New York Korean Festival Taking Place In New Jersey This Weekend

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ (AP/WCBS 880) - Organizers say problems obtaining permits forced them to move New York's annual Korean harvest festival to New Jersey.

WCBS 880's Levon Putney In New Jersey

The two-day festival will take place this weekend at Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park instead of on Randall's Island, where it was held last year.

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The grand stage was under construction Thursday afternoon.

The event will feature a K-Pop music concert and a performance by The Village People on Sunday.

New York City officials asked organizers to reduce the size of the event because the concert has the potential to draw approximately 40,000 people each day. Organizers have limited concert tickets to 25,000.

"We expect at least 20,000 people or up to 30,000 people [for the festival]," says Yosef Chai, the festival's technical manager.

He says they'll have popular Korean musical acts and great food at this traditional celebration of the fall harvest.

"It's similar to Thanksgiving. So, we call it the Korean Thanksgiving," he told WCBS 880 reporter Levon Putney.

Members of the Korean American Association said the upcoming festival hurt attendance at their annual event in Ridgefield last weekend.

The association's Kun Lee estimates the group lost more than $50,000 when more than half the vendors canceled.

Others, however, have said that weather might have been to blame for poor attendance.

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