From a month long sunflower festival in Lambertville to three separate volunteer fire company carnivals, two county fairs, and a live music calendar stacked with everything from Grammy winning blues to a 40th anniversary rock show, here is everything worth putting on the calendar between now and next Wednesday.
New Jersey’s Complete Guide to This Weekend and the Week Ahead
New Jersey’s mid August calendar is about as full as the summer gets, and this stretch delivers an especially wide range of ways to spend it. Whether the plan is wandering a golden sunflower field, riding a fire company carnival’s Ferris wheel, catching a Grammy winning blues guitarist on a town green for free, or settling in for a three day classic rock throwback on the Atlantic City boardwalk, there is a genuinely full week ahead. Here is the complete rundown, organized so you can find exactly what fits your weekend.
Sunflowers, Fairs & Community Carnivals
Late summer in New Jersey means fire company fundraisers, county fairgrounds, and, for one Hunterdon County farm, a full month of blooming gold.
Lambertville Sunflower Festival
Sunflower fields at Bellemont Farm during the 2026 Lambertville Sunflower Festival.
Bellemont Farm’s annual late summer agritourism celebration returns for a full month this year, transforming five acres into a genuine field of gold for the Lambertville Sunflower Festival. Visitors get a full month to wander the towering, blooming rows, with a rotating lineup of family friendly entertainment that changes depending on which day you visit, giving repeat trips throughout August and into September a genuinely different feel each time.
Kenilworth Fire Department Carnival
The largest annual fundraiser for the Kenilworth Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad wraps up its run this week, with free admission to the grounds every night. Blue Sky Amusements runs the midway of kiddie and adult rides alongside classic carnival games, and pay one price wristbands are available for 35 dollars on designated wristband nights, including tonight, Thursday, and the closing night Saturday. Beyond the rides, the grounds feature a full spread of carnival food, a dedicated community beer garden, and a genuinely popular dunk tank where five dollars buys five throws at a local firefighter, EMT, or police officer. The carnival closes out Saturday night with its Super 50/50 raffle drawing at 10 p.m., a jackpot that has historically topped 10,000 dollars.
Hillsborough Rotary Fair and Business Expo
Somerset County’s own five day carnival tradition continues through Saturday, transforming the Hillsborough Promenade lot next to Lowe’s into a classic midway with more than 22 rides, carnival games, food vendors, and an expansive local business expo. A fireworks display lights up the sky Friday night at 10 p.m., with Saturday night serving as the rain date if needed, and the fair closes out with its own giant 50/50 cash raffle drawing Saturday at 10 p.m. Every dollar raised supports the Rotary Club of Hillsborough’s community service work, from post secondary scholarships to local food bank donations. Hours run 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Passaic County Fair
One of Passaic County’s most beloved summer traditions returns for four days of free admission fun at Garret Mountain Reservation, opening with a family focused night Thursday that includes a 7:30 p.m. opening ceremony and a 35 dollar wristband option for unlimited rides. The fair’s lineup spans amusement rides, carnival games, arts and crafts, environmental education activities, pony rides, bounce houses, a beer garden, and a full live music schedule running each evening, including sets from Naughty Humphrey, Mixtape Meltdown, Grupo Mambo Swing, and Cold Sweat. Fireworks light up Friday and Saturday nights at approximately 9:30 p.m., and free shuttle service runs from designated satellite parking for the entire run.
Community Summer Bash 2026
The New Market Fire Company hosts a free, family friendly street festival right on its own station grounds this Sunday, blending live DJ music, a photo booth, and a bounce house packed kid zone with the same crowd favorite dunk a firefighter tank that has become a staple of fire company fundraisers across the state this summer. Local food trucks and dessert vendors round out the food options, with an afternoon watermelon eating contest adding a lighthearted competitive element, alongside a pop up vendor marketplace showcasing small businesses and makers from across Middlesex County.
Metuchen Street Fair and Craft Show
Organized in partnership with MegaBite Events, this massive street festival typically draws around 20,000 visitors to downtown Metuchen and runs rain or shine, a short walk from the Metuchen NJ Transit station. This year’s edition features between 125 and 150 artisan crafters and specialty vendors lining the pavement alongside a wide array of food trucks and street food, with downtown restaurants including Meximodo also open for indoor and patio dining. Multiple live music and performance setups run throughout the afternoon, and leashed dogs are welcome. New for 2026, a dedicated MegaBite Kids Adventure Zone launches directly in front of the Pearl Street plaza, with unlimited inflatable bounce houses, slides, face painting, and youth games.
