Weekend Picks: Going Downtown
Some of the state’s coolest downtowns are hosting special festivities this weekend, combining music and the arts with great shopping.
Kings Highway in Haddonfield becomes a pedestrian mall Saturday and Sunday when 265 artists and crafters join the regular high end merchants for the borough’s 16th annual Fine Art and Crafts Festival.
Plus, it just so happens that down the road, Collingswood is having its monthly Second Saturday celebration, with musicians strolling among the fine shops in one of South Jersey’s best restaurant towns.
At Princeton’s Palmer Square the Richard Reiter Swing Band plays in the Green on Saturday, so you can boogie as you shop. We like that the local Walking Company store is having a special on their waaay comfortable sandals, to keep your feet cool in the heat of high summer.
Which brings us to the Shore. Or close enough, anyway: in downtown Red Bank shoppers will find some of New Jersey’s hippest stores and best antiques, as well as musicians from the summer-long StreetLife celebration. Check here to see who’s playing in front of which store. Lots of choice eateries, too.
More food and more Shore in North Wildwood at the New Jersey State Barbecue Championship, Friday through Sunday, with barbecue teams from around the country competing to marinate, grill and smoke the best ribs, chicken, brisket and pork. This taste-off is held in conjunction with the Anglesea Blues Festival, which brings musicians to an outdoor stage and local pubs.
In Atlantic City, there’s jazz on the boardwalk, near historic Chicken Bone Beach, where vacationing black families were segregated until the 1950s. Entertainers like Sammy Davis Jr. and “Moms” Mabley played the local clubs, and tonight saxophonist Tia Fuller performs at Kennedy Plaza between Mississippi & Georgia Avenues.
Away from the Shore, we know where to find (delicious) fish out of water: inland Vineland is hosting the Downtown Seafood Festival on Saturday. There will be a man-made beach in the middle of Landis Avenue, as local restaurants and food vendors serve up shrimp, clams, calamari, mussels, chowders.
And up at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, there is a Native American Heritage Festival on Saturday and Sunday. It’s sponsored by the Redhawk Native American Arts Council, which presents the food, music, dance, and crafts of indigenous people from throughout the Americas.
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