Weekending ‘Round The Towns: October 2-4, 2026

Friday, Oct. 2

• Move, Breathe, Meditate, Franklin Park library branch, 64 Clover Place, Franklin Park. 11 a.m. Free; registration preferred.
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $52. The blues-rock guitarist is touring on the 30th anniversary of his debut album, “Ledbetter Heights.”
• Bill Bellamy, Stress Factory Comedy Club, 90 Church St., New Brunswick. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Ticket prices not posted; the club says all prices include fees.
• Hub City Jazz Festival kickoff dance party, with Valerie Adams and the Dimension Band, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Exhibition Hall, third floor, 11 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. $25. Food and drink sold separately.
• New Jersey Film Festival, Voorhees Hall, Room 105, Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. Evening screening. $15 general admission, $10 students. The fall festival’s closing weekend; the night’s title was not posted as of Thursday.
• Manhattan Short Film Festival, Somerset County Library System of New Jersey, Franklin Township branch, 485 DeMott Lane, Somerset. 1 p.m. Free; registration requested, walk-ins welcome. Audiences vote on the 29th annual slate of finalists.
• Scare Farm, Norz Hill Farm and Market, 120 South Branch Road, Hillsborough. 7 to 10 p.m. Admission not posted.
• Halloween hayrides, Lord Stirling Park, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge. 5 to 9 p.m. $15.
• Full-fun hayride, corn maze, pumpkin patch and petting zoo package, Abma’s Farm, 282 Amwell Road, Hillsborough. 3 to 4:30 p.m. $19.
• “Fired en Masse”, Center for Contemporary Art, 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster. 6 to 8 p.m. Free.
• Welcome World to George Washington’s Rockingham, Rockingham State Historic Site, 84 Laurel Ave., Kingston. 10 to 11 a.m. Free. Tours of Washington’s last wartime headquarters.
• Atlantic Visiting Nurse rummage sale, Far Hills Fairgrounds, Far Hills. 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free admission. Runs through Sunday.
• Middlesex County 4-H haunted house and hayride, Middlesex County 4-H Youth Center, East Brunswick. 7 p.m. $8 per activity or $15 for both.
• Farm of Horrors, Schaefer Farms, Flemington. Evening hours. Haunted hayride, trail and corn maze; admission not posted.
• “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” sensory-friendly screening, Hamilton Stage, Union County Performing Arts Center, 360 Hamilton St., Rahway. 7 p.m. Ticket prices not posted. Edge of radius.
• South Brunswick Jazz Café, Monmouth Junction: South Brunswick Municipal Complex, 540 Route 522, Friday, 8 to 10 p.m. Trombonist, composer and arranger Caleb Eckstein leads the Bobtet for the township’s Jazz Café concert. Doors open at 7:15 p.m.; light refreshments are included and the event is BYOB. Admission is $6 at the door.
• “The Glass Menagerie,” Princeton: Theatre Intime at Princeton University, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Tennessee Williams’ classic drama follows Tom Wingfield, his mother Amanda and sister Laura as the arrival of a gentleman caller upends the family’s fragile world.

