From the South Orange Village Center Alliance Village Vibe newsletter:
PLAYDAY IS HAPPENING THIS SUNDAY, FROM 1 – 6 P.M.!
This Sunday, PlayDay: Come Play in the Street, is back for its third great year on South Orange Avenue in the heart of our Village Center! It may take place a week later than we thought it would, but it’s still bound to be the most fun you can possibly have between two curbs!
We still have the Zip Line that will zip you high above W. South Orange Avenue. We’ve also got a Rock Wall and the Euro Bungee – both first time attractions. We also have three separate inflatable zones, including inflatables for little kids as well as the older kids. And we are bringing back those super cool and super fast radio controlled race cars
PlayDay is free and open to the public. However, anyone (adult or child) wishing to participate in any of the above activities must purchase a $10 wristband, which you can purchase using cash or credit card at one of 3 locations: the corner of Sloan St. & S. Orange Ave., Spiotta Park, or the Riverside parking lot next to Ridge Tire. And if you’re planning on going on the Zip Line, Euro Bungee or Rock Wall, or using the skate park (which is free to use) you must sign a waiver of liability. Anyone under the age of 18 must have their parent or legal guardian sign the waiver. You can save time on Sunday bydownloading the waiver here, signing it, and bringing it with you (or your kids) to PlayDay.
PlayDay also has a ton of great stuff that’s totally and completely free, such as miniature golf, Foursquare, hopscotch, hula hoops, jump ropes, and corn hole. There will be table games under the NJ Transit viaduct including checkers, Sorry!, Chutes and Ladders, Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots, and oversized versions of challenges like Jenga, chess and Connect 4.
Let’s not forget the art experience that you can find in Spiotta Park with drawing activities, chalk art, printmaking, a giant puppet parade and more. The SO Public Library offers interactive fun, and local artist Russell Christian will be back to work with the community on another amazing large-scale sculpture, Big Head. The PlayDay Sport Court will be the place to go for on-the-street basketball, tennis and soccer. The South Mountain YMCA Y Zone will offer amazing fitness fun at the corner of Vose Avenue and South Orange Avenue. Additionally, representatives from more than two dozen community groups will be on hand to keep you up to date on what they’re doing and let you know how you can get involved.
There will be a lot of food for sale from some of our South Orange restaurants during the event. The main stage, located on South Orange Avenue at Scotland Road, will offer great live music and dance all afternoon. (You can see the complete schedule here.)
On the main stage, we are bringing back the Town Hall Deli Sloppy Joe eating competition at 5:30 PM (pushed back from 5:00 PM previously). This year there’s a new audience participation piece of the Sloppy Joe contest! You can “vote” for the contestant who you think will win the competition, and one lucky person who chooses the right contestant will win the grand prize of a SOVCA gift basket filled with gift certificates and prizes from some of our merchants! But, you gotta be in it to win it so make sure you get yourself to the stage at 5:30 PM.
We couldn’t do PlayDay every year with the incredible generous support of our sponsors! First, a special thanks to Stop & Shop for being our Premium Play Area Sponsor and sponsoring the Zip Line! We also want to thank Investors Bank, Natalie Farrell of Weichert, and BCB Community Bank for generously sponsoring our inflatable areas. Furthermore, a big thanks goes to South Orange Country Day School who is sponsoring the art experience, Sparkhouse, the sponsor of the radio controlled test track, and Overlook Medical Center, the sponsor of our Sport Court. By the way, Village Family Medicine on Vose Avenue will be open during PlayDay and will be offering a family comfort (i.e. breastfeeding) station. We also want to thank our great media sponsor for this year,TAPintoSOMA.
We also would like to thank all of our amazing Supporting Sponsors (in alphabetical order): Ashley Marketplace & Cafe, The Avenue at South Orange, Blink Fitness, Bunny’s Sports Bar, d&i Fitness, Eventage, Farmer’s Insurance, Jeff Lake Camp, Maplecrest Ford Lincoln, Maria Priadka School of Dance, Mark Murphy’s Music, Pet Wants, RWJ Barnabas/Saint Barnabas, South Mountain Y, South Orange Chiropractic Center, South Orange Exxon, South Orange Pet Services LLC, Spa Lady South Orange, Studio 509, Third & Valley, Town Hall Deli, The UPS Store, Village Dental Group, and Zeifman Orthodontics.
All the municipal parking lots (except for the Riverside lot on W. South Orange Ave.) will be open during PlayDay. South Orange Avenue between Ridgewood Road and Scotland Road/Valley Street will be closed from 8 AM until approximately 7 PM. You can see the all the street closures and parking information here.
As you can see, this year’s PlayDay is jam packed like never before. So South Orange Avenue is where you and your family want to be this Sunday from 1-6 PM for the greatest PlayDay ever!
