Lifestyle
9 Can’t-Miss Events This March in New Jersey
March in New Jersey is where winter loosens its grip and the state starts waking up again. Parades roll down Main Streets. Music spills out of venues. Food festivals warm up crowded halls. It’s that in-between month where you still need a jacket – but the energy shifts.
Here are ten standout events happening across New Jersey this March that deserve a spot on your calendar.
1. Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade
March 14 • Morristown
One of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the state returns to Morristown with bagpipes, marching bands, Irish dance troupes, and community groups lining the streets. Businesses throughout town are already selling official parade pins, and turnout is expected to be strong.
2. Sea Isle City St. Patrick’s Parade
March 14 • Sea Isle City
The Shore goes green with a coastal twist. This parade mixes Irish pride with beach-town spirit, drawing visitors from across South Jersey.
3. Garden State Film Festival Preview Events
Various March Dates • Asbury Park
As the full festival approaches in the spring, March events often include early announcements, networking mixers, and film spotlights that draw local creatives and industry professionals.
4. Fourth Wave Fest
House of Independents • Asbury Park
An all-women-led music festival supporting 180 Turning Lives Around, spotlighting artists while supporting survivors of domestic violence.
5. Devils Home Games
Prudential Center • Newark
March hockey matters. With playoff positioning on the line, home games carry extra intensity.
6. Spring Vendor Markets
Across towns like Red Bank, Montclair, and Hoboken, indoor markets begin popping up again — handmade goods, food vendors, and small business showcases.
7. Community Health Clinics
Several municipalities are offering free or low-cost public health services, including blood pressure clinics and wellness screenings.
8. Asbury Park Live Music Series
Winter schedules are giving way to heavier booking lineups as venues prepare for spring.
9. Early Boardwalk Weekends
Weather permitting, Shore towns are seeing the first wave of seasonal foot traffic return.
March isn’t summer — but it’s movement. And New Jersey thrives on movement.
Asbury Park is about to get loud again.
Sea.Hear.Now returns to the oceanfront Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 20, bringing more than 25 acts, professional surfing, art and thousands of visitors back to North Beach and Bradley Park.
And if you were waiting until this week to buy a ticket, there is some bad news.
The festival is officially sold out.
Organizers are directing fans without tickets to the official waitlist or Ticketmaster Verified Ticket Exchange rather than promising additional inventory.
That still leaves plenty happening in Asbury Park before, during and around the festival weekend.
Mumford & Sons Take Saturday Night
Saturday’s lineup covers a lot of musical ground before Mumford & Sons close the Surf Stage at 9 p.m.
Men at Work play the Surf Stage at 3 p.m., followed by Chaka Khan at 5 and The Offspring at 7. Over in Bradley Park, Fitz and the Tantrums are scheduled for 4 p.m., The All-American Rejects at 6 and The War on Drugs at 8.
The Sand Stage adds another mix, with Tom Odell at 4 p.m., Susanna Hoffs at 6 and Shaggy at 8.
Festival gates open at noon and the grounds close at 10:30 p.m. both days.
The Strokes Close Sunday
Sunday shifts gears without exactly slowing down.
Fontaines D.C. play the Surf Stage at 5 p.m., followed by Goo Goo Dolls at 7 and The Strokes at 9.
Elsewhere, Ziggy Marley performs at 6 p.m. in Bradley Park before Moby takes that stage at 8. Kim Gordon and Pixies handle the final two evening slots on the Sand Stage, at 6 and 8 p.m. respectively.
The result is a lineup that moves pretty freely between classic rock, alternative, punk, reggae, pop and newer indie acts. Sea.Hear.Now has always leaned into that kind of mix, and this year is no exception.
The Festival Starts Before Saturday
The weekend actually gets moving Friday.
Sea.Hear.Now is holding a free Kickoff on Cookman on September 18 from 5 to 9 p.m. along Cookman Avenue between Grand Avenue and Main Street. The performances are open to the public and do not require a festival ticket.
