From Earth Day festivals and food fests to live music, family runs and Rutgers Day, this weekend in New Jersey is packed with events to get you and your crew outside!
Our top picks for the weekend include:
- Festivals to celebrate Earth Day in Hoboken, Ridgewood or Egg Harbor Twp.
- Food festivals starring pickles in Teaneck and bacon at Laurita Winery in New Egypt
- All the Rutgers (R! U! Rah! Rah!) pride on Rutgers Day, Ag Field Day and the New Jersey Folk Festival in New Brunswick
- Family fun runs at the AAPI Color Run in Bloomfield or the MudHen IPA 5K (and Little Hen Mile) in Wildwood
- An afternoon for LEGO fans at a Star Wars Smart Play Adventure in Jersey City
- Outdoor art exhibits in Medford or Historic Smithville
- Pre-World Cup soccer fun at Girls in Sports Day with Gotham FC in Harrison
- A parade with the Philadelphia Mummers in Camden County
- A tribute to the shad fish at Shad Fest in Lambertville
WEEKEND
Illusionist Lyn Dillies: Sensory-Friendly Performance
State Theatre New Jersey, New Brunswick
Thursday
One of the most popular female illusionists in America, Lyn puts on a display of magic that is sensitive to teens and adults on the autism spectrum.
New Voices. Bold Visions.
NJPAC, Newark
Friday – Saturday
Four dancers from New Jersey Ballet celebrate the artists shaping the future of ballet.
Shen Yun World Tour
State Theatre New Jersey, New Brunswick
Friday – Sunday
Through classical Chinese dance, a live East–West orchestra, vibrant costumes, and animated backdrops, you’ll go back 5,000 in China to experience the traditions and culture.
Northeast Earth Coalition Earth Day Celebration
Montclair
Friday – Sunday
Activities during the week include volunteer cleanup opportunities, movie night, a demo garden and an Earth Day festival (April 26).
Bacon Fest
Laurita Winery, New Egypt
Satur
There will be wine for the adults, family-friendly activities, live music, food trucks selling lots of bacon-themed dishes, and vineyard tours.
Shad Fest
Lambertville
Saturday – Sunday
The American Shad is the largest fish in the herring family. Every spring, shad migrate from salt water to fresh water to reproduce. Fishermen call this the “annual spring shad run.” There will be food (seafood and not), shad fishing, vendor shopping, arts and crafts, live music, a Kids’ Bazaar, carnival rides, a beer garden and a huge craft market – all along the Delaware River.
Party for the Planet
Bergen County Zoo, Van Saun County Park, Paramus
Saturday – Sunday
While visiting the zoo, learn about conservation efforts on Saturday, and join a number of activities on Sunday, all dedicated to Earth Day.
FRIDAY
Earth Day Green Market
Historic Smithville, Galloway
Go Green Galloway is a preview of the summer market, but focusing on native plants. But more than a plant show, there will be crafts, artwork and food (like honey, fresh bread and pies). New this year is the Swap Stop, where you can bring items you no longer need or find treasures for free.
SATURDAY
Rutgers Day
Rutgers University, New Brunswick and Piscataway
Rutgers fans wait all year for the mega festival that takes over various parts of campus. Rutgers Fest is along College Ave in New Brunswick; Ag Field Day and the New Jersey Folk Festival are on the Cook/Douglass campuses in New Brunswick; and activities are set up on Busch Campus in Piscataway. There will be environmental displays, live music, food trucks, book and plant sales, kids’ activities and meet-and-greets with the Scarlet Knight mascot.
Miniature Worlds: An Artistic Collaboration of Tiny Libraries
Cotsen Children’s Library, Princeton
Ten local artists were given the same unpainted library diorama set and created their own whimsical libraries. The results will be on display in the gallery.
Potato Planting
Howell Living History Farm, Hopewell Twp.
