The 12th Annual Festival in the Borough is bringing New Orleans to Warren County!

Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, with its mix of funk, rock, gypsy and New Orleans sound, is this year’s featured band.

The Festival in the Borough, the region’s largest street and musical festival, takes place in Downtown Washington Borough on Saturday Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Festival in the Borough, presented this year by Visions Federal Credit Union and the Washington Business Improvement District, features three stages of music, lots of vendors, kids’ activities and rides, great food, a beer garden, and plenty more.

There is no charge to attend this family-friendly event and there is ample free parking available around town.

In addition to Johnny Sketch, some of the other acts include Southbound, Brian Dean Moore Band, Dana Gaynor Band, JerZgirls, Milkweed with special guest Joe Cirotti, The Saddletones, BD Lenz Trio, and Steel Gravy, offering a true mix of styles from jazz to country to bluegrass and rock ‘n roll. Acoustic acts include Beth Sherby, Christine DeLeon, Winterlong, and Kevin D.

Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, who played at this year’s Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest, rocks the house all the time, every time. This classically trained New Orleans-based band delivers a smorgasbord of musical genres when it hits the stage. JSDN defy easy categorization: their irreverent funk is cut with rock riffs, a Gypsy/Klezmer flare, a Latin tinge courtesy of a hard hitting horn section, and a sense of humor. In a word, they are all about having FUN! In celebration of the New Orleans theme, the WBID will have an extra surprise or two for attendees.

Three stages are on tap: The Visions Federal Credit Union Stage in the Town Clock lot, the Castle Family Dentistry Acoustic Stage at the corner of School Street and Rt. 57 at Gaia’s Gift Shop, which will be hosted by the Skylands Songwriters Guild, and the Scotty’s Tavern/Wells Fargo Stage on Belvidere Avenue.

Welcoming Sponsor this year is PNC Bank, with other major sponsorships being provided by BASF, Hackettstown Medical Center, Culligan Water, One Bar & Lounge at Holiday Inn-Clinton, and WRNJ Radio. Additional sponsors include Good Impressions Printing & Mailing, Scotty’s Stadium Club, Wells Fargo, Castle Family Dentistry, and WNTI.org Internet Radio. The Festival is proud to also have grant funding from the Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission.

For vending information and more details on the festival itself, visit (and LIKE) the Festival in the Borough Facebook page, the WBID website, www.washingtonbid.org, or call the WBID office at 908-689-4800.