Back before cities built public parks, average people would bring a picnic basket and some musical instruments (and maybe a few adult libations) to the local cemetery and revere the dead by celebrating life in what was often one of the only patches of public space in town.

That tradition continues with the seventh annual Pushing Up the Daisies Festival at the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery on Saturday, May 19.

"We're looking forward to this weekend's music festival and hope many will come out to enjoy all the great music and our beautiful nature and history," Eileen Markenstein, who's come to be the face of the cemetery and heads the site's trustees, said.

Live music curated by promoter "Dancing Tony" Susco, local vendors, refreshments and an introduction to the cemetery's adorable bio-friendly goats have made "Daisies" a springtime tradition that not only brings the community together but also furthers the work of the cemetery's trustees and volunteers.

The cemetery, the final resting place of soldiers from the Revolutionary and Civil wars, depends on fundraising events -- especially the annual Ghost of Uncle Joe's Halloween costume party -- to help with the considerable upkeep needed for a patch of land that's stood in the heart of Jersey City since 1829. Skirmishes during the Revolutionary War were fought on this ground, and the site served as an ammunition bunker during the War of 1812.

"The Ghost of Uncle Joe's brought in $18,000 this year," Markenstein said. "That was enough to carry our operating costs for over five full months, which was wonderful! We are so grateful to Tony Susco for all he does in organizing this amazing annual event, as well as the Daisies festival.''



The biggest challenge facing the cemetery is financial support, she said.

"We have no city, state or regular funding so we must rely on our cultural events and individual contributions to pay all the bills, purchase equipment and supplies, and make continued needed improvements, while continuing to house veterans onsite who are a wonderful help to us," she said.



If you'd like to explore the cemetery or, even better, help with its care, Markenstein noted that cemetery functions as an all-volunteer, not-for-profit mission and welcomes volunteers every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 to noon all year long.



"We provide all the tools and equipment, we just need the manpower," Markenstein said. "Our next huge improvement project will be masonry repairs to the historic gatekeeper house and a new Driveway. It will take a while to raise that, as preliminary bids are in the $70,000 range."



Meanwhile, Markenstein and her volunteer army have started a 4-H club for kids ages 7 to 17 in Jersey City with help from Rutgers Master Gardeners.

"Starting this June 26, our Youth Urban Farm Club will meet every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.," she said. "We have an award-winning garden and we share all the produce with our volunteers, our veteran groups and the community. It's wonderful!"



And, once again, a herd of goats will spend the summer.

"They're our eco-friendly solution to weed control, and we and the entire community look forward to them each year," Markenstein said. "Some local businesses and families are also helping to sponsor a goat, which helps us offset the cost of the goat rental, fencing and supplies. We are also grateful to the community, which is very supportive of our mission. So many are enjoying our beautiful green open space and our many events. We have transformed the formerly abandoned site into a vibrant beautiful cultural heritage park and have been deemed officially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which we are very excited about, as it will allow us to apply for grants that we were not previously available."



This year the live music festival runs the gamut from loud to soft, with a few new faces and the return of some familiar veterans.

Here's a look at a few of this year's acts.



Young Buckz, 1:50 p.m.



"I don't know why it says Young Buckz, I think Tony just did that as a joke," admitted Andrew Wholf, a student at Hudson County's Hi-Tech High School music program. "I just refer to myself as Andrew Wholf, since these are all my original songs."

A jazz and blues aficionado and a gifted guitarist who studied under Hoboken legend Karyn Kuhl as a youngster, Wholf will perform songs from his recent album, "Forever Is So."

He also performs with friends in the jazz fusion group Elevator Pitch and is readying an album of his acoustic music. Not bad for a young man who isn't old enough to vote. He will perform at the Daisies festival with a small combo.

"What I'm trying to do now is find more places that I can play and put together a permanent band that goes around to New York and other places to perform. That's my goal. I'm just really excited to play music for people."

Elk City, 3:30 p.m.

Elk City is one of those "overnight sensations" that's actually been around nearly 20 years. Formed out of the remains of '80s Jersey pop act Melting Hopefuls, drummer Ray Ketchem and singer Renee LoBue have been captivating audiences as the core of Montclair-based Elk City for nearly two decades, but it's only been with the release of "Everybody's Insecure" on Bar/None Records that the band's suddenly enjoyed a higher profile in the area's music scene.

"This is our first record for Bar/None," Ketchem, who doubles as a well-respected producer and studio whiz, said. "And what we've found is that their approach has given us more visibility, at least within the circles that we're working in -- Montclair, Jersey City, Hoboken. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that suddenly there's more than just Maxwell's here if you want to get noticed, there are so many places to play and there are actually people going out to see bands. Jersey City is just an amazing place now and I think we've benefitted from that."

LoBue added: "This is a different record for us. For sure, it's the most personal record we've ever released. This is the first time I've given myself permission to write about my life. And people have noticed without me saying anything, they'll call and say, 'this record is different, it's so much more personal.'"



Diap, 6:50 p.m.

John Messina and Woody Colon met about three years ago in Hoboken but only started performing as the synth-pop duo Diap about in 2017.

"It was mostly experimental, kind of jamming and coming up with something original," Messina said. "We really had no idea of what we wanted to do when we started, actually. Me and Woody both just have a connection with music and a taste that aligns and we've just had a lot of fun with it."

The duo only started performing live a few months ago, but Messina and Colon have collaborated on earlier bands and other projects so it's come together quickly.

"This is all fairly new for me, but Woody lived in California for a while and he's had a career creating beats and working in music for a while," Messina said. "Genre-wise, we really try to mix it up. There's a little surf rock and there's some hip-hop beats, but we're always trying to create a new sound, a signature sound for us, and most of that has to do with the sound design. We don't spend a lot of time sitting down and writing things out. We're just endlessly improv-ing and jamming, and we record all that, and then try to find a song in what we've come up with."

If you go ...

The Pushing Up the Daisies festival starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 19, at the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery, 435 Newark Ave., Jersey City. A $10 donation is asked. For information, call 201-707-0738.

1 p.m.: gates open

1:50: Young Buckz

2:40: JaimeRose

3:30: Elk City

4:20: Overlake

5:10: AMINAL

6: pioneer the eel

6:50: DIAP

7:40: Tony Saxon