Montclair’s Amazing Make Music Winter Lineup 2024 Announced

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to make music and there are many holiday and musical celebrations throughout New Jersey and the country during the holiday season.

Make Music Winter is a free, outdoor celebration with many music-making events happening in cities nationwide on Saturday, December 21st.

Make Music Winter brings together people of all musical abilities and styles to play, sing, march, and dance through America's streets, plazas, and parks.

It began in 2011 as a complement to the annual Making Music Day on June 21, the Winter event focuses on musical parades that anyone can join, from a procession of strolling ukulele players to a Puerto Rican parranda.

Each participating city includes at least one mobile event that turns audiences into music makers, and it’s free for everyone to join in and make music.

Cities and towns participate including Montclair New Jersey, New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Milwaukee, Muskogee, three towns in North Carolina, and many others.

New York City’s Make Music Winter will debut several projects including Street Motets for New York City. Fifty choral singers will break into pairs for hour-long routes through Greenwich Village.

It’s all synchronized through the use of guide music played through earbuds. The couples will join with the others periodically to perform together and in harmony at various times. All the singers will meet up at Washington Square Park’s Fountain Plaza for the program finale.

The complete lineup of NYC celebrations, including times, meeting locations, and details on how to participate, is available at MakeMusicNY.org.

Montclair New Jersey’s 8th annual Make Music Winter will have six music-making events, including Phil Kline’s boombox parade Unsilent Night, and The World Turned Upside Down, with Appalachian, bluegrass, and zydeco songs.

The Montclair celebration will also include Holiday Bells and the Passing Notes at the Montclair Library, a ukulele play-along, and a performance by Kassaye Salasse.

Get more information about the Montclair celebration here.

More information about all the events and participating cities is available at MakeMusicDay.org/Winter.

All events are presented by The NAMM Foundation (NAMMFoundation.org) and coordinated by the nonprofit Make Music Alliance (MakeMusicDay.org).

A New Jersey restaurant hailing from two locations, Montclair and Ridgewood, have been named the best breakfast spot in the state. Raymond's is the best place to grab some food before your morning commute or dine with friends for some Sunday brunch. according to foodie website  Mashed. They came to this conclusion by "weighing awards, reviews, personal experiences, recommendations and more."

"If you're having a discussion about the best breakfast restaurant in New Jersey, Raymond's should be the clear-cut choice," the site says about Raymond's. "With locations in the cities of Ridgewood and Montclair, their all-day breakfast options include Eggs Norwegian with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce and the Steak & Eggs, which comes with wonderfully spicy jalapeno chimichurri. Go there once, and don't be surprised if this restaurant with its super cool 1930s décor becomes your must-have restaurant when you're craving an epic breakfast."

Raymond's was founded in 1989 by Raymond Badach who opened the Montclair location when it originally stood as just a luncheonette on Church Street where they mainly served coffee, according to their website. Over the years, the restaurant expanded by getting a cappuccino machine, expanding its food menu, and later opening up the Ridgewood location which is right across from  Van Neste Square Park. Raymond's began making a community in both locations and soon enough became known for their expansive menu and specials. Some fan favorites include French toast, pancakes, omelets, homemade soups, and Wednesday night special-fried chicken!

The restaurant's Montclair address is 28 Church St. and the Ridgewood spot is located at 101 E. Ridgewood Ave.

The Montclair location is open Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Ridgewood is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. while Friday and Saturday they are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Neither location takes reservations so be sure to get there at your earliest convenience.

And who says you have to stop at breakfast? Take a look at some mouthwatering photos of the food from Raymond's below: