2024 KINNARA MUSIC AND FOOD FESTIVAL

Thank you for making history and being a part of the first

AAPI music and food festival in Central New Jersey!

PAST EVENT
Sat June 8 , 2024 | 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
East Brunswick Community Arts Center
721 Cranbury Road East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Rain Date: Sat June 29, 2024
Bring your lawn chairs and/or picnic blankets

Kinnara is an outdoor celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander music, food, and culture.

Named after the half human, half bird mythological creature known for their musical prowess, the festival will feature industry established AAPI musicians while giving up-incoming artists and young local talent a platform to showcase and develop their craft. Food and non-musical art vendors will also be on the premises for the audience to experience.

Food by: Burrito Bowl, Bad For Business, Maricel's Kitchen, 3 Little Pigs, Moffle Bar, Tenmomi, Fomo Momo, Hangry Dogs, Garden State Bar, Sam's Fried Ice Cream and Cozy Tea Loft.

Biergarten featuring: Ashton Brewing Company, Lunar Hard Seltzer, and Heineken Silver

Vendors: Hikari Wo Sagasu, Baisun Candles, Doodles by Karen, The Lucky Neko, Studio Jeshimi, Crafteffect, ZoTo&Co, The Ha-Pi Studio, Rennatelier, Odd Designs, Painting Panda, Studio Jeshimi, Dennimations, Tongu Tech and Empower Martial Arts

Performances By

JUSTIN NOZUKA

Fresh off his sold out European and North American tour, Justin Nozuka is riding the momentum from his 5th studio album, “Daydreams & Endless Nights”. Born in New York City and raised in Toronto among a family of musicians, Justin reached global success with the RIAA gold certified albums “Holly” and “You I Wind Land and Sea”, the latter debuting at #1 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. JUNO nominations for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Best Alternative Album followed, along with world tours, performances including the Glastonbury and Fuji Rock Festivals, and TV programs like The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live! which sparked a dedication to touring he maintains to this day. Justin’s musical style has organically evolved from his acoustic, folk-infused roots to a spellbinding brand of alternative R&B as seen in his most recent releases. This unique musical diversity is resonating with his devoted fanbase and new listeners alike, setting the stage for an exciting new era of music.

MREE

Mree is an Ann Arbor based self-producing artist of ambient & dream-folk music. Her sound draws on her influences of Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens, and Imogen Heap, creating a bed of acoustic and electronic elements while her voice and intricate harmonies establish her signature sound.

Throughout the years, her music has been featured on numerous national TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, and Beauty and the Beast.

Her gentle, yet emotionally rich music provides a space for her listeners to find deep reflection and peace.

ALAN Z

With an audience of 100,000+ cumulative followers, Alan Z surpasses the confines of genres and racial barriers with his signature concoction of hip-hop aggression, R&B melodies, and pop sensibilities. His music is featured in Netflix, HBO Max and The CW, and he has worked with Ruby Ibarra, King Los, Raphael Saadiq, AJ Rafael, and Full Force. Alan Z headlined a tour in 2022, and he regularly performs at festivals and conventions, including TAN Asia Festival, Atlanta Korean Festival, NOLA Nite Market, AsiaFest, MomoCon, BlerdCon, and K-Pop All Night.

CAMILLE DE LA CRUZ

Camille de la Cruz is a multi-talented actress, singer and song-writer. She started her acting and musical career at the age of 10 with the Broadway Tour of School of Rock the musical as Tomika. After that, she has been casted in several commercials (online and nationwide), TV Series & animations that aired in Netflix, PBS and Apple TV. She was also a former Kidz bop kid.

JOE SONZA

Joe Sonza is a lone wolf. Born and raised in New Jersey, R&B artist Sonza blends introspective lyrics about isolation and independence with sensitive delivery. A first-generation Filipino American, Sonza started recording while studying music at his alma mater, Georgetown University. Prior to his college years, he cut his teeth busking at local cafes and restaurants, immersed in pop and singer-songwriter song-forms. Then, his debut project, 'SONZA 1', released in 2018 catapulted his recognition on his college campus from a Battle-of-the-Bands-winning blues-rock frontman to an R&B and rap artist still rooted in his singer-songwriter foundations. Later, Sonza's 2021 EP 'Everything or Nothing' took on the task of autobiographically portraying a reflection of family roots and personal identity. Later that year, Sonza's conceptual EP 'Halloween' captured a relationship from finish-to-start in a reverse timeline narrative. Joe has worked with many industry talents including Grammy-award winning mixer Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, mastering engineer Chris Athens, and a collaboration with YouTube sensation Composerily on their song "Roulette." His 2023 collab tape 'U & Me' with New Jersey rapper Globin, cemented Joe as a versatile songsmith able to hit hard and dig deep. Now with his latest single "Midnight" Joe Sonza endeavors to take his unique twist on pop and R&B to a different, nocturnal level.

RU DHOL EFFECT

Here we have a group of students who came together at Rutgers University and have been a part of RU Dhol Effect. RU Dhol Effect is the premier South-Asian American fusion band at Rutgers University. Our group composes unique blends of Indian and Western music to perform at cultural and philanthropic events.

TARA ARTS ACADEMY

TARA Arts Academy was founded by Tarika Yellaula in 2023. They were previously recognized as the T&T sisters and have performed at various local organizations, an Indian Reality show and the United Nations to name a few. Being trained in over 20 different dance styles, the sisters currently teach south indian, bollywood, hip hop and semi classical styles. They currently teach all ages in both locations East Brunswick and Plainsboro, alongside being hired to teach and perform at private events.

STARDROP

StarDrop is a Japanese Pop-Rock band delivering bright vocals and energetic melodies with their youthful songs about adolescence and the bittersweet passage of time.

Seira | Vocals, Guitar
Mari | Keys, Synth
Haru | Bass, Guitar
K | Drums

Thank you to our sponsors:

AAPI of East Brunswick

a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization

PAST EVENT
Sat June 8 , 2024 | 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
East Brunswick Community Arts Center
721 Cranbury Road East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Rain Date: Sat June 29, 2024
Bring your lawn chairs and/or picnic blankets

Performances By

Thank you to our sponsors:

For Sponsorship opportunity please contact us.
To see full list of in-kind donors, partners, and sponsors click here

CONTACT US

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

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PAST EVENT Sat June 8 , 2024 | 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm East Brunswick Community Arts Center 721 Cranbury Road East Brunswick, NJ 08816 Rain Date: Sat June 29, 2024 ** Bring your lawn chairs and/or picnic blankets**

Performances By

Thank you to our sponsors:

For Sponsorship opportunity please contact us. To see full list of in-kind donors, partners, and sponsors click here

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Subscribe to our newsletter

PAST EVENT
Sat June 8 , 2024 | 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
East Brunswick Community Arts Center
721 Cranbury Road East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Rain Date: Sat June 29, 2024
Bring your lawn chairs and/or picnic blankets

For Sponsorship opportunity please contact us.
To see full list of in-kind donors, partners, and sponsors click here