Saturday, September 19 was the busiest day of the fall: five of the sixteen events fell on it, and four others fell on October 3.
The fall season ranges from September 12 to October 31, with seven events dated in September and nine in October. Eleven of the sixteen are free events.
September: from the Chester Craft Show to the Irish Fall Festival
Rose Squared Fall Chester Craft Show opened the season on September 12 and 13 at 134 Main Street in Chester. It was billed as the 53rd annual, a juried outdoor craft and fine-art event produced by Rose Squared Art Shows.
Bergen County 4-H Fair in Ridgefield Park ran September 18 through 20 (the New Jersey Department of Agriculture list gave September 19-20). Admission and parking were free, and the fair had 4-H and Master Gardener displays, a craft fair with more than 75 exhibitors, a petting zoo and a carnival.
Four more events fell on September 19. Sea.Hear.Now Festival filled the Asbury Park waterfront on September 19 and 20 with more than 25 bands on three stages. Downtown Toms River Comfort Food Festival ran noon to 6 p.m. on Washington Street. Point Pleasant Beach Festival of the Sea was the 48th annual, a one-day seafood street festival that started at 10 a.m., with a rain date the next day. All About Downtown Street Fair in Jersey City ran noon to 8 p.m. on Newark Avenue and Grove Street.
Irish Fall Festival in North Wildwood ran September 25 to 27, with Celtic music, dance, food and a Sunday parade.
October: from the Collingswood Book Festival to Halloween
Four events began on Saturday, October 3. Collingswood Book Festival was in its 24th year, with authors, publishers and booksellers along six blocks of Haddon Avenue, plus storytelling, poetry readings, workshops and live performances. Oktoberfest at Historic Smithville in Galloway had more than 150 juried crafters, an international food court and a free shuttle from Smithville Square. The Cranberry Festival of Fine Arts and Crafts on Farnsworth was the 36th annual, a juried show on Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown organized by the Downtown Bordentown Association. Bottle Hill Day, Madison's downtown street fair, was in its 51st year and ran 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Smithville and Bordentown continued through October 4.
Two fairs on October 10: Ocean City Fall Block Party, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. along Asbury Avenue, and Westfield Street Fair & Craft Show (Fall), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at South Avenue West and the Boulevard. Two events on October 17: Chatsworth Cranberry Festival (October 17 and 18) and Downtown Toms River Harvest Arts Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Washington Street.
Toms River Halloween Parade, last of the sixteen: Saturday, October 31, at 7 p.m., through downtown. The town's other Halloween events: a Scarecrow Walk, October 9 to 23, and Haunted Downtown, October 24.
Eleven free events
Free admission at eleven of the sixteen: Bergen County 4-H Fair, the Comfort Food Festival, All About Downtown Street Fair, the Collingswood Book Festival, Oktoberfest at Historic Smithville, the Bordentown Cranberry Festival of Fine Arts and Crafts, Bottle Hill Day, Ocean City Fall Block Party, Westfield Street Fair & Craft Show, the Toms River Harvest Arts Festival and the Toms River Halloween Parade.
The other five (the Fall Chester Craft Show, Sea.Hear.Now, the Festival of the Sea, the Irish Fall Festival and the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival): admission either not free or not published.
Toms River: three of the sixteen
Toms River, in Ocean County, accounts for three: the Comfort Food Festival on September 19, the Harvest Arts Festival on October 17 and the Halloween Parade on October 31, all Saturdays and all with free admission. Downtown Toms River states that its events are always free to attend. No other town has more than one.
Where the overlaps fall
Eighteen pairs of events share dates. Five events met on September 19: Bergen County, Asbury Park, Toms River, Point Pleasant Beach and Jersey City. Ridgefield Park and Jersey City are in the northeast, and the other three are shore towns, Asbury Park in Monmouth County and Toms River and Point Pleasant Beach in Ocean County.
Four events began October 3, in Camden County (Collingswood), Atlantic County (Galloway), Burlington County (Bordentown) and Morris County (Madison). October 10 pairs Ocean City in Cape May County with Westfield in Union County, and October 17 pairs Chatsworth in Burlington County with Toms River in Ocean County.
Three events overlap with nothing else on the list: the Chester Craft Show (September 12 and 13), the Irish Fall Festival (September 25 to 27) and the Toms River Halloween Parade (October 31).
