Looking for things to do in NJ this weekend with your family? Halloween is creeping closer, so you and the family can celebrate aboard Halloween trains in Phillipsburg, Hammonton or Allaire State Park. If you’re looking for a low- to no-scare event for your lil’ ones, the Red Mill’s Happy Haunts in Clinton and Alstede Farms’ Harvest Moon Hayride and Night Time Corn Maze in Chester are the places to go.

For more fun, check out our complete list of fairs and festivals. If you want to stay inside, take a look at our favorite indoor activities. Got a bunch of younger kids to entertain? We’ve got activities that cater just to them, plus free events for the whole fam. Check out our calendar for events near you, or browse things to do in NJ this weekend by county below.

THINGS TO DO IN NJ ALL WEEKEND

things to do in nj this weekend
The Great Pumpkin Train

The Great Pumpkin Train
Phillipsburg
The Delaware River Railroad Excursions’ Peanuts engine will take you from Phillipsburg straight to a pumpkin patch. Try your luck in the corn maze or explore the Ol’ Susquehanna Mine where the kids can pan for gems.
Prices vary

DiDonato’s Trick-or-Treat Train
Hammonton
Come aboard this outdoor train ride, which travels through a goblin-friendly Halloween town. The kids can get their faces painted, pick a pumpkin from the patch, hit the hay maze or go bowling.
$12.95/online, $14.60/door

Haunted Express
Allaire State Park
Your lil’ daredevils will love exploring the haunted woods at Allaire State Park in Wall Twp. and walk through a portion of the trail, if you dare. While you’re there, visit Allaire’s Haunted Village before hopping back on the Parkway. Hop on a hayride, sip hot apple cider at the bakery and shop the general store.
$7.50/each

Fall Fun at Lupardi’s Nursery
Closter
Get lost in a six-acre corn maze and stop by 12 stamping stations along the way to enter the Corn Maze contest. Your youngest can hit the Snow White mini maze, the feeding zoo, hayride and haunted greenhouse.
$12.50/maze 

Great Pumpkin Festival
Vernon
Spend a day at Heaven Hill Farm and explore the ten-acre Maize Quest Corn Maze (aka the largest corn maze in northern NJ), filled with winding paths, questions and pictures. There’ll also be hay rides, pig races and pony and carnival rides.
$15/person

Brite Nites
Warren
Take your family to Wagner Farm Arboretum to see an elaborate display of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Hit the Barn of Fear before you leave for scenes and special effects sure to give you the heebie-jeebies. There’ll also be cider, hot cocoa, desserts and kids’ games.
$15/adults, $10/ages 5-12, free/ages 4 and under

South Jersey Pumpkin Show
Woodstown
Hit the Salem County Fairgrounds for pony and hay rides, a giant Pumpkin Pyramid, corn maze, pumpkin painting and contests ranging from decorated wagons and strollers to a pumpkin weigh off. There’ll be plenty of pumpkin desserts, wine samplings and more than 100 craftsmen selling their goods.
Free admission, $5/parked car

Deerfield Twp. Harvest Festival
Deerfield Twp.
Hop on amusement rides and check out entertainment like clowns, jugglers, stilt walkers and BMX bikes. Listen to live music, take farm and winery tours and browse vendor tables. Stop by Sunday at noon to see the parade, too.
Prices vary

Ocean County Columbus Day Parade & Italian Festival
Seaside Heights
Think clowns, contests, antique cars, bands and floats, oh my! Don’t forget to leave room for tons of Italian food.
Prices vary

Morey’s Piers Oktoberfest
Wildwood
Celebrating its fourth year, this Oktoberfest on the boardwalk has special German menus, an outdoor biergarten, live entertainment and a kids’ zone for the little ones.
$19.95-39.95

A. Casola Farms Fall Fest
Holmdel
This fall fest at A. Casola Farms guarantees fun for all ages with Halloween-themed attractions like the haunted hayride and greenhouse, corn mazes, the house of horror, cowboy shows and a petting zoo.
Prices vary