Bill and Jesse, the resident workhorses, will plant a field of potatoes that will yield over 2,000 pounds of food for local soup kitchens. You can follow the horses with baskets of seeds, and then come back in August for the harvest.
Storytime with Roo the Dalmatian
Barnes & Noble, MarketFair, Princeton
Meet the real-life inspiration for the book Your Uniqueness: Roo the “Kangaroo” Dalmatian. Author Keith M. Grierson will bring Roo for a live reading and book signing.
Camden County String Band Parade
Haddon Avenue, Haddon Twp.
The Philadelphia Mummers string bands will march along Haddon Avenue from Crystal Lake to Haddon Square. Everyone is invited to the after-party at Haddon Square with live music from The Exceptions, along with food, drinks, and activities for everyone in the family.
Spring Festival
Powder Works Factory, Closter
There will be arts and crafts, vendor shopping, live music, painting with the kids, yoga flows, and food.
Pickle Palooza
Teaneck Armory, Teaneck
The mega pickle festival will have lots of salty and sweet treats to sample – even fried pickles, pickle tacos and pickle pizza – plus a brine drinking contest, competition for King & Queen Pickle, pickle toss and a Family Fun Zone.
Earth Day 10K
Washington Crossing Park, Titusville
Held on Earth Day, this 10K through the park has a mix of fields, tracks, paved park roads, gravel roads and horse trails. For every 100 people who sign up, a tree will be planted in the park. The race starts and ends at Phillips Farm Day Use Area and benefits the Washington Crossing Park Association.
Girls in Sports Day
Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison
Gotham FC’s soccer match against Bay FC puts the focus on female pro athletes. Aside from the game, there will be a Fan Fest outside the stadium, which includes free Grüns samples, glitter tattoos, sign-making and more before kickoff.
Kezus Food Festival
West Englewood Avenue, Teaneck
This outdoor festival will feature 30+ of the areas top vendors, serving everything from street food favorites to over-the-top creations. It’s a full-day experience with live DJs, eating competitions, and interactive activities. Aqua Riserva will provide free water all day; there will also be a mist tent to stay cool.
Art Goes to Town Juried Art Show & Craft Fair
The Village at Taunton Forge, Medford
This annual open-air gallery will be filled with original art, including a juried showcase of regional artists and makers, live art demonstrations, and performances. You can also meet the artists who created all the artwork and wares.
Hands-On History Traditional Crafts Festival
Red Mill Museum Village, Clinton
18th-century skills come to life through hands-on demos like blacksmithing, leatherwork, weaving, basketry, lace-making and violin-making. The event also features the Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project, where you can help create community art.
MudHen IPA 5K
MudHen Brewing Company, Wildwood
Runners and walkers can join the 5K through Wildwood, and then head to MudHen Brewing and its sister restaurant The Station House after for food, live music and craft beer. Kids can compete in the Little Hen Mile, a one-mile kids race for runners age 12 and under.
Feis at the Beach Irish Dance Competition
Wildwoods Convention Center, Wildwood
The Irish dance competition is presented by Cummins and D’Arcy Schools of Irish Dance, but you can also check out Irish products being sold in the main lobby, an Irish art competition, and an Irish soda bread baking competition.
Princeton Porchfest
Princeton
Multiple porches around town – 18, to be exact – will turn into mini concert stages so musicians can play throughout the day.
Chester’s 25th Annual Classic Car Show
Main Street, Chester
Classic cars and trucks will line the historic downtown: classics, customs, muscle, special interest, antiques, pro street cars and more. Trophies will be awarded at 4 pm: best engine, best truck, best paint, best in show, Top 5 winner. Musical entertainment by S.C.3. Entertainment.
Ales on the Rails
Station Avenue and Kings Highway, Mt. Ephraim
There will be beer, food, vendors, activities, music and more set up along the streets.
SUNDAY
Red Bank Street Fair & Craft Show
Red Bank
There will be arts and crafts, shopping, live music, kids’ games, food vendors and family-friendly fun.
