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Free Electronic Dance Party/Picnic Comes to Saint Nicholas Park

By Gustavo Solis | June 25, 2015 5:38pm
 The fre outdoor dance party/picnic attracts thousands of people to Harlem's Saint Nicholas Park, organizers said.
Sundae Sermon
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HARLEM — It's a classic family picnic in the park — plus thousands of people dancing to Grammy-winning DJs spinning electronic dance music.

"Sundae Sermon" is a free outdoor event that combines family fun and world-class club music, said founder DJ Stormin Norman. This year's event goes from 1 to 7 p.m. at Saint Nicholas Park near 135th Street.

“All these people are dancing and doing their own thing, it doesn’t really matter," he said. "There is no judgment. It’s a really free, open spirit. I think that comes with an outdoor event.“

He created the event because he got sick of having to take trains down to Brooklyn or Downtown to go to events like these, he said.

“A lot of these cool dance, soulful house, disco funk parties were in Brooklyn and the South Street Sea Port,” he said. “I would always run into friends at these events and they would say to me when are we going to catch the train to go to Harlem.”

When Norman first hosted the event people have called, "The Woodstock of Harlem," in 2008 only about 25 people showed up to Morningside Park.

Since then the venue has changed and so have the crowds.

They expect more than 5,000 people to attend Sunday’s event. Most of them families, bringing blankets and lunch to enjoy at the park.

The festival attracts big name DJs to perform outdoors. Louie Vega, a Grammy-winner and "the Godfather of Global Dance Music" spends his summer performing in Ibiza and Mykonos. He started doing Sundae Sermon events after Norman, who he knows from the club scene, asked him to go.

“It’s the best because you get all ages coming out and experience house music in that type of environment,” he said. “Having the sky above you and the sound is a whole new way to experience the music."

Vega likes to show up early with his family and friends to have a picnic and check out the live music before he performs. 

Vega often meets friends he hasn’t seen in months or even a year, he said.

"It’s almost like a huge family reunion," he said. “For me, Sundae Sermon is the best party in the city.”