclyn, and we posed for a quick photo with my mini-me before starting the program. HayOner hosted and started the show, and I went up to say a few words. It was time to officially launch Content Creators Academy. We showed our video, and then I introduced the board members before calling up the mayor to say a few words. It was an honor to have him at this event supporting my third year and the launch of the academy. After the official launch, it was time to start the main event.

Fashion Show/Performances

As mentioned, we prepared for this show for months, and it was a huge production and undertaking. Special shout out to Andy Mac for helping us cast all of these wonderful models, who all did an incredible job and totally blew me away.

Jamez Eli and his team pulled this off without a hitch. I never thought in a million years that we would be able to pull off a fashion show that was about an hour long happening simultaneously while artists performed. We had amazing brands such as OTW Threads, Dead Since, Joi Louise, Female King, Another Man’s Treasure, Solidifyd, Qilo, Remain Infinite, Mint Market, Via Nero, Prosper, Jamez Eli, Fabricated Lifestyles, Common Royalty, and Chi Flo as a part of the fashion show and we tried to pair up the brands with local music by Naja Young, Justin Covington, Dylan Schroth, The Lo-Fi’s, Mateo Ahki, PeteyxKraze, Icon, Sasha, and brainorchestra.

I remember in the middle of the show, I was standing in the crowd and couldn’t believe that this was our event. I felt like I was watching a show on TV or in Fashion Week. That’s how well everything came together. One highlight I’d like to mention is when PeteyxKraze performed their set during the fashion show and started a full-on mosh pit in the middle of the stage while the mayor was sitting in the crowd. I looked over at Mayor Steve Fulop and saw him smiling and laughing, and maybe for a moment he considered joining. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.

In between the performance schedule, the dance crew DV8TORS performed and they killed it! Singer Sasha ended the show, along with Jamez Eli’s collection of gowns. It was the perfect way to end the night.

Food Vendors

Food is obviously very important to me, and we wanted there to be various food options to appeal to our partygoers. Everyone enjoyed the food, and I particularly enjoyed the Waffle It and Co. Chicpea special, which was made with waffle, Nutella, and bacon.

Mathew’s Food and Drink handled the bar for the night and they had a drink called the Chicpea, which was a lemon drink with roasted chickpeas, and to my surprise it was the best-seller of the night! Special thanks to them for being a part of the event, it was great.

Thank you to all of our food vendors – Jersey Jars, Guac Spot, Silly Chilly Hot Sauce, Talde, Dark Side of the Moo, Tidal Poke, Bang Cookies, Amiya, Shakin’ Juice Bar, Waffle It and Co, Olala Empanadas, and Chef Eliott.

Non-Food Vendors

We got some great feedback from all the fashion and accessory vendors. They all had a great time, and it was awesome to see people shop local and meet each other. My favorite booth was the Dead Since booth. They put together a whole wall, where people took photos. It was funny because it said, “Send Nudes.” Local artist ANRK was also giving out free prints to guests.

Thank you to the vendors who participated – Prima, Everything Pretty Boutique, Lawrence Ciarallo, Terrell Dominick, Moonchild, Resuma de Castro, Stella & Dot, Once Upon A Lauren, The Army of Pharaohs, Pen & Pistol, Remain Infinite, Dead Since, Qilo, Jamez Eli, Via Nero, and Fabricated Lifestyles.

Artists

We displayed photographs and artwork by Larry Rendon, Nabil Miftahi, Andy Mac, Ibrahim Adewole, Hiyasmine Gaskins, John Rivas, John Gomez, and Yezenia Roldan.

People loved that wall, and I noticed a lot of people lingered around the wall after grabbing a drink to check out the art. I saw a lot of the artists mingling and talking to people about their work, which made me really happy.

After Party

Right after the show, we quickly cleared all the chairs and host HayOner called everyone to come closer to the stage while DJ Stadium Status aka the Holy Ghost played Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 by Kanye West. It was such a beautiful scene. Everyone raised their arms in the air, and that’s when the after party started.

One of my favorite parts of the whole night was feeling the amazing energy in the room, seeing all these people from all walks of life dancing together. There was this electricity in the room. It’s really hard to explain, but you know what I’m talking about if you were there. For the last hour, Rob Cast took over and continued the dance party. It was awesome.

I can’t think of one thing that went wrong that night. It was everything I had hoped for. We were able to party in an empty corporate office floor on the Waterfront in Downtown Jersey City, but this party was about all things Jersey City – art, food, culture, people, music, fashion, shopping, and a whole lot of love. I’m so thankful to everyone who was a part of this event, and grateful for everyone’s support throughout the years.

Thank you to our sponsors who helped make this happen – SILVERMAN, Del Forno Real Estate, Tails on Trails, Historic Downtown SID, JLD Tax, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson River Properties, Central Ave SID, CANVS, Partners In Sound Productions, NJ, and Jersey City Chiropractic & Acupuncture! Check out the video by Michael Perez and photos below to see what really went down at the event.