Features

Labor Day Weekend Isn’t Over: 5 Things to Do in Monmouth County Sunday and Monday

Published

1 week ago

September 5, 2026

Labor Day weekend has already burned through Saturday, but Monmouth County still has plenty left on the calendar.

From local art and farmers markets to barbecue, horse racing and a little old-school country dancing, Sunday, September 6, and Labor Day Monday, September 7, still offer a solid excuse to get out of the house before summer unofficially signs off.

Here are five good options.

1. Browse Art in the Park in Long Branch

Long Branch turns West End Park into an outdoor art stop on Sunday with Art in the Park, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The free event is built around local artists, shopping and community, making it an easy daytime option for anyone already heading toward the Shore.

Where: West End Park, 607 Ocean Ave. North, Long Branch
When: Sunday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Admission: Free

This is probably the easiest event on the list to combine with lunch, a walk along the ocean or one last late-summer stop in Long Branch.

2. Spend Sunday Morning at Asbury FRESH

If your ideal Sunday involves coffee, local food and wandering through a market without much of a plan, head to downtown Asbury Park.

The Asbury FRESH Farmers & Makers Market returns to Press Plaza Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market is now in its 13th year and brings together farmers, food vendors, artisans and independent makers. Organizers list room for more than 50 vendors at the market.

Where: Press Plaza, Asbury Park
When: Sunday, Sept. 6, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

It also gives you a pretty good excuse to stick around Asbury afterward for the boardwalk, beach or an early dinner.

3. Go Big on BBQ at Monmouth Park

This is the heavyweight event of the weekend.

The BBQ & Craft Beer Festival continues Sunday and Monday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The track is advertising more than 40 craft beers, nearly 20 pitmasters and live music, with beer sampling from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $7, parking is free and children 12 and under are admitted free. The first race is scheduled for 12:50 p.m.

Sunday also includes free family activities from noon to 4 p.m., including pony rides, face painting, clowns and a bounce house.

Where: Monmouth Park, Oceanport Avenue, Oceanport
When: Sunday and Monday, Sept. 6–7, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Barbecue, live racing and Labor Day at Monmouth Park is about as Jersey as the weekend gets.

4. Slow Things Down at Historic Walnford

For something completely different, Historic Walnford in Upper Freehold is offering a quieter Sunday afternoon.

The Monmouth County Park System will run gristmill demonstrations at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., each lasting about 15 minutes. A free Music on the Porch program featuring an acoustic duo runs from 1 to 3 p.m.

Walnford sits at the heart of Crosswicks Creek Park and preserves more than two centuries of local history, including the historic mill, Waln family home and surrounding farmland.

Where: 62 Walnford Road, Upper Freehold
When: Sunday, Sept. 6
Admission: Free

If the Shore crowds have finally worn you out, this might be the antidote.

5. Finish Labor Day With Line Dancing in Red Bank

And if you’re still refusing to surrender summer by Monday evening, Red Bank has one more thing on the schedule.

Line Dancing on BroadWalk returns Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in downtown Red Bank.

Bring the boots if you’ve got them. If not, confidence will probably do.

Where: BroadWalk, downtown Red Bank
When: Monday, Sept. 7, 7–9 p.m.

It’s a fun, low-key way to close out a three-day weekend before Tuesday morning brings everyone abruptly back to reality.

Summer Gets One More Day

Labor Day always feels a little strange at the Jersey Shore. The calendar still says summer, the beaches are still there and the weather often hasn’t gotten the memo, but school, football and fall are already knocking at the door.

So maybe don’t pack everything away just yet.

There’s still time for one more farmers market, one more afternoon outside, one more plate of barbecue and, apparently, one more chance to line dance in the middle of Red Bank.

Summer can wait until Tuesday.

Entertainment

Sea.Hear.Now Is Sold Out. Here’s What Asbury Park Is Getting Next Weekend

Published

2 days ago

September 13, 2026

Shore Static

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.

Celebrity

From the Jersey Shore to the DJ Booth: Pauly D Is Still Having One Big Party

Published

4 weeks ago

August 22, 2026

Jersey Javelin

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.

Editorial

Is the Jersey Shore Becoming Too Expensive for the Families Who Built It?

Published

1 month ago

August 5, 2026

Shannon

For generations, a trip “down the Shore” has been more than a vacation.

It’s a tradition.

The same beach house every summer. The same pizza on the boardwalk. The same miniature golf course where the kids insist on keeping score, even though no one remembers who won last year.

For many families in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, these rituals have become part of the family story.

But this week, a viral social media video reignited a question many have quietly been asking for years:

Has the Jersey Shore become too expensive for the very families that helped make it what it is?

The discussion began after a Philadelphia mother shared that her family spends roughly $10,000 each year to rent a Shore house. That figure, she explained, doesn’t include groceries, beach badges, gas, restaurant meals, or many of the other expenses that come with a week at the beach. Her comments drew thousands of reactions from people who questioned whether the cost could possibly be justified.

Some commenters suggested that for the same money, families could travel to Europe or spend a week at a Caribbean resort.

Others immediately pushed back.

Because to many Shore families, they argued, that’s missing the point.

You don’t come to the Jersey Shore because it’s the cheapest vacation.

You come because it’s your vacation.

You return to the same streets where your parents pushed your stroller. You stop at the same ice cream stand. You wave to neighbors you’ve only seen one week each summer for the last twenty years. Your children grow up with friends they may only see during that single week in July.

That kind of tradition is difficult to put a price on.

Still, the financial reality is impossible to ignore.

Research released earlier this summer found that the overall cost of a Jersey Shore vacation has risen by more than 11 percent compared with last year, while weekly rental prices in several popular Shore towns increased dramatically. Rising property values, insurance costs, taxes, fuel prices, and everyday expenses have all contributed to the increase.

For many working families, that means difficult decisions.

Do you shorten the trip?

Stay farther from the beach?

Skip dinners out?

Or simply decide that this is the year you don’t come at all?

These aren’t just economic questions.

They’re cultural ones.

The Jersey Shore has never belonged exclusively to one income group. Its identity has been built by firefighters, teachers, nurses, police officers, tradesmen, small business owners, retirees, and families who planned all year for one special week together.

That accessibility has always been part of its charm.

At the same time, Shore communities face their own financial pressures. Property owners contend with rising insurance premiums, maintenance costs, labor shortages, and increasing property taxes. Many rental rates reflect those realities rather than simple profit. It’s a balancing act between keeping family traditions alive and covering the real costs of owning property along one of the most desirable stretches of coastline in the country.

Perhaps the better question isn’t whether the Jersey Shore has become “too expensive.”

It’s whether we can preserve the traditions that made it special while ensuring future generations still have the opportunity to experience them.

Because the Shore has never been just about the beach.

It’s about grandparents teaching grandchildren how to catch a wave.

It’s about late-night walks on the boardwalk.

It’s about watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee before everyone else wakes up.

Those memories have always been the true value of a Jersey Shore vacation.

And if those traditions begin slipping out of reach for ordinary families, New Jersey risks losing something far more valuable than a week’s rental income.

It risks losing a piece of its identity.