Montclair Center Events 2024
An exciting new year ahead with a wide variety of activities and events for everyone! Invite your friends, shop in local businesses, connect with your neighbors, support your local non-profit organizations and dine in your local eateries!
January 6th: Three-Kings Day Parade
January 27th: Lunar New Year
April 11th: Art Walk
After a pause, we are thrilled to announce the return of ART WALK this spring! Historically successful at bridging the gap between our incredible businesses and the arts community, this event promises an evening full of culture, creativity and inspiration throughout the Montclair Center. Several new and exciting additional activities are planned for the event! Click here for more information!
April 28th: Montclair’s Earth Fest
South Park Street- from 12:00 PM. to 4:00 PM. at South Street Park between Bloomfield Ave. and Church St.
practices, reduce their carbon footprint, and advocate for policies that prioritize environmental protection. Through various educational initiatives, Earth Fest aims to inform people of all ages about the pressing environmental issues facing our planet and empower them to make positive changes in their daily lives to safeguard the Earth for future generations.
Sponsored by: Montclair Center BID, Drive Electric, Sierra Club, and Montclair Climate Action
June 1st: Montclair African American Heritage Foundation Parade
The MAAHF parade will pass through Maple Ave ->Elm Street -> Orange Road -> Cedar -> High St -> Into Nishuane Park, ending at High Street & Cedar Avenue, Montclair, NJ for our annual Festival. Click here for more information.
June 8th: Montclair Pride Festival
Downtown Montclair. 175 vendors. 3 stages.
The Montclair Pride festival, hosted by Out Montclair, raises awareness, and strengthen ties in our community and among all LGBTQ+ people and allies in the region, as well as provide a celebration filled with art, culture, food, music, