Things To Do

Up, Up & Away: The QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning

One-hundred hot-air balloons of all shapes, sizes and colors will fill the sky above Hunterdon County on July 27-29 during the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, the largest event of its kind in the country.

Ocean City’s A Night in Venice

July 28: During Ocean City’s A Night in Venice, decorated boats coast down Great Egg Harbor Bay along the parade route from the Ocean City-Longport Bridge to Tennessee Avenue. Bayfront homes dress up for the affair, too. Spectators line the waterfront, and a fireworks display closes the night.

9th Annual Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival

Festival

July 27-29: Get tattooed by over 250+ tattoo artists from around the world and party on the beach! The 9th Annual Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival, the best tattoo convention beach bash returns to Asbury Park Convention Hall.

Meadowlands Food Truck Seafood Festival

Festival

July 28: Enter the peel-n-eat shrimp contest, sample local seafood and watch horse racing during the Meadowlands Food Truck Seafood Festival. 

Summit Restaurant Week

Festival

July 19-29: A week of prix fixe menus and specials at Summit restaurants! Enjoy a summer evening in downtown Summit. Many restauarants offer outdoor seating. 

XPoNential Music Festival

Festival

July 27-29: Patrons jam out to live music from established and new artists during the three-day XPoNential Music Festival. This year’s headliners are David Byrne, Sylvan Esso, the War on Drugs, Sturgill Simpson and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. 

Art Society of Monmouth County’s College Scholarship Art Show & Sale

Arts

Thru Aug 29: The Art Society of Monmouth County is pleased to announce its College Scholarship Art Show and Sale at the newly-reopened Monmouth Beach Cultural Center, 128 Ocean Avenue. This show raises funds for an art scholarship to be awarded to a Brookdale Community College art major.

Impractical Jokers at Borgata Event Center

Comedy

Aug 23-24: Murr, Sal, Joe and Q—the four truTV pranksters known as the Impractical Jokers— will have the audience in stitches with their shenanigans.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z OTR II Tour at MetLife Stadium

Music

Aug 2-3: Beyoncé and Jay-Z went on their first co-headlining On the Run tour in 2014. Now, for OTR II, the married performers treat audiences to an intimate concert with tons of visual effects and elaborate outfits.

Arts Star Craft Bazaar

Shopping

July 28-29: For the fourth year, this outdoor sale showcases handmade goods from more than 60 vendors. 

Soulsational Music Festival

Festival

July 28: The Soulsational Music Festival is a feel-good fest that invites guests to bring food-pantry, toy and school supply donations to this all-day, rain-or-shine affair. Enjoy live music on two stages, yoga classes, organic food, beer and wine, an art gallery and more. 

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Presents: “Titus Andronicus”

Drama

July 18-August 5: This unsettling portrait of a society drowning in violence and lacking in civil thought or action holds a disturbing resemblance to aspects of our current world. 

Surflight Theatre Presents: “Saturday Night Fever”

Musical

Aug 7-26: Saturday Night Fever is an energetic musical based on Nik Cohn’s 1976 article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” and Norman Wexler’s 1977 film starring Jersey native John Travolta.

Asbury Park’s Palette Gallery Presents: “Summer Sauce”

Arts

“Summer Sauce” is a rotating cast of artists from around the country, currently featuring Tracy Piper, Diana Jensen and Shannon Rednour.  

Hunterdon Art Museum Presents: “Multiple Ones: Contemporary Perspectives in Printmedia”

Arts

Thru Sept 2: “Multiple Ones: Contemporary Perspectives in Printmedia” spotlights the work of 18 artists who are taking printmaking in bold directions. Pictured, Moni and the Sphynx by artist Swoon. 

Exhibit No. 9 Presents: “Take Me Deep”

Arts

Thru July 29: Exhibit No. 9 Presents: “Take Me Deep,” a contemporary summer exhibition celebrating our relationship to the sea featuring new works.

Princeton University Art Museum Presents: “Picturing Protest”

Thru Oct 14: The exhibit “Picturing Protest” examines political demonstrations during the ’60s and ’70s around the country and on Princeton’s campus through historical photographs.

“Summer at the Jersey Shore” Exhibition at MCHA Museum in Freehold

Arts

Thru Sept 8: Monmouth County Historical Association now features an exhibition that captures some of the various pastimes that were offered to visitors years ago during the summer season. “Summer at the Jersey Shore” opened to the public on June 15 and will remain on view through September.