Live Music, Concerts & Festivals
From free town green concerts to arena tours and a three day tribute to Woodstock on the Atlantic City boardwalk, the week’s music calendar covers nearly every genre.
Jeffrey Gaines and Jill Hennessy
Songwriters on the Beach continues its long running Jersey Shore tradition with a pairing of singer-songwriter Jeffrey Gaines and actress-turned-vocalist Jill Hennessy, part of a series that has become a genuine summer staple for the Bradley Beach community.
Paradise Island Luau
Camden County’s Twilight Concert Series takes a vibrant tropical turn this week, bringing an island themed night of music to one of the region’s strongest free summer concert lineups.
Evan Sherman
New Jersey’s own Evan Sherman returns to the Back Deck for a world class summer jazz evening, part of a career trajectory that has moved quickly enough to make him one of the state’s most closely watched young jazz talents.
Riley Green: Cowboy As It Gets Tour 2026
Riley Green brings his Cowboy As It Gets Tour to the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, delivering the same no gimmick, relatable country songwriting that has carried him from a self-titled 2018 EP to headlining amphitheaters nationwide.
RE-WIND ’69 Music Festival
RE-WIND ’69 brings the spirit of Woodstock to the Atlantic City boardwalk for a three day celebration of classic rock, peace, love, and live music, a genuinely ambitious festival undertaking for the Garden Pier.
Monster Jam
Monster Jam roars back into the Prudential Center for a four show weekend, with performances Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at noon and 6 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m., giving families multiple chances to catch the action.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A golden ticket lands in New Jersey as Spotlight Players stage Roald Dahl’s beloved story this weekend, a family friendly production well suited to younger theatergoers looking for their first live musical of the summer.
BoDeans, 40th Anniversary
The BoDeans celebrate 40 years of “Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams” with a landmark New Jersey performance spanning five decades of American rock, a rare chance to see a genuine heartland rock institution in an intimate theater setting.
Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte: North American Tour 2026
Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte co-headline the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, pairing two of the 2000s’ defining rock and pop punk acts on a single bill for one night only.
Jesse Malin’s Silver Manhattan
Demand added a second night to Jesse Malin’s Silver Manhattan run at The Vogel, giving Red Bank audiences two chances to catch the veteran songwriter’s latest project.
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic takes over Atlantic City for three straight nights, giving the jam band’s devoted fanbase a rare multi night residency to look forward to on the boardwalk.
Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival, Featuring Grammy-Winner Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Mayor Tim Dougherty and festival organizers have confirmed a full lineup headlined by Grammy winning blues prodigy Christone “Kingfish” Ingram for this free festival on the Morristown Green, one of the summer’s biggest free music draws in Morris County.
Beatstock With Deborah Cox, Treach and More
Beatstock brings more than 30 dance, freestyle, and hip-hop legends to PNC Bank Arts Center, headlined by Deborah Cox and Naughty by Nature’s Treach, for a night built entirely around throwback anthems.
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones brings genuine rock and roll royalty to Atlantic City as Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk continues its summer tradition, a rare chance to see the Stax Records legend and Booker T. and the M.G.’s icon live on the Jersey Shore.
Dana Fuchs
Dana Fuchs and Funktastic Voyage turn up the heat as Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk continues into the new week, keeping the Atlantic City boardwalk’s live music streak going well past the weekend.
Indie Street Film Festival Opening Night, With the Premiere of In Memorium
The Indie Street Film Festival returns to Red Bank with an opening night built around the premiere of In Memorium, directed by Rob Burnett, bringing a new feature film and its creative team directly to The Vogel’s stage.
Sadie Gust
Sadie Gust brings soulful songwriting and rising Philadelphia energy to the 2026 Sundown Music Series, extending New Jersey’s live music culture well beyond arenas and into the park settings that define the state’s summer concert calendar.
Theater
Two very different productions anchor this week’s stage calendar, one a jukebox musical classic, the other a bold new drama.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
The story of one of music’s defining songwriters and performers continues its New Jersey run, tracing Carole King’s path from Brill Building hitmaker to solo superstar through the songs that soundtracked a generation.
Change of Position
New Jersey Repertory Company’s world premiere continues its run this week, offering theatergoers a bold, unflinching look at survival and identity built around genuinely memorable characters.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Spotlight Players bring the beloved golden ticket story to the stage this weekend, a family friendly production well suited to younger theatergoers looking for their first live musical experience of the summer.
Whatever corner of the state you find yourself in this week, from a Hunterdon County sunflower field to an Atlantic City boardwalk stage, New Jersey’s calendar leaves very little excuse to stay home.