The festival’s late-night schedule also includes separate shows around town.
The Offspring’s Friday night show at The Stone Pony is already sold out. The Ocean Ave Stomp at the Stone Pony on Saturday night is sold out as well, while additional late-night events are scheduled at Wonder Bar.
For people who missed festival tickets entirely, Friday’s Cookman Avenue event may be the easiest way to get some of the Sea.Hear.Now atmosphere without buying a resale wristband.
It Is Still More Than a Music Festival
The stages get most of the attention, but Sea.Hear.Now was built around Asbury Park’s beach culture as much as its music history.
The festival will again feature a team surf competition with East Coast surfers competing between the Surf and Sand stages. Art created by musicians will also be displayed through the festival’s Transparent Gallery, and organizers have scheduled boardwalk parades during the weekend.
There is even an option for people who would rather start their day quietly.
Free beach yoga sessions are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. A Sea.Hear.Now ticket is not required, although participants must complete the festival waiver.
Expect a Busy Asbury Park
Anyone heading into town should expect crowds well beyond the festival gates.
There is no parking on the festival grounds, and organizers are encouraging public transportation and the city’s existing parking options. Asbury Park’s NJ Transit station is about a 15-minute walk from the festival area.
Sea.Hear.Now has grown into one of the biggest weekends on Asbury Park’s calendar. This will be the festival’s eighth edition, following a run of headliners that has included Pearl Jam, Green Day, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Blink-182 and Hozier.
This year, Mumford & Sons and The Strokes get the closing slots.
By next Friday, however, the entire city will start feeling like part of the show.
For one September weekend, the beach, boardwalk, downtown bars, clubs and streets of Asbury Park will all be operating on festival time.
There are plenty of ways to spend the final hours of Labor Day weekend in Monmouth County.
Red Bank’s answer involves music, dancing and a stretch of Broad Street without any cars in the way.
Line Dancing on BroadWalk returns to downtown Red Bank on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, from 7 to 9 p.m., giving locals and visitors one last reason to stay out before the long weekend officially comes to an end. Red Bank RiverCenter lists the event as part of its ongoing BroadWalk programming.
Bring the boots if you’ve got them. If not, confidence will probably do.
Dancing in the Middle of Downtown
The setting is part of what makes the event different.
Red Bank’s BroadWalk is the seasonal pedestrian plaza on Broad Street, where a section of the downtown roadway is closed to vehicles and transformed into space for outdoor dining, public gatherings and special events.
For 2026, the plaza operates from May through September. Borough rules designate the section of Broad Street between Front Street and White Street as a seasonal pedestrian mall, closed to vehicle traffic during that period.
That means Monday night’s dance floor isn’t tucked away inside a hall or nightclub.
It’s right in the middle of downtown Red Bank.
Restaurants, shops and the rest of the downtown district remain within walking distance, making the event easy to turn into a full Labor Day evening. Dinner first, dancing afterward. Or dancing first and dessert when you realize two hours of line dancing was more exercise than expected.
One More Night Before Summer Slips Away
Labor Day has always carried a strange feeling at the Jersey Shore.
Technically, summer doesn’t end for another couple of weeks. But for most families, Labor Day Monday feels like the dividing line. School schedules return, vacations wind down and the relaxed rhythm of July and August starts disappearing quickly.
That’s what makes a simple downtown event like this a pretty good fit for the holiday.
No enormous festival. No complicated itinerary.
Just get downtown and dance.
Red Bank has increasingly used BroadWalk as a community gathering space, with live music, children’s events and other programming scheduled throughout the warmer months. RiverCenter, the organization that oversees the seasonal plaza, works with downtown businesses and the Borough of Red Bank on events intended to bring residents and visitors into the business district.
The line-dancing series isn’t disappearing with Labor Day, either. Another night is already scheduled for September 21, also from 7 to 9 p.m.
But there’s something especially appropriate about doing it Monday night.
