The air is getting crisper, which means it’s time for…
A new season at MPAC. Oktoberfest in Hillside. Dogs in tutus. Music in rustic cabins. And a parade.
That’s just for starters!
Scroll down for details. Check our handy calendar for even more activities–and add your own events, too.
And Happy Columbus Day!
THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2017
The NAACP New Jersey State Conference starts its annual convention with a jobs fair at the Parsippany Hilton, and continues through Sunday with a gala featuring TV commentator Angela Rye, a brunch with Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale, and seminars on Economic Development, Health, Education, Criminal Justice, and Fair Housing.
The Friends of Florham are hosting for a 5 pm reception, followed at 6 pm by Gary Helm Darden’s talk: Edifice Complex: The Vanderbilts and the Architectural Rivalries of America’s Gilded Age, at Fairleigh Dickinson University, 285 Madison Ave., Madison. Admission: $20; FDU students and faculty, free. Please register here.
The Bickford Theatre in Morris Township presents Swingadelic, the metro region’s “greatest little big band,” in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday, at 7:30 pm. Food trucks will be in the parking lot for tailgate parties at 5 pm, and the Morris Museum lobby will be set up for dancing. Concert admission: $20. At 6 Normandy Heights Road, (973) 971-3706.
FRIDAY, OCT. 6:
Morning Yoga with Munah Hayes returns to the Morristown & Township Library at 9:30 am. Free. Bring a yoga mat. At One Miller Road, Morristown.
The Folk Project’s Fall Acoustic Getaway starts at 6 pm in a scenic corner of Warren County and continues through Sunday, featuring daytime music workshops and evening concerts by The Kennedys, Roy Bookbinder, the Honey Dewdrops, Betsy Rose & The Chicago Fire, and more. Admission: About $200 for the entire weekend, including meals and lodging. Register here.
Morristown High School’s football team (1-3) goes for two in a row, at 7 pm at West Orange High (2-2). Go Colonials!
The Morris County Columbus Day Parade Awards Dinner starts at 7 pm at the Hanover Manor, 16 Eagle Rock Ave., East Hanover. Tickets: $100. Call 973-879-1044. See Sunday entry for parade details.
Actor Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, Rudy) will field audience questions about his career, growing up with famous parents (John Astin and Patty Duke), and more, at 7:30 pm, at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s WAMFEST 2017. Free, at Hennessy Hall, 285 Madison Ave., Madison.
Broadway star Sutton Foster (Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie) opens the Mayo Performing Arts Center’s 2017-18 season at 8 pm with a trio who will perform popular show tunes and more. Tickets: $49-$89. At 100 South St., Morristown, 973-539-8008.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown hosts its monthly piano bar at 9 pm. Music Director Josh Stafford leads Broadway and Jazz favorites, with free snacks and beverages. At Miller Road and Maple Avenue.
SATURDAY, OCT. 7:
Need to shred confidential papers? The Kiwanis are bringing a shredding truck to Morristown town hall from 9 am to noon. Cost: $5 per bag or box, to benefit the Kiwanis Morristown High School Scholarship Fund. Enter the parking lot from Franklin Street. Come early; when the truck fills up, that’s it.
The Morris Plains Farmers Market concludes it season, from 9 am to 2 pm on Merchant’s Block, near the Model Railroad Club Building.
Alexander and Eliza Hamilton: A Match Made in Morristown, tells the story of a romance for the ages, at 10 am at the Schuyler Hamilton House on Olyphant Place. Presented by the Morris County Tourism Bureau, the 90-minute lecture costs $15. The talk will be reprised on Oct. 14. Call (973) 631-5151.
Ready to sell your home? Glean tips at a free seminar, How to Sell Your House in Today’s Market, presented at 11 am by West End Residential, at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 353 East Hanover Ave., Morris Township. Free coffee and bagels. More info is here, or at 973-214-6789.
Morris Township’s Hillside Hose Co. hosts its annual Oktoberfest fundraiser from 2 pm to 8 pm (rain date: Oct. 14) at the station, at 132 Western Ave. The firefighters promise “quality beer, great music, German food, raffles, merchandise, and more! Families welcome!” Bonus treat: We hear that Karen Rose’s new band is performing.
Dixie’s Tupperware Party comes to Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center at 8 pm. Ages 16+, adult content. Tickets: $29-$49. At 100 South St., 973-539-8008.
SUNDAY, OCT. 8:
The fifth annual Seeing Eye Doggy Dash fundraiser returns to Morristown’s Lidgerwood Park with its canine pageant, raffles, face-painting and something new: A 5K road race. The race or walk costs $35 for adults and $25 for children. The pageant is $5 per pooch. Registration starts at 8 a.m., the 5K begins at 9:30 a.m., and pageant
judging follows at 11 a.m. At Lidgerwood Parkway and James Street. Call 973-539-4425 or email here for more.
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.
In the 1960s, Morristown High School created the American Civilization Institute, an experiment in community-based learning with Fairleigh Dickinson University. Discover its secrets at a 2 pm talk in the Morristown & Township Library, featuring Denise Meringolo, director of public history at the University of Maryland. Free. At One Miller Road, Morristown.
The 13th annual Morris County Columbus Day Parade commences at 2 pm at the East Hanover Fire Department and continues down Ridgedale Avenue to Lurker Park, where a carnival (noon start) will feature golden oldies from the Cameos at 4 pm. Opera singer Cristina Fontanelli is parade Grand Marshal and 14 marching bands, including the Aqua String Band of Philadelphia, are scheduled to perform. For more details, or to participate in the parade, contact Parade Chairman Sam Chiappa at 973-476-5793.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra features MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Jeremy Denk on piano for Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, at 3 pm in Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center. Tickets: $20-$90. At 100 South St., 973-539-8008.
The Madison String Quartet performs Mozart, Mendelssohn, Barber and Romero at 3 pm, at The Oaks, 19 Pocono Road, Denville. Free, suggested donation $20. Part of the MacDowell Club of Mountain Lakes concert series.
MONDAY, OCT. 9, COLUMBUS DAY:
Children ages 3 and up are invited to a fall planting party in Macculloch Hall’s garden in Morristown, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. Admission: $8 per family, free for members. And check out the museum’s new exhibition: Thomas Nast Draws President Andrew Johnson. At 45 Macculloch Ave., Morristown. Pre-register for kids events here or at (973) 538-2404.
