This event creates a space where community members can share rich experiences and take pride in their diverse cultural heritage through high-quality performances, creativity, and originality, featuring inclusive performers and interpretations. Evolving into the inaugural OC Live Music and Arts Fest, our past OC Live music programming began in 2020 and has successfully included a diverse group of artists, offering a variety of genres like hip-hop, Afrofuturist, R&B, jazz, rock, and folk. Since 2020, our music program has reached over 4,000 people throughout the county, including Newburgh, Warwick, Middletown, and Goshen. The culmination of this series has resulted in the annual apex event: OC Live Music & Arts Fest.

Many artists in our region struggle to earn a livable income and are in need of financial opportunities. This event supports small businesses and entrepreneurs by providing artists, small businesses, and vendors with opportunities to sell their products, promote their brand, and develop lucrative business relationships. There is no adjudication or curation process to participate, ensuring the most equitable opportunity for our community, and through support from community partners, we remove the financial barrier of vendor booth registration fees for local artists and small businesses. OC Live exemplifies our mission to promote equitable access to the arts through cultural events.