Brookdale Park is set to transform into an open air stage this Saturday, as the Montclair Theater Festival returns for a full day celebration of live performance, spread across the park’s open lawns straddling Montclair and Bloomfield. Unlike a single indoor show or a modest town square gathering, this festival is built as a genuinely massive, free community celebration, drawing thousands of attendees for a packed schedule of theatrical programming running throughout the day.
Organized by the local Vanguard Theater Company in partnership with the Essex County Commissioners, the festival centers its programming around two major mainstage productions. At 3 p.m., attendees can catch a professional, fully staged outdoor production of The Tempest, presented in an accessible, abridged format designed to bring Shakespeare’s classic work to a genuinely broad audience without requiring the kind of extended runtime a traditional indoor staging might demand. Later in the day, at 6 p.m., the festival shifts into family friendly territory with a full mainstage production of Seussical: The Musical, complete with full costumes and live music, giving younger attendees and families a genuinely joyful, colorful centerpiece to close out the day’s theatrical lineup.
Beyond those two headlining productions, the festival keeps the park’s stage in near constant use throughout the day with a rotating series of pop-up performances. Different regional theater companies and local performing artists take turns throughout the afternoon, delivering short acts, previewing upcoming productions, and showcasing brand new scripts still in development, giving festivalgoers a genuinely broad sample of the theater talent working throughout the wider region rather than limiting the day to Vanguard’s own productions alone.
The festival grounds themselves offer plenty to explore between performances as well. Food trucks and artisan vendors line the park, giving attendees a full day’s worth of food and shopping options without ever needing to leave the festival grounds, while hands-on theater activities designed specifically for kids and families round out the day’s programming, giving younger attendees a genuinely interactive way to engage with the performing arts beyond simply watching from a blanket on the lawn.
With free admission, a full day of professional and community theater, and activities built for every age group, the Montclair Theater Festival offers a genuinely rare chance to experience a wide cross section of live regional theater in a single outdoor setting. Whether the plan is settling in for the 3 p.m. Tempest performance, sticking around for the 6 p.m. Seussical finale, or simply wandering between pop-up acts and vendor stalls throughout the afternoon, Brookdale Park is shaping up to be the place to be this Saturday for anyone who loves live performance.
