The first county fair ran July 7 in Millville and the last ended September 20 in Ridgefield Park, about eleven weeks later. Seventeen fairs were listed in all, ten of them in July.
Six of the seventeen charged no admission. Eleven had a ride midway, and four (Cumberland, Middlesex, Passaic and Salem) set off fireworks.
July: ten fairs, six of them on July 25
Cumberland County Fair in Millville opened the season July 7 and ran through July 11 at the fairgrounds on Carmel Road. It had rides, livestock and 4-H exhibits, a fireworks show on July 8, horse barrel racing on July 10 and a demolition derby on July 11. Admission was $5 per person, and children 5 and under were free. The fair bills itself as New Jersey's oldest fair.
Ocean County Fair in Berkeley Township was listed for July 15 to 19 (unconfirmed) at Robert J. Miller Airpark. The fair has run since 1947. Adult admission was $10 and children under 10 were free. Cape May County 4-H Fair ran July 16 to 18 in Cape May Court House, with 4-H animal and project exhibits, a chicken barbecue, blacksmith demonstrations, live entertainment and a mechanical bull.
Burlington County Farm Fair in Columbus was listed for July 21 to 25 (unconfirmed). The fair's own site called the 2026 event the 80th Burlington County Farm Fair. It was listed with livestock and 4-H exhibits, a carnival midway, food vendors and live entertainment. Monmouth County Fair in Freehold, operated by the Monmouth County Park System at the East Freehold Showgrounds, was listed for July 22 to 26 (unconfirmed). It was listed with the 51st annual Home & Garden Competition and 4-H animal exhibits. General admission was $10, children 12 and under were free, and Sunday admission was free for seniors 65 and over and for students with ID.
Gloucester County 4-H Fair in Mullica Hill ran July 23 to 26 at the 4-H fairgrounds on Route 77. Rutgers Cooperative Extension reports about 20,000 visitors a year. The four days included equestrian and livestock shows, 4-H project exhibits, rides and games, magic shows, live music and tractor parades every day, plus a nightly barbecue built around local produce. One parking fee covered all four days.
Morris County 4-H Fair in Mount Olive ran July 24 to 26 at High View Farms, with 4-H project and animal exhibits, a parade of clubs, farm-tour tractor rides, monster truck rides and search-and-rescue dog demonstrations. Mercer County 4-H Fair was the shortest July fair: two days, July 25 and 26, at Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township, with free admission and parking, animal shows, hayrides, pony rides and archery.
Warren County Farmers' Fair in Harmony Township, just north of Phillipsburg, was listed for July 25 to August 1 (unconfirmed). It has included a hot air balloon festival since 2001, with mass launches from the balloon port off Strykers Road each evening at about 6:30 p.m., weather permitting. Admission was $10 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 12. Children 5 and under got in free, and parking was free. The main-arena demolition derbies were a separate ticket.
The New Jersey State Fair and Sussex County Farm & Horse Show in Augusta ran nine days, July 31 to August 8, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds. It combined a horse show, 4-H and agricultural exhibits, a carnival midway, performing-arts stages and an agriculture learning center. The Sussex County Farm & Horse Show Association states on its own site that it was incorporated in 1940.
August: six fairs, from Salem to Hunterdon
Salem County Fair in Pilesgrove and Middlesex County Fair in East Brunswick both opened August 3. Salem ran five days at the fairgrounds on Route 40, near Woodstown, with horse, dairy and goat shows, pony rides, pig races, kiddie tractor pulls and fireworks on Thursday evening. Admission was free and parking was $20 for all five days.
Middlesex ran seven days, to August 9, at its permanent fairgrounds on Cranbury Road, and the fair association called the 2026 edition its 88th anniversary fair. It had rides, fireworks, 4-H livestock shows, live music and baking and craft competitions. Adult admission was $10, and seniors 65 and over and children 3 to 10 paid $4.
Somerset County 4-H Fair in Bridgewater was listed for August 5 to 7 (unconfirmed) at North Branch Park, with free admission and free parking. Atlantic County 4-H Fair in Mays Landing was two days, August 7 and 8, at the David C. Wood 4-H Center and Fairgrounds on Route 50. Admission was free and parking was $5. Exhibits covered baking, fine arts, robotics and STEM, model railroads, composting and small engines alongside livestock.
Passaic County Fair in Woodland Park ran August 13 to 16 at Garret Mountain Reservation, with rides, bounce houses, games, animal ambassadors, 4-H exhibits, food trucks, a beer garden and live music. Admission was free, parking was $5 per vehicle, and fireworks were scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. Hunterdon County 4-H & Agricultural Fair in Lambertville closed the month with five days, August 19 to 23, at South County Park: 4-H and agricultural shows, rides, tractor and truck pulls, home-arts competitions, craft and commercial vendors and main-stage entertainment.
September: Bergen County closed the season
Bergen County 4-H Fair in Ridgefield Park was the one fair of the seventeen after August. It ran September 18 to 20 at Overpeck County Park (the New Jersey Department of Agriculture's 2026 list gave September 19-20, while the county 4-H office described a carnival running Friday through Sunday, September 18-20). Admission and parking were free. The fair had 4-H and Master Gardener displays, a craft fair with more than 75 exhibitors, a petting zoo, food trucks and a carnival.
The six fairs with free admission
Atlantic, Bergen, Mercer, Passaic, Salem and Somerset charged no admission. Parking was free at Bergen, Mercer and Somerset, so those three cost nothing to enter. Parking was $5 at Atlantic, $5 per vehicle at Passaic and $20 for all five days at Salem. Of the six, Atlantic, Bergen and Passaic had a ride midway.
Animals, rides and music across the seventeen
All seventeen showed animals. Eight have 4-H in the name: Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris and Somerset.
Eleven had a ride midway: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Warren and the New Jersey State Fair. Gloucester's fair also had rides and games. The extras elsewhere were smaller and more varied: a mechanical bull at Cape May, pony rides at Mercer and Salem, pig races at Salem, monster truck rides at Morris, and demolition derbies at Cumberland, Middlesex and Warren.
Fifteen had live music, everywhere except Morris and Salem, and eight had crafts.
Overlaps, and the quiet stretches
July 25 had the most fairs open at once. Counting the unconfirmed Burlington, Monmouth and Warren dates as listed, six fairs were running: Mercer and Warren opened that day, Burlington was on its final day, and Monmouth, Gloucester and Morris were mid-run.
Five of the seventeen dates (Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Warren) were unconfirmed.
Early July had only Cumberland, July 7 to 11. After Middlesex closed on August 9, only Passaic and Hunterdon remained before Bergen County in September.