One last warm-weather evening. One last holiday night downtown. And perhaps one last opportunity to pretend Tuesday morning isn’t coming.
What to Know
Event: Line Dancing on BroadWalk
Date: Monday, September 7, 2026
Time: 7–9 p.m.
Location: BroadWalk, downtown Red Bank, along Broad Street between Front and White streets
Red Bank’s official event listing does not currently specify an admission charge or advance-registration requirement, so visitors should check the event page for any last-minute updates before heading out.
For everyone who isn’t quite ready to surrender summer yet, Red Bank has provided a pretty simple solution.
Keep the music going for two more hours.
Pauly D figured out something most reality stars never do. He didn’t run from the show that made him. He took the party with him.
More than 15 years after MTV introduced the world to Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio and that unforgettable blowout, the Rhode Island native is still one of the most recognizable faces from Jersey Shore. What sets him apart is that the fame didn’t turn into a punchline or a cautionary tale. It turned into a real touring career that shows no signs of slowing down in 2026.
The Party Never Stopped
In a recent interview, Pauly described his live shows the only way that makes sense: one giant party. Coming from him, that’s not surprising. What’s impressive is that people are still lining up for it.
He’s currently working clubs and venues across the country—Las Vegas, Boise, Salt Lake City, and more—with a New York date locked in for October 9 at The Rooftop at Pier 17. He doesn’t just show up with a fixed playlist and hit play. He reads the room and adjusts in real time. That ability separates the guys who had a moment from the ones who can still hold a crowd years later.
Reality TV got him in the door. The rest has been pure entertainment.
From Catchphrase to Career
When Jersey Shore hit in 2009, few would have bet on which cast members would still be working nearly two decades later. Pauly had an advantage most of them didn’t: he was already a DJ. The show didn’t invent a career for him—it amplified the one he already had. The larger-than-life energy, the crowd sense, the willingness to lean into the chaos all translated cleanly from the house to the booth.
The joke became the brand. The brand became a business.
Today he still appears on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation while keeping a steady DJ schedule and releasing new music, including the 2026 single “Lost” with Capri Everitt. More tracks are on the way. That’s a long runway for something that could have easily faded into a very specific piece of late-2000s nostalgia.
Still Jersey, Even in Vegas
Yes, he was born in Rhode Island. The letters can stay in the drawer.
Jersey Shore permanently linked Pauly, Snooki, The Situation and the rest of them to a particular version of Shore culture—exaggerated, loud, and impossible to ignore. Whether people from New Jersey loved it or hated it, the rest of the world met that version through the cast. Pauly understood the assignment better than most. He never tried to distance himself from the character audiences connected with. He owned it, laughed with it, and kept moving without rewriting the past.
There’s a clean simplicity to that approach.
One Big Party
Pauly is 46. The hair still holds. The crowds still show up. The booth isn’t going anywhere.
His path offers a quiet lesson about sudden fame. Getting through the door is one thing. Staying relevant after the cameras leave requires giving people something they’re still willing to pay for. Pauly found his thing—or maybe it was always his thing.
A lot has changed since those early summers on the Shore. His basic deal with the audience hasn’t:
Show up. Turn the music up. Have a good time.
Sometimes the simplest model is the one that lasts.
Sea.Hear.Now Is Sold Out. Here’s What Asbury Park Is Getting Next Weekend
Boots on BroadWalk: Red Bank Closes Labor Day With Line Dancing
Labor Day Weekend Isn’t Over: 5 Things to Do in Monmouth County Sunday and Monday
From the Jersey Shore to the DJ Booth: Pauly D Is Still Having One Big Party
Is the Jersey Shore Becoming Too Expensive for the Families Who Built It?
Labor Day Weekend Isn’t Over: 5 Things to Do in Monmouth County Sunday and Monday
Boots on BroadWalk: Red Bank Closes Labor Day With Line Dancing
Sea.Hear.Now Is Sold Out. Here’s What Asbury Park Is Getting Next Weekend
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