This weekend watch the Spaghetti Eating Contest at the annual Spring Lake Italian Festival, cheers to Oktoberfest in Hackettstown, celebrate the opening of oyster season at the Oyster Festival in Red Bank, or shop your favorite sea glass ornaments and jewelry at the LBI Sea Glass & Art Festival in Ship Bottom.
Psst! Don’t forget to hashtag #NJMOM and tag @njmom and your little cuties could be featured in our next photo round-up.
Here are 12 festivals around New Jersey this weekend:
Manasquan Arts & Crafts Festival
September 29, 10AM – 4PM
Get your wallet ready to shop for handmade arts and crafts at the crafter’s favorite event, the Manasquan Arts & Crafts Festival. Maybe you’ll find a few gifts for Christmas early. Your kids will love the live entertainment, apple pie & pumpkin pie baking contests, and pumpkin painting activities.
Voorhees Plaza
Manasquan, NJ
Cost: free
Red Bank Guinness Oyster Festival
September 30, 12PM – 7PM
Celebrate the opening of oyster season with your crew, great food, and live music in downtown, kid-friendly Red Bank at the Red Bank Guiness Oyster Festival. Eat as many oysters as your belly can hold, and enjoy endless pints of Guiness (adults-only, of course).
White Street Municipal Parking Lot
Red Bank, NJ
Cost: $5, kids 10 and under free
Feast of St. Michael
September 27-29, 6PM-10PM, September 30 1PM – 5PM
Not ready to put away the summer festivals yet? Then make your way to St. Michael’s Church for the Feast of St. Michael – which is jam packed with sausage and peppers, meatball sandwiches, a beer garden, live entertainment, games, and rides for the little ones. Bonus: Thursday and Sunday are unlimited rides for $25!
40 Alden St.
Cranford, NJ 07016
Cost: free
Hackettstown Oktoberfest 2018
September 28, 6PM-8PM, September 29 – 30, 12PM – 8PM
Celebrate the month of October and your German heritage at Hackettstown’s family-friendly Oktoberfest. While there will be plenty of ales and pilsners to go around, your kids will love the Stein Carry Race(done with water) and other fun activities like the grain bag toss and costume contest. Practice your German, Prost! (that means cheers!)
144 Main St.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Cost: free
Second Annual Paw Prints 5K and Fun Trail 1-Miler
September 29, 8AM – 11AM
Whether or not you have your own pooch to bring along for the walk/run, you’ll get to meet lots of furry friends at this fun morning event. You can walk the 1 mile trail with the family or bring your pooch for the 5K, all proceeds benefit Friends of the Burlington County Animal Shelter.
Smithville Park
803 Smithville Rd.
Eastampton, NJ 08060
Cost: after 9/24 and through race day 5K runner $35 and Fun Trail is $25
LBI Sea Glass and Art Festival
September 29-30, 10AM – 4PM
This festival celebrates one of the many beautiful things the ocean brings us – seaglass. On both days of the fest, you’ll enjoy shopping for sea glass jewelery, ornaments, home decor, and artwork. You’ll witness the Sea Glass Guiness World Record Attempt – for most glass in a pile by weight, and your little ones can play the Guess the Gallon Contest – guess how much seaglass in the gallon and win the gallon!
Things A Drift
244 W 17th St
Ship Bottom, NJ 08008
Cost: free
Annual Downtown Spring Lake Italian Festival
September 29
Can’t make it to Italy this year? Don’t worry, just visit the Spring Lake Italian Festival for delicious Italian cuisine from local restaurants in the area. Are you in the mood for pizza, pasta, bread, cannolis? All of the above? Enjoy Italian folk dances, face painting, live music, balloon animals, and petting zoo. Bonus: Watch people stuff their faces with spaghetti in the Spaghetti Eating Contest – a crowd favorite.
Third Ave and Morris Ave in downtown Spring Lake
Cost: free
Drive-In Movie Night: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom
September 29, 5:30PM – 9:30PM
Step back in time at Camden County College’s Drive-in movie night. At dusk, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will play but you will also enjoy festival games and food trucks. Make a night at the movies a fun night out at the drive-in!
Camden County College
200 College Dr.
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Cost: free
Pumpkin Festival at Happy Day Farm
September 29 – October 3, Saturdays & Sundays 10AM – 5PM
Pick pumpkins right from the vine at Happy Day Farm’s 15-acre pumpkin patch. In addition to pumpkin picking, Happy Day Farm has hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin bowling, hay mazes, horse rides, and pig races. There’s plenty of food concessions on site and a Kids Korner too for ages 2-6.
106 Iron Ore Rd.
Manalapan, NJ 07726
Cost: $14, kids under 2 free, Fridays $11
22nd Annual Woofstock Festival
September 29, 11AM – 4PM
Hosted by the Voorhees Animal Orphanage, the Annual Woofstock Festival is family friendly and pet friendly. Not only will there be festival foods and food trucks, but you’ll find live music, craft vendors, dog demonstrations, dog rescue groups, and an animal parade.
John Connolly Park
Voorhees, NJ 08043
Cost: free
Ghost Tour of Ocean City
September 28-30, 8PM
Ready for Halloween? Get spooked on this candlelight walking tour of Ocean City, where you and your family will learn all about the historical and ghostly tales of this town. A fun, family-friendly way to get ready for Halloween!
Departs from 9th St. and Asbury Ave.
Ocean City, NJ 08226
Cost: $18, Ages 4-12 $12
Sea Hear Now Music Festival
September 29-30, 12:30PM – 10:30PM
The first-ever music and arts festival combines music, art, and surfing at one of the coolest spots on the Jersey Shore – Asbury Park. This two-day festival features music from Incubus, Jack Johnson, and Kaleo. In addition to an awesome lineup, you can shop vendors, join the festival for a morning yoga sesh, meet pro-surfers, and watch board shaping demos.
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Cost: GA pass $119, VIP $389
Psst! Don’t forget to hashtag #NJMOM and tag @njmom and your little cuties could be featured in our next photo round-up.