ACUA’s Earth Day Festival
ACUA Environmental Park, Egg Harbor Twp.
Join the Atlantic County Utilities Authority for South Jersey’s largest Earth Day Festival. There will be recycling center tours, wind/solar/wastewater facility tours, touch-a-truck, landfill hayrides, live animals, interactive shows, a recycled art display, a hay maze, a playground, crafts for kids, bounce houses, and 100+ local exhibitors.
Art Walk
Historic Smithville, Galloway
More than 75 local artists will set up displays on the Greene. There will also be live music.
LEGO Star Wars Smart Play
Target, Jersey City
The LEGO Star Wars SMART Play Adventures pop-up is a life-sized, hands-on experience where you become the hero of your own journey as you choose your path to save the day. In-store, you can experience and shop the new SMART Brick technology firsthand, with build stations and live demonstrations. This is the only tour stop in New Jersey.
AAPI New Jersey Color Run
Brookdale Park, Bloomfield
You’ll get splattered with colored powder as you run through the park in honor of Holi and Songkran, both Asian festivals for spring.
Daffodil Festival & Earth Day Fair
Van Neste Square, Ridgewood
This year’s theme, “Sustainable Yards,” will highlight ways to create more environmentally-friendly outdoor spaces. In addition to educational displays, demos and a marketplace, the event will feature a recycling magician, the Daffy Dog Parade (beginning at 12:30 pm), a petting zoo, live music and a scavenger hunt.
Earth Day Festival & Greenway Walk
Bayonet Farm, Holmdel
Start the morning by taking a 2-mile walk around the loop, beginning at the Harding House. Visit the bake sale inside the Red Barn Deli. See exhibits, go inside the Nature on the Move Van, watch a show by Doodle Dude, take a tour of the Harding House, join a Mother Earth Drum Circle and grab a seat at the Eyes of the Wild Mammal Show.
Northeast Earth Coalition Earth Day Celebration
Montclair
Activities during the week include volunteer cleanup opportunities, movie night, a demo garden – but the events culminate on April 26 with an Earth Day festival.
Stirling’s Community Street Fair & Food Truck Festival
Main Avenue, Stirling (Long Hill Twp.)
The giant block party will feature an arts & crafts section, live entertainment, dancing, a karate demo, kiddie rides and games, face painting, sand art, festival foods and food trucks, and local merchants and civic organizations passing out freebies.
Earth Day Celebration & Music Festival
Monroe Plaza Center, Hoboken
Activities include public chalk art, crafts, fitness demonstrations, shopping at the Green Marketplace, where they can purchase sustainable goods from local makers, textile recycling, a bike valet, pebble painting, LEGO projects, a bird drawing class, upcycled sewing projects, a BollyHIIT class, and a walking tour of Northwest ResilienCity Park.
Super Bros. Brunch
The Bistro at iPlay America, Freehold Twp.
Have breakfast with the Super Bros. and Peach Princess. There will be photo-ops, a specialty kids menu and a themed coloring book.
Run Wild for the Zoo 5K and One-Mile Fun Run/Walk
Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, PA
Run or walk through Philadelphia Zoo during the race, then stop by your favorite exhibits after.
ONGOING
Beak Week
Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary, Short Hills
Through April 24
This new week-long birding competition has you looking for bird habitats, listen for bird calls and look for all types of species of birds.
Montclair Flea
Montclair Flea, Lackawanna Plaza, Montclair
April 25, May 16, June 27
There will be curated vendors selling everything from art to vintage finds indoors. Food trucks will be located outside.
1776
Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn
Through May 2
In this tribute to the country’s 250th anniversary, 1776 follows John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and some other delegates as they try to unite the 13 Colonies.
Dino Festival and Tulip Experience
Arrowhead Farmstead, Manalapan
Select dates, through May 3
Thirty life-sized dinos will be hiding amongst 1 million tulips on 150 acres of farmland for this combo fest. Activities for the kids include fossil hunting, dino stage shows and science lessons on the prehistoric. You can order from the food trucks or lemonade stand.