Ghost Train
Hackettstown
Suspense, laughter and thrills await at this show featuring a spooky train stranded for the night in a railway waiting station at the Centenary Stage Company. Passengers will be captivated by the psychic station master and his stories of ghostly apparitions.
$25

Happy Haunts at the Red Mill
Clinton
If you’re looking for a low- to no-scare event for your lil’ ones, the Red Mill is the place to go. A friendly guide will lead your group through the Mill before your lil’ monsters hop on a hayride, get their faces painted or dig into donuts and cider.
$10, free/ages 2 and under

things to do in nj this weekend
Stony Hill Farms

Giant Corn Maze
Chester
Have you heard the buzz about Stony Hill Farms’ ten-acre corn maze? This year’s theme is BEE aMAZEd, and it features a number of bridges and games.
$3.99-17.99

Holland Ridge Farms Sunflower Festival 2019
Cream Ridge
Create memories at one of NJ’s sunflower festivals, which boasts more than 50 acres of flowers. If you get tired of picking, there are food trucks, live music and a fire pit to keep you busy.
$7-10

Harvest Moon Hayride and Night Time Corn Maze
Chester
Spend an evening on a hayride at Alstede Farms—without the scares. Bring the whole family for a night filled with rides, pumpkin picking, relaxing around the campfire, apple cider and tasty s’mores.
$17

Fall Fun
Closter
This event boasts a tractor-pulled hayride to corn mazes, a feeding zoo, pumpkin painting and carving and tons of other fall-themed activities.
$6-20

SATURDAY (OCTOBER 12)

Harvest, Honey and Garlic Festival
Augusta
Stop by Sussex County Fairgrounds for a farmers’ market stocked with honey, garlic and cheese products. Stick around for wine and educational displays.
Free admission

Belleville Food Truck and Music Festival
Belleville
Spend a day celebrating food and drink with craft beer, sangria and margaritas, plus delights from 20 food trucks. Throw down a blanket and munch while the kids listen to music and hit different activities.
$5/admission, free/ages 10 and under

New Jersey Oktoberfest
Warren
Listen to live music while your family digs into German and American foods (and you grab a stein). The kids can go crazy at carnival booths, amusement rides and inflatables while you hit the vendor fair in the park.
$8, free/ages 10 and under

Lenape Day
Chatham Twp.
The fam can tour a replica wigwam, work on crafts, play games and check out traditional Lenape dancing and drums. Attend historical talks by the Ramapough Lenape People, too.
$5/ages 3 and up

Pinkalicious-The Musical

Pinkalicious: The Musical
Toms River and Deal Park
You are what you eat, and for Pinkalicious, eating too many pink cupcakes puts her in a peculiar predicament. See how this pink-loving cutie reverses her newfound ailment at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts. on Oct. 12 and at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center on Oct. 13.
$15/kids, $20/adults

SUNDAY (OCTOBER 13)

Dunellen Harvestfest
Dunellen
Hit Washington Park with the kids for activities, food, music and dancing. Check out wares from artists and crafters around the Garden State and meet local nonprofits.
Free admission

Fall Festival and Classic Car Show
Newton
Think classic cars, a ’50s costume contest, live music, vendors and crafters. Go head first at a pie contest, take the kids to the hay bale maze, a blacksmith demo, the scarecrow making contest and more.
Free admission

Fall Festival
New Brunswick
Hit the Rutgers Gardens for a scavenger hunt, lawn games and a School of Rock “Instrument Petting Zoo.” Then, visit animals, create fall crafts and paint a pumpkin (extra $4).
$10+

FIND MORE THINGS TO DO IN NJ THIS WEEKEND

Atlantic

Bergen

Burlington

Camden

Cape May

Cumberland

Essex

Gloucester

Hudson

Hunterdon

Mercer

Middlesex

Monmouth

Morris

Ocean

Passaic

Salem

Somerset

Sussex

Union

Warren

If you have any upcoming events you’d like to add to our calendar, click here! And if you know of other things to do in NJ this weekend, leave us a comment.