The Trenton Times published the following article on June 29, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton Heritage Days Festival still on, despite council pushback

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on June 29, 2013 at 7:35 AM, updated June 29, 2013 at 7:36 AM

TRENTON — Despite some push-back from city council members, the Heritage Days Festival will continue this weekend with the intention of celebrating Trenton’s cultural diversity, city officials said.

The festival will be held in Mill Hill Park today and tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be vendors selling Indian, Jamaican, Polish and Ecuadorian food alongside fried treats like funnel cake, Mayor Tony Mack said in a press release.

“I am looking forward to our Annual Heritage Days Festival as this program highlights the multicultural makeup of our City,” Mack said in the release.

Mack’s aide Anthony Roberts took heat from city council members earlier this month during a budget hearing for the recreation department, for moving ahead with the festival, even though council members said that they did not want city funds used.

Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward told Roberts that the council and the mayor had agreed, during discussions about the budget last year, not to fund the festival with taxpayer money.

Roberts said the mayor had no recollection of any such agreement.

At the same budget meeting, Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said the Heritage Days Festival many years ago used to be a true representation of the cultures in the city, but had since turned into a “block party” with large bounce houses and vendors serving up carnival food.

The festival also will provide family entertainment, with a lineup of musical acts and a “village” of bounce houses. There is also expected to be pony rides and face painting for children.

The event is expected to cost the city about $40,000 this year, according to a memo Roberts sent earlier this year.

In years past, the administration has requested $50,000 to put on the festival.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at (609) 989-5717 or jpizzi@njtimes.com.