Music

Reported Feature October 26, 2026

From an autumn finale and fireworks over the vines to holiday concerts, interactive mysteries and hands-on workshops, here is what is currently on Laurita’s special-event calendar through December.

Reported Feature October 9, 2026

From fall festivals and pumpkin picking to family-friendly attractions, seasonal celebrations, and outdoor adventures, New Jersey offers plenty of ways to make the most of the long holiday weekend with activities for all ages.

Event Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts · Maplewood, New Jersey November 7, 2026 · 7 p.m.

The Maplewood Strollers will bring The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the Burgdorff Center with a live Cosmic Light Cabaret shadowcast, audience participation and the ritual that turned a movie into something audiences have been rebuilding for half a century.

Event State Theatre New Jersey · New Brunswick, New Jersey February 28, 2027 · 2 p.m.

The New Jersey Symphony will bring two blockbuster film scores to life in New Brunswick, first with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in February and then a 50th-anniversary presentation of Star Wars: A New Hope in May.

Event Burlington County Fairgrounds · Columbus, New Jersey October 10, 2026 · 10:30 a.m.

The fifth annual festival brings Highland Games, Celtic music and dance, Gaelic lessons, Irish stick fighting, hurling, food and a full slate of family activities to the Burlington County Fairgrounds Oct. 10 and 11.

Event State Theatre New Jersey · New Brunswick, New Jersey February 28, 2027 · 2 p.m.

New Jersey Symphony will perform Klaus Badelt’s swashbuckling score live as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl plays on the big screen at State Theatre New Jersey.

Event Surfside Park · Avalon, New Jersey October 10, 2026 · 10 a.m.

Fresh seafood, nearly 40 artisan vendors, live music, beach hayrides, children’s activities and an all-day football lounge fill Surfside Park on Oct. 10.

Event Burlington Riverfront Promenade · Burlington City, New Jersey October 10, 2026 · 11 a.m.

The free Oct. 10 celebration will fill Burlington’s waterfront with music, storytelling, crafts, foodways, street games and cultural traditions as the city closes out its Second Saturdays arts series.

Event New Jersey January 13, 2027

A restored version of the 1977 theatrical release, four live-orchestra screenings, a Kevin Smith Marvel crossover and a brand-new Star Wars movie arriving on anniversary weekend are already on the calendar, and the flood of 50th-anniversary events has barely begun.

Event New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center · Edison, New Jersey October 17, 2026 · 3 p.m.

The Beast Coast's largest independent DIY shopping experience is turning the NJ Expo Center into an eight-hour night market of art, vinyl, oddities, tattoos, food, live entertainment and Halloween-season chaos.

Reported Event Downtown Somerville · Somerville, New Jersey September 22, 2026

The streets were wet, the crowd was smaller, and somehow the distance between people felt shorter.

Reported Feature September 20, 2026

New Jersey can now sell you a $5 piece of Jon Bon Jovi nostalgia with a chance at $200,000. Matthew Broderick is selling an online casino as an act of rebellion. Gambling has stopped advertising only the wager. It is borrowing everything we already love.

Culture September 16, 2026

My Chemical Romance's 20th-anniversary edition arrives October 23 with expanded music, new James Jean artwork and enough gloriously physical formats to remind us that some albums were never meant to live only inside an app.

Event Swim & Sport Club · Roxbury Township / Flanders, New Jersey October 3, 2026 · 1 p.m.

A Brother’s Revival is not simply revisiting a catalog. Its headliner carries direct musical connections to both the Allman Brothers Band and Dickey Betts & Great Southern.

Event Swim & Sport Club · Roxbury Township / Flanders, New Jersey October 3, 2026 · 1 p.m.

Jamtoberfest '26 brings Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and Phish traditions into one outdoor Morris County gathering built around long jams, open space and the culture between the sets.

Event Downtown Somerville · Somerville, New Jersey September 20, 2026 · 12 p.m.

Music Fest spreads headliners, community performers, karaoke, vendors, food and family activities across Main and Division streets on September 20.

Reported Feature September 8, 2026

The Deptford musician is turning county facts, local landmarks and civic geography into yacht-rock songs — a deeply strange, strangely effective way to explain New Jersey to itself.

Event Duke Farms · Hillsborough, New Jersey September 19, 2026 · 10 a.m.

The Sept. 19 program brings harpist Brandee Younger, filmmaker Penny Lane and Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad together for a day built around a deceptively simple idea: caring about the natural world can begin with wonder.

Event Powell Soundstage · Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, Long Branch, New Jersey October 2, 2026 · 6 p.m.

An Oct. 2 illustrated program at the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music traces the long relationship between Springsteen, Monmouth University and the New Jersey culture that helped shape both the artist and the archive now preserving his work.

Event Wiggins Park · Camden, New Jersey September 18, 2026 · 4:30 p.m.

WXPN’s 33rd annual festival returns to Wiggins Park Sept. 18-20 with Dawes, Portugal. The Man, Little Feat and a lineup designed to reward the people who show up before the headliner.

Event North Beach, Bradley Park and Atlantic Park · Asbury Park, New Jersey September 19, 2026 · 12 p.m.

Mumford & Sons and The Strokes headline Sept. 19–20, but music is only part of a festival that treats the beach, surf culture, art and the Asbury Park boardwalk as part of the bill.

Event Nashville, Tennessee September 3, 2026

The official two-continent festival is headed to Nashville and London. Our coverage plans are centered on Tennessee, with a separate return to Dollywood already taking shape.