The Stinky Cheese Man And Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Arden Children’s Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
Select dates, through May 3
Based on the book, this musical flips classic fairy tales completely upside down. The Ugly Duckling stays ugly, a princess gets more slime than romance after kissing a frog, and familiar characters keep wandering into the wrong stories as narrators lose control and chaos takes over.
Von Thun Farms Tulip Festival
Von Thun Farms, Washington Twp.
Through May 7
In November, farmers planted 250,000 tulip bulbs for the first time ever. Visit on any day to pick your own, or plan to come by on a festival weekend when there will be food trucks, kids’ activities, farm animals (like Hope the Highland cow) and market shopping.
Spring Blooms
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
Through May 7
There’s so much to see among the 1,100 acres of gardens, woodlands and meadows. Already growing are hardy bulbs, crocus, forsythia and cherry blossoms. By next week, more than 150,000 tulips and other spring bulbs are expected to reach peak bloom along the 600-foot-long Flower Garden Walk. Come a little later in the season for flowering magnolias and dogwoods.
SUE The T. Rex Experience
Liberty Science Center, Jersey City
Through May 25
The world’s most complete, most well-preserved T. rex skeleton is making a stop at LSC so you can see her bones, hear her growl and smell her breath (seriously!). There will be fossils on display, projection mapping of other prehistoric creatures, and a life-sized fleshed-out replica to show what the creature’s life was like in the Cretaceous era.
Face(t)s of America Exhibition
Gallery Space, Rahway
Through June 13
Six artists whose work explores what it means to live, belong and define oneself in America will present their artistic thoughts through portraiture, photography and painting.
Elmo’s Springtacular
Sesame Place Philadelphia, Langhorne, PA
Select dates, through June 14
Kids can meet Blippi, sing along (and sign along to ASL) during a concert with Emma Memma, watch “Dino Ranch On Stage!’, check out the new Elmo’s Imagination Explorers stage show, and dress up for Elmo’s Pirate Weekend, as just some of the different themed events taking place each weekend.
Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition
The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Through September 7
There are animatronics, robots, ride designs, costumes and props that mimic The World Famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, giving you an insider’s look at the storytelling and building behind the rides and worlds at the Florida and California theme parks.
Editor’s Note: Always check times, dates and weather updates before heading out.
Got questions about this weekend’s events?
We pulled together a quick FAQ to help.
Q: Do I need tickets or reservations?
A: Some of the bigger attractions (musicals, theme parks) do require tickets, and popular times can sell out. It’s important to check the event link in our guide for details, times, date, pricing, availability and weather before you head out.
Q: Does the list include both indoor and outdoor events?
A: You’ll find a mix of indoor shows, markets, and museums, along with outdoor flower shows, events and festivals.
Q: What are some of the best things to do in New Jersey this weekend (April 24-26, 2026)?
A: This weekend (April 3-5, 2026) features family-friendly things to do across New Jersey and in NY and PA. Highlights include Pickle Palooza in Teaneck; Rutgers Day, Ag Field Day and the New Jersey Folk Festival in New Brunswick; a Star Wars Smart Play Adventure in Jersey City; pre-World Cup soccer fun with Gotham FC in Harrison; a parade with the Philadelphia Mummers down in Camden County; and a tribute to the local shad fish during Shad Fest in Lambertville
Q: What parts of New Jersey do these events cover?
A: We include family events happening throughout North, Central, and South Jersey, plus more events in New York and Pennsylvania.
Q: Where can I find more events near me?
A: This weekend’s roundup is a comprehensive list, but you can also browse more upcoming events on our calendar.
Q: How can I stay updated on more things to do in New Jersey?
A: Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
Read More:
You and Your Kids Will Love These Day Trip Ideas Around New Jersey
Fairs and Festivals in NJ: Our Mega-Guide
Springtime Flower Festivals In and Around New Jersey