Saturday, Oct. 3

• Snyder’s Farm Fall Festival, Franklin Township: Snyder’s Farm, 586 South Middlebush Road, Somerset, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A genuine hometown option this week. The farm’s fall festival includes pumpkin picking and seasonal farm activities. Festival admission is required; pumpkins are additional.
• Welcome World to George Washington’s Rockingham, Rockingham State Historic Site, 84 Laurel Ave., Kingston. 10 to 11 a.m. Free.
• Rutgers football vs. No. 6 Indiana, SHI Stadium, 1 Scarlet Knight Way, Piscataway. 8 p.m. Homecoming and Family Weekend, promoted as a blackout. Televised on Big Ten Network. Single-game ticket prices vary by section.
• “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with Barry Bostwick, New Brunswick: State Theatre New Jersey, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Original “Brad Majors” actor Barry Bostwick appears for a screening of a new 4K restoration with a live shadow cast, audience participation, costume contest, memorabilia display and Q&A. The evening also includes a tribute to Tim Curry. Tickets start at $34; VIP meet-and-greet and after-party options are available. Milk and Cookies series: Fiesta with Flor, State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. 10 a.m. and noon. Ticket prices not posted. Aimed at young children.
• Bill Bellamy, Stress Factory Comedy Club, 90 Church St., New Brunswick. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Ticket prices not posted.
• Fantasy: The Earth, Wind and Fire Experience, RVCC Theatre, Raritan Valley Community College, 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg. 7 p.m. $40 to $50.
• Spooktacular shows, RVCC Planetarium, 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg. 3 to 8 p.m. $11 per show, $20 for two.
• Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, Bridgewater: Bridgewater Commons, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. for workshops; lantern exhibit during mall hours. Twenty illuminated handcrafted Chinese lanterns, some reaching 10 feet tall, will be displayed throughout the mall. Weekend activities include lantern making, Chinese fan painting, games and traditional crafts. Exhibit and activities are free; lantern-making kits are $5. The lantern exhibit continues through Oct. 11. Fall Harvest Days, Norz Hill Farm and Market, 120 South Branch Road, Hillsborough. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. $17.99. A 7.5-acre corn maze, hayrides and pumpkin picking.
• Full-fun hayride, corn maze, pumpkin patch and petting zoo package, Abma’s Farm, 282 Amwell Road, Hillsborough. 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. $19.
• Flounder Brewing’s 13th annual Oktoberfest, Flounder Brewing, Hillsborough. Noon to 10 p.m. Admission not posted; commemorative glasses sold on site.
• Manhattan Short Film Festival, Franklin Township library branch, 485 DeMott Lane, Somerset. 11 a.m. Free; registration requested.
• Tall Tales of the American Revolution, Bridgewater library branch, 1 Vogt Drive, Bridgewater. 11 a.m. to noon. Free. For families with children ages 3 to 12.
• Pumpkin Train, Black River and Western Railroad, Flemington Station, 80 Stangl Road, Flemington. Multiple departures. $22.99 adults, $16.99 ages 3 to 11. Round trip to Everitt Farms at Pumpkin Junction.
• Fall Family Fun Weekends, Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $19.95 in advance, $24.95 day of; free for children under 3. Pick-your-own apples are unavailable this year because of spring frost damage.
• Halloween hayrides, Lord Stirling Park, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge. 5 to 9 p.m. $15.
• Bernardsville Farmers Market, Bernardsville Station, 50 Mine Brook Road, Bernardsville. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free.
• New Jersey Film Festival, Voorhees Hall, Room 105, Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. Evening screening. $15 general admission, $10 students.
• The Stylistics, Kean Stage, Kean University, 1000 Morris Ave., Union. 3 p.m. Ticket prices not posted. Edge of radius.
• Sesame Street Live: Elmo’s Got the Moves, Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown. 2 and 6 p.m. $45 to $79. Edge of radius.
• Unruly Sounds Music Festival, Princeton: Hinds Plaza, Sylvia Beach Way, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Princeton Sound Kitchen’s 10th annual outdoor festival features six hours of original music, contemporary grooves and experimental sounds from Princeton composers and area musicians. The lineup includes the Layale Chaker Trio, People of Earth, Jujubi, Dubious Moniker and others. Free and unticketed.
• Princeton 1776 Fest, Princeton: Morven Museum & Garden, Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. This one seems particularly up your alley. The America 250 event recreates aspects of everyday Colonial life with costumed interpreters, soldiers, craftspeople, cider-making demonstrations, colonial games, tavern songs, historic tools and live music. Benjamin Franklin is among the historical figures scheduled to appear, and the Princeton Battlefield Society will unveil a Battle of Princeton diorama. Admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the gate; children 12 and younger and active military and veterans are free. Rain date is Sunday.
• Fall Festival, Bridgewater: One Church NJ, 570 Garretson Road, Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. The community festival includes food, games, raffles, bounce houses, pumpkin painting, face painting, a photo booth, dancing and music. Admission, activities and food are free.
• Fall Music Series, Princeton: Palmer Square, Saturday, 1 to 3 p.m. The downtown outdoor concert series continues with an afternoon performance on the green. Free.

Sunday, Oct. 4

• Snyder’s Farm Fall Festival, Franklin Township: Snyder’s Farm, 586 South Middlebush Road, Somerset, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A genuine hometown option this week. The farm’s fall festival includes pumpkin picking and seasonal farm activities. Festival admission is required; pumpkins are additional.
• Welcome World to George Washington’s Rockingham, Rockingham State Historic Site, 84 Laurel Ave., Kingston. 10 to 11 a.m. Free.
• Hub City Jazz Festival main stage, Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, 2 Albany St., New Brunswick. Afternoon start, listed elsewhere as 1 p.m. Will Downing, Pieces of a Dream, Lindsey Webster, and Althea Rene with Nicholas Cole. General admission and VIP passes listed as sold out; priority passes were still available as of Thursday.
• Samara Joy and her septet, State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. 7 p.m. Ticket prices not posted. The six-time Grammy winner headlines.
• New Jersey Film Festival, closing day, Voorhees Hall, Room 105, Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. $15 general admission, $10 students. Final day of the 45th biannual festival, which opened Sept. 4.
• Fall Harvest Days, Norz Hill Farm and Market, 120 South Branch Road, Hillsborough. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. $17.99.
• Chinese lantern-making workshops, Bridgewater Commons, 400 Commons Way, Bridgewater. Noon to 6 p.m. $5 per lantern kit. The lantern display is free and on view during mall hours.
• Atlantic Visiting Nurse rummage sale, final day, Far Hills Fairgrounds, Far Hills. 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free admission.
• Fall Family Fun Weekends, Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $19.95 in advance, $24.95 day of.
• Pumpkin Train, Black River and Western Railroad, Flemington Station, 80 Stangl Road, Flemington. Multiple departures. $22.99 adults, $16.99 ages 3 to 11.
• Princeton Symphony Orchestra fall musicale, with the Prometheus Quartet, Princeton. 4 p.m. RSVP required; venue and admission not posted.
• “Illumination: A Haunted Concert by Candlelight”, Union County Performing Arts Center main stage, 1601 Irving St., Rahway. 2 p.m. Ticket prices not posted. Edge of radius.
• Somerville Street Fair & Craft Show, Somerville: Somerville Street Fair & Craft Show, downtown Main Street and Grove Street, Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The downtown street fair features artisans and crafters, food vendors, live music, a DJ, performances, children’s rides and games. Organizers say the event typically draws about 20,000 people. Free admission.
• Oktoberfest Celebration, Somerville: Village Brewing Company, Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Village Brewing holds its Oktoberfest celebration in downtown Somerville, making it an easy add-on to the street fair happening outside.
• Somerset County Historical Society Open House, Bridgewater: Van Veghten House, 9 Van Veghten Drive, Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. The Revolutionary-era house opens for special Sunday hours as part of Somerset County’s observance of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Free.

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