This year’s SouthNext festival takes place Oct. 6-8.
The third annual SouthNext festival will take place Oct. 6-8, mostly at the South Orange Performing Arts Center and at a nearby “Big Top.” This is an unusually eclectic and intentionally undefinable festival — organizers use the phrase “Creative Collisions” to describe it — and it offers, this year, everything from interactive art projects to musical performances, political and spiritual discussions, yoga workshops, juggling, an intergenerational “Jeopardy!” competition and more.
Here is the SouthNext schedule.
OCT. 6
SOPAC Main Stage, 1 SOPAC Way
6:30 p.m.: Opening ritual
7:30 p.m.: Singer-songwriter-guitarist Tomás Doncker performs songs from The Mess We Made, an album recorded in response to the 2015 Charleston church shooting.
8:15 p.m.: Marry the Sea. Folk-rock group.
9 p.m.: Cover band The Stuff Bros. performs a special set of songs by female artists.
9:45 p.m.: The funky jazz group Sputnik 5 performs originals and covers of artists ranging from Miles Davis to Radiohead.
10:30 p.m.: Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ricky Persaud Jr. plays a mixture of reggae, rock, jazz and R&B.
SOPAC Loft, 1 SOPAC Way
6:30-10:15 p.m.: “Constructing Jumbo Elephant.” Interactive art project.
6:30 p.m.: “Moving Pictures,” featuring photographer Yasmeen Anderson.
8:45 p.m.: Capoeira. Brazilian martial arts.
9:30 p.m.: Tori Erstwhile & the Montys. Quirky pop and jazz.
OCT. 7
SOPAC Loft, 1 SOPAC Way
11 a.m.: “Driven to Distraction.” Presentation by Sangeeta Badlani, founder of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, whose mission is to raise traffic safety awareness.
Noon: “Intergenerational Jeopardy!” Game featuring contestants ranging from high schoolers to grandparents.
3 p.m.: “Twenty-One Elephants: A Brooklyn Bridge Story.” Presentation by April Jones Prince, author of the children’s book “Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing.”
8 p.m.: “Always a Creative Collision: WSOU, Musicians and the Loud Rock Lifestyle.” Panel discussion featuring musicians Kenny Hickey (Silvertomb, Type O Negative) and Ben Weinman (The Dillinger Escape Plan) and Howie Abrams (Lesser Gods Publishing), Amy Sciarretto (Atom Splitter PR) and Mark Maben(WSOU-FM).
Saint Barnabas Big Top, Sloan Street parking lot
10:15 a.m.: “Wonderments, Awe, and Magical Elixer.” Featuring improvisational acting by The Rocket Improv Players.
12:45 p.m.: Jam session.
1:30 p.m.: Country singer Lauren Davidson.
2:15 p.m.: “Think Global. Art Local.” Conversation with lawyer and activist Jim Johnson.
3 p.m.: A performance by Jazz House Kids musicians and a conversation between Jim Johnson and Jazz House Kids Melissa Walker about the role of music in building community.
6 p.m.: DJ music by Mr. Michel.
7 p.m.: The Vaughns. Pop-rock band.
8:15 p.m.: The Experi3nce. Neo-soul/jazz/hip-hop group.
9:30 p.m.: Lulu Lewis. Rock band.
Seton Hall Pavilion, Sloan Street parking lot
10 a.m.: “12 Trombones Led the Hit Parade.”
11 a.m.: “The Dark Path to Enlightenment.” Conversation with artists Sybil Archibald, Theda Sandiford and Paul Booth.
Noon: Group sing led by the SOMa Youth Choir.
4:30 p.m.: “The Immigrant as the Artist: Breaking Boundaries, Bridging Communities.” Conversation with community leader Nureed Saeed, artists Viktorija Bowers and Isamaldeen Kadhim, photographer Michael David Adams, and West Orange Human Relations Commission member Youssef Wadih.
5:15 p.m.: “A Shot to the Head: Is It Worth It?” Conversation about sports concussions with Seton Hall University director of sports medicine Tony Testa and Dr. John Shumko of the Sports & Physical Medicine Institute at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.
Activity Tent, at Sloan Street parking lot
10 a.m.: Art project presented by Nikhil Badlani Foundation.
10:30 a.m.: Juggler Andrew Kaefer.
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Temporary tattoos by Zoe and Sweetie Ink.
2 -5 p.m.: Elephant Bookmarks. Crafts activity.
Escape the Big Topo, Sloan Street parking lot
11 a.m.-6 p.m.: Escape game
South Mountain Yoga, 18 S. Orange Ave.
1:45 p.m.-3 p.m.: Kundalini yoga and meditation workshop.
3:15 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: “Enlightenment Is Awakening to Your True Nature” workshop.
OCT. 8
SOPAC Main Stage, 1 SOPAC Way
Noon: “The Mayors and the Mastermind.” Conversation featuring Newark mayor Ras Baraka, former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial and Harvard University professor Khalil Muhammad.
1 p.m.: “The Jester as Truth Teller.” Comedian Justin Williams in conversation with David Brancaccio of the public radio business show, “Marketplace.”
4 p.m.: Lux Modern Philharmonic. Concert and multimedia show.
5:30 p.m.: Closing ritual.
SOPAC Loft, 1 SOPAC Way
Noon: “Barnum From Many Sides: A Theatrical Experience.” Presented by American Theater Group.
2 p.m.: “Voices Raised: Music and Spirituality.” Discussion by Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders and performances by members of their congregations.
3 p.m.: “Intergenerational Jeopardy!” finals.
South Mountain Yoga, 18 S. Orange Ave.
1:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: “Ganesha — Remover of Obstacles” workshop.
