Butterfly Festival, Lighthouse Celebration, Music & Arts Festivals Top List of Things To Do In NJ This Week

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Hey there everyone! Hope you are having a great summer and getting a chance to get out there and enjoy the all the fun events and attractions around our state! This week, my two older boys were away at Boy Scout camp, so my youngest son and I did a little mother and son camping in New Jersey’s Parvin State Park. Boy, did we have fun (more on camping in New Jersey soon)!!! This week, there are more fun things to do in New Jersey, including a Butterfly Festival in Mercer County, a music and arts festival in Mercer County, the observance of National Lighthouse Day, and more! Here are the top five things to do in New Jersey this week…

1. Stony Brook-Millstone Butterfly Festival

August 8th, 2015
10:00am – 4:00pm

The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed
31 Titus Mill Road
Pennington, New Jersey

The Butterfly Festival at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Center is a fun-filled family-friendly event that attracts more than 3,000 visitors each year. The festival spotlights the Watershed’s role in protecting the environment and clean water and shows visitors how to make planet-friendly choices to support greener living. The day will be filled with fun things to do including tethered hot air balloon rides available for a spectacular view of the Watershed Reserve (additional charges apply), tours of the new Kate Gorrie Butterfly House, butterfly and insect exhibits, science happenings in the lab, hay rides, nature walks, Butterfly and Bug Parade (bring your costume!), live music by The Dadz, delicious food, local artisans, and lots more! Admission to the Butterfly Festival is $10 per person or $25 per carload (advance ticket discount available). Visit the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed online for more information or to purchase tickets.

2. Hollystock Music and Arts Festival

August 8th, 2015
11:00am – 11:00pm

Downtown Mount Holly
Mount Holly, New Jersey

Hollystock is Burlington County’s biggest music and arts festival. The day features more than 40 local bands, dozens of food trucks, craft beers for purchase from Mt. Holly’s own Village Idiot Brewing Co. and Spellbound Brewing (as well as New Jersey’s Flying Fish Beer,) and artists’ works lining the streets. Performers at Hollystock 2015 will include Rusted Root, America’s Got Talent winner Bianca Ryan, Cold Roses, Kid Felix, The Better Half, Kwame Binea, John Faye, Alright Junior, The Burgeoning, Phantom Trap, Final Warning, Ozonna, and many other bands and artists. Hollystock is a free event. VIP packages benefitting Philabundance are available for purchase.

3. More Farm Fairs!

New Jersey’s farm fair season kicks into high gear with fairs happening all over the state this week. The New Jersey State Fair in Sussex County continues this week, with several other county farm and 4-H fairs happening as well. No matter which area of New Jersey you live in, there’s sure to be a fair celebrating the Garden State nearby. Here’s where you can find them this week…

Atlantic County 4-H Fair

August 6th – 8th, 2015
Free Admission/$4.00 Parking

David C. Wood 4-H Fairgrounds
3210 Route 50
Egg Harbor City, New Jersey

Middlesex County Fair

August 3rd – 9th, 2015
Admission: Adults -$7 / Senior Citizens – $4 / Children 3-12 $1 / Children 2 and Under – Free / Free Parking.

655 Cranbury Road (Route 535)
East Brunswick, New Jersey

NJ State Fair / Sussex County Farm and Horse Show

July 31st – August 9th, 2015
Admission: Adults $12 / Children (6-12) $6 / Children (5 and under) Free / Veterans Free / Seniors $9 / Free Parking.

37 Plains Road
Augusta, New Jersey

Salem County 4-H Fair

August 4th – 7th, 2015
Free Admission / Fee for Parking

Salem County Fairgrounds
Route 40
Woodstown, New Jersey
Free Admission / Fee for Parking

4. Asbury LOVES Jazz Weekend

August 7th – August 9th, 2015

Various locations
Asbury Park, New Jersey

Asbury Park has a long history of drawing jazz icons such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie to the Jersey shore area. In fact, Asbury Park’s west side clubs on Springwood Avenue were home to one of the nation’s most vibrant jazz scenes between 1910-1970. This year’s inaugural Asbury Park LOVES Jazz Weekend celebrates that history. This three-day New Jersey music festival will feature live jazz of all kinds (standard jazz, calypso, smooth jazz, Afro-Cuban Latin jazz and more) in a variety of settings from Main Street to the Boardwalk. Performers will include Karen Rodriquez, Lakehouse Music Academy Kid’s Jazz Band, Sympathetic Resonance with Karen Lee, Island Motion calypso with Desi Norman, Boardwalk Jazz with PJ Rassmusen, Valerie Adams & the Dimensions Band, Brooke Alford – Artist of the Violin, Alex Bugnon, Jonathan Fritzen & Vincent Ingala – The Next Generation, and Chieli Minucci & Special EFX with special guest Marion Meadows. Saturday’s events are free. Tickets are required for Friday’s kick-off celebration and Sunday’s main event at the Paramount Theater. Visit the Asbury LOVES Jazz Weekend website for more details on specific venues or to purchase tickets.

5. National Lighthouse Day in Cape May

August 7th, 2015
9:00am – 2:00pm

Cape May Lighthouse
215 Lighthouse Avenue
Cape May Point, New Jersey

Celebrate National Lighthouse Day at the Cape May Lighthouse! Free admission to the grounds and activities; the cost to climb the Cape May Lighthouse is $8 for adults and $5 for children (ages 3-12). To purchase discounted adult tickets to climb the Cape May Lighthouse (which also include the World War II Lookout Tower) click here.

Fun things to do at the National Lighthouse Day celebration include:

• Pirate hat-making for kids
• Storytelling about the lighthouse, pirates and shipwrecks, and the ghosts of the lighthouse
• Fun and educational programs by the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority and the Nature Center of Cape May
• Performers singing songs of the sea
• Appearance by Pete the Pirate, the mascot of the Cape May Lewes Ferry
• Vendors offering nautical merchandise
• Refreshments

Featured Photo Credit: Kevin Krejci via Flickr

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