New Jersey Summer Fun Festivals Pack the next 3 Weekends
Each year I look forward to all the concerts, festivals, fairs, and other events that are synonymous with summer fun in New Jersey. Some are old traditions and some are relatively new to the warmer months in the Garden State.
Beardfest is happening this weekend (June 13-16) in Hammonton, New Jersey. It’s a “three-day celebration of creative expression.” According to their site, “Beardfest curates ample opportunities for attendees to learn, network, and participate so that we all go home feeling empowered, connected, and alive.”
There’s more summer fun available next weekend (June 20-23) at the Barefoot Country Music Fest on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey. More than forty artists on five different stages. This year the list is impressive with current and former American Idol Judges Luke Bryan, and Keith Urban. Also rocking the Wildwoods are Kane Brown, Old Dominion, The Beach Boys, and Jersey’s own John Eddie.
Another one of everyone’s favorite New Jersey Festivals is the Rock, Ribs, and Ridges Festival at Sussex County Fairgrounds. It’s in its fourteenth year and coming up later this month (June 28-30) there will be barbeque and music for three days of non-stop summer fun.
Summer Fun Festival Not Happening This Year
When July rolls around I can’t help but look forward to the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning. Each year we would broadcast the morning show from Solberg Airport in Readington, New Jersey. Each year people from all over New Jersey and the world would make their way to the amazing summer fun festival, the largest in North America.
The New Jersey Festival of Ballooning is sadly not happening this year for the first time in over thirty years. The festival’s Executive Producer Howard Freeman and his staff have done an unbelievable job through the years, it’s been amazing.
During our annual morning broadcast from the grounds, I would speak with Howard on the air to promote the weekend. Just by having a five or ten-minute chat with Howard, you know that the fun and energy of the festival starts with him.
The official reason is posted on their website, “Since we purchased the event back in late Fall of 1992, we have been proud to offer a first-class, family-oriented festival at reasonable prices. However, coming out of the 2020 pandemic, we have seen an exponential increase in operational costs. Inflation, supply chain interruptions, vendors who went out of business during the pandemic, competition for scarce resources from festivals worldwide, along drastically increased fees set by musical talent, make it extremely difficult to present a quality event in its current form without passing rising costs onto our guests,”, whose company has produced the annual three-day festival the past 30 years. “To properly address these challenges, we have made the difficult decision to take a one-year hiatus to reimagine and relaunch the festival in 2025.”
I, for one, may be disappointed, but am confident that the 2025 New Jersey Festival of Ballooning is going to be the best one in its history.
Celebrities Who Have A Birthday In June
People born in June are either a Gemini (May 21 – June 20) or a Cancer (June 21 – July 22). Gemini is an air sign symbolized by the celestial twins. A Gemini’s traits include being social, talkative, and whimsical, but they can also be indecisive or nosy. A Gemini is known for constantly juggling a variety of passions, hobbies, and careers.
Geminis born in the month of June tend to be intellectually curious and very much friendship and partnership-oriented. The sign is known to be social, with a big level of importance put on friendships and relationships. When it comes to creativity, June Geminis rarely have trouble coming up with new ideas. The air sign is also known to be quite intellectual and tends to enjoy keeping themselves well-informed. June-born Geminis tend to be more passionate about fighting against social injustices than their May counterparts.
Cancer Season Begins
June 21 marks the beginning of Cancer season, the crab. This water sign is ruled by the moon, so this sign is known to be highly intuitive and has emotional, maternal, and nurturing traits. Like their celestial spirit animal, Cancers are shielded by hard, external shells. At first, these crabs may be perceived as cold or distant, but with time, Cancers will warm up to reveal their gentle nature and empathy.
June Cancers tend to be the caregivers of the people in their lives. Compassionate with a goofy sense of humor, you can rely on Cancers. Cancers born in June are known to embody the typical Cancer traits, like being comfort-seeking, super sensitive, and nurturing. Some of the most legendary actors, musicians, and figures were born in the month of June.
Take a look below at which celebrities have a birthday in June:
Prince
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NCLR)
Prince Rogers Nelson, or the Artist Formerly Known as Prince to all of us, is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. He was born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He died in 2016 at 57 years old after accidentally overdosing on fentanyl at his Paisley Park home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. His list of classic albums is massive, but definitely check out 1999, Purple Rain and Sign ‘O’ The Times.
Brandi Carlile
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Kicking off June, the “Right on Time” singer celebrates her birthday on June 1. Born and raised in Washington, Carlile was signed to Columbia Records in 2004 and released her self-titled debut album a year later. With seven albums under her belt, Carlile is a veteran. She’s won a bunch of Grammys and collaborated with everyone from Alicia Keys to Soundgarden to Elton John. Her classic albums include By The Way, I Forgive You and In These Silent Days, as well as her album as a member of the supergroup the Highwomen.
Kanye West
(Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company)
The “Through the Wire” rapper celebrates his birthday on June 8. Ye was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Starting his professional music career as a producer at first, it wasn’t until 2004 that the rapper released his debut studio album, The College Dropout, which features tracks like “All Falls Down,” “Jesus Walks,” Slow Jamz,” and “Breathe In Breathe Out.” He’s since become a bit more controversial of a figure.
Kendrick Lamar
(Photo by Santiago Bluguermann/Getty Images)
On June 17th, Kendrick celebrates his birthday. The “Not Like Us” rapper was born and raised in Compton, California, in 1987. Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His classic albums include good kid, m.A.A.d. city, To Pimp A Butterfly and DAMN.
Blake Shelton
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
The “God’s Country” singer and television personality celebrates his birthday on June 18. Back in 2001, Shelton made his debut with the single “Austin” from his first album, Blake Shelton. Since then, the singer-songwriter has released eleven studio albums consistently every few years.
Paul McCartney
(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The original Beatles member celebrates his birthday on June 18th as well. Born in England, McCartney taught himself how to play piano, guitar, and songwriting as a teenager. After the Beatles disbanded in 1970 after ten years of mainstream success, McCartney went on to pursue a successful solo career, and also fronted the band Wings in the 1970s. All of the Beatles albums are classics; his best post-Beatles albums include McCartney, Wings’ Band On The Run, McCartney II and Flowers In The Dirt.
Chino Moreno
(Photo by Raphael Dias/Getty Images)
The Deftones frontman celebrates his birthday on June 20th. Born Camillo “Chino” Wong Moreno in Sacramento, California, the singer-songwriter founded Deftones in 1988 with drummer Abe Cunningham and lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter. The group released their first album, Adrenaline, in 1995 and have went on to release nine more studio albums.Their classic albums include Around the Fur and White Pony.
Cyndi Lauper
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for NARAS)
The “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer celebrates her birthday on June 22. Lauper was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953, and at age 12, she began writing songs and playing an acoustic guitar given to her by her older sister, Eileen. With a music career spanning over forty years, Lauper first began in a band called Blue Angel before going solo. You can learn more about Lauper by checking out her documentary, Let The Canary Sing.
Ariana Grande
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
The powerhouse singer celebrates her birthday on June 26th. Grande began her career at 15 years old when she appeared in 2008’s Broadway musical 13. She rose to prominence as an actress at first for her starring roles in Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010–2013) and its spin-off, Sam & Cat (2013–2014).
Cole Swindell
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
The “You Should Be Here” singer celebrates his birthday on June 30. Swindell was born and raised in Georgia, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee after college to pursue a professional music career. In 2014, the singer-songwriter released his debut self-titled album. Since then, he’s released three more studio albums.
