The inaugural, and free, "ParkFest @ Bread Lock Park" will combine music, art, literature and local transportation history.
Arts and history will meet at a cultural crossroads this weekend in Warren County.
The inaugural -- and free -- "ParkFest @ Bread Lock Park" on Saturday will combine music, art, literature and aspects of local transportation history at the spot along the former Morris Canal, according to a county news release.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is hosted by the Warren County Parks Foundation and the Warren County Morris Canal Committee.
Bread Lock Park, 2627 Route 57 in Franklin Township, was so named because the lock tender's wife would bake and sell bread to the passing canal boatmen.
Glenn Snyder, right, of Nazareth, shows Jim Trotta, of Lebanon Township, his 1928 Franklin Saturday at Bread Lock Park in celebration of the 100th year of the Concrete Mile in Franklin Township in June 2012. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo) That it's on Route 57 is another interesting bit of history. The road used to be the Morris Turnpike, an 1806 toll road between Morristown and Phillipsburg. The road includes the "Concrete Mile," the first concrete highway built in New Jersey. It used materials from Thomas Edison's nearby cement company.
In addition to the road and waterways, the festival will include three screenings of "Extra 1104 - The Story of the Rockport Train Wreck," a local filmmaker's documentary on a horrible 1925 train derailment that killed or wounded 70 people in Mansfield Township. There will also be two documentaries shown about the Morris Canal.
History aside, the festival will also have an art show, authors gallery, classic car show and three jazz quartets.
More information is available at explorewarren.org.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.