Sandy Hook Foundation Cancels 2019 Summer Concert Series

FEATURED PHOTO CREDIT: Sandy Hook Summer Concerts Facebook Page

Joint Statement from the Sandy Hook Foundation and Gateway National Recreation Area: 

The Sandy Hook 2019 Summer Concert Series has been cancelled. This is due to the needed protection of Piping Plovers, a threatened and federally-protected shorebird. The plovers have been building nests and laying eggs along most of Sandy Hook’s beaches.

Noise scares the birds so much they can’t focus on what they flew here to do: live on Sandy Hook for a couple of months, then move on. This year, they have built more than 20 nests on the location that the Sandy Hook Foundation can use for its concerts.

All along the Atlantic shore from the Carolinas to New Jersey beaches, there are fewer than 3,000 nesting pairs of these special birds. We want them to thrive and lose the moniker of being threatened.

The National Park Service and the Sandy Hook Foundation want to help these shorebirds survive. Both unsuccessfully tried to find an alternative location.

That means this year, free beach concerts that have been a hallmark of summer on the North Jersey shore, will not be offered. We hope you understand, and will continue to support the efforts of the Sandy Hook Foundation and Gateway National Recreation Area’s efforts to preserve and protect the national treasure that is Sandy Hook.