Wow, the Fourth of July is almost here!
Unfurl your banner in Greater Morristown; plenty of patriotic fun beckons this weekend.
Scroll down for details. Check our handy calendar for even more activities–and add your own events, too!
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017:
Meet Me in Morristown is back, from 5 pm to 8 pm, with live music and sidewalk sales, on South Street and at the historic Morristown Green.
It’s Country Night at the 2017 Freedom Festival at the County College of Morris in Randolph, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Rides, games, food trucks, line dancing, bands, free family entertainment and vendors. A $25 ticket lets you ride all night. At Center Grove Road, off Route 10.
Looking for fireworks? Check out the Morris County Tourism Bureau list.
The Morristown & Township Library continues its Growing Up Proud film series with Tomboy (2011, France; unrated; subtitles) at 7 pm. Free. At One Miller Road, Morristown.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream under the stars, in the amphitheater of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township. Performances through July 30, 2017, Tuesdays through Sundays at 8 pm, with an added 4:30 pm show on Sundays. Tickets: $37; patrons age 30 and under $30; youths 18 and under, free. At 2 Convent Road. Call 973-408-5600.
FRIDAY, JUNE 30:
The 2017 Freedom Festival continues from 6 pm to 11 pm in Randolph at the County College of Morris with Rock ‘N Randolph, featuring Brendan Fletcher from The Voice.
Rides, games, food trucks, bands, free family entertainment and vendors. One $25 ticket lets you ride all night.
Madison’s Downtown Concert Series kicks off from 6 pm to 8 pm with a free show by local band What’s What, outside the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, at 9 Main St. Bad weather moves everyone into the museum; seating is first come, first served. Call 973-377-2982 for more.
Renowned finger-picking guitarist Happy Traum plays at The Minstrel in Morris Township at 7:30 pm. The show includes a multimedia presentation, Coming of Age in the Folk Revival, about his experiences with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others from the Greenwich Village music scene. Admission: $10, children 12 and under, free. At the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays outdoors in Morris Township at 8 pm. See Thursday entry for details.
SATURDAY, JULY 1:
The Morris Plains Farmers Market is back, every Saturday through Oct. 7, from 9 am to 2 pm on Merchant’s Block, near the Model Railroad Club Building.
It’s Parade Day in Randolph, starting at noon at Dover Chester Road and Randolph Avenue (Mt. Fern Church), and ending at the Center Grove entrance to the County College of Morris. The parade Grand Marshal is Maj. General Michael R. Smith, USAR, Ret., he will lead military units, community groups, bands, historical reenactments and more. New to the parade: The 78th Army Band, from Fort Dix.
The 2017 Freedom Festival in Randolph continues from 2 pm to 11 pm at the County College of Randolph. Includes a meet-and-greet with singer Brendan Fletcher, Home Grown Music Night, and rides, games, food trucks, bands, EaZy Bubble, free family entertainment and vendors. At Center Grove Road off Route 10.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays outdoors in Morris Township at 8 pm. See Thursday entry for details.
Fireworks are scheduled for 9:30 pm at the County College of Morris in Randolph, as part of the 2017 Freedom Festival. A deejay will play from 8 pm until 11 pm. Donation: $5 per car. At Center Grove Road off Route 10.
SUNDAY, JULY 2:
The Morristown Farmers Market is back for its 26th season, every Sunday through Nov. 19, between 8:30 am and 2 pm. Outdoors in the parking lot between Morris and Spring Street, off Dumont Place. Presented by the Morristown Partnership. Call 973-455-1133 for more.
The Morristown National Historical Park will be free from 9:30 am to 5 pm, and again on Monday and Tuesday, in honor of Independence Day.
The Old Barracks Fife and Drum Corps will perform two 45-minute sets on the lawn at Washington’s Headquarters in Morristown from 1 pm to 3 pm. Free. Bring chairs or blankets. Rain or shine. In case of rain the concert will be held inside the museum auditorium. At 30 Washington Place.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays outdoors in Morris Township at 4:30 pm and 8 pm. See Thursday entry for details.
TUESDAY, JULY 4: INDEPENDENCE DAY
Admission to Washington’s Headquarters in Morristown is free from 9:30 am to 5 pm. At 30 Washington Place.
Take a guided tour of Morris County’s oldest graveyard, the Whippany Burying Yard, at 10 am to learn about the founding of Hanover, Morris County’s oldest town. Meet at the J&R Cigar parking lot at 301 Route 10 East, Whippany. Presented by the Hanover Township Landmark Commission. Please call 973-631-5151 to register.
Costumed re-enactors return for the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Morristown Green at noon. Free. Audience participation. Musical sing-a-long with Gordon Thomas Ward. Musket salute. In the event of rain, the event will move indoors to the Presbyterian Church at 57 East Park Place.
After the reading, at 1 pm, the Presbyterian Church in Morristown will lead guided tours of its Sanctuary and Revolutionary-era graveyard, the burial place of more than 140 Revolutionary War soldiers. Free. The cemetery is behind the Church at 57 East Park Place.
Of course, Joan Baez made her mark in Cambridge. But she met Bob Dylan at Gerde’s Folk City, and played at the Bitter End when she was the queen of folk music… so if Traum wants to include her in the Village scene, why not?
I’d like to make a comment addressed to whoever wrote the calendar items article. In the one about Happy Traum (whoever he is) you refer to Joan Baez as a member of “Greenwich Village Folks”. She never was a Greenwich Village person, having made her start in Boston as a huge part of the “Cambridge Folk Scene”, not the Village. I wish people wouldn’t try and change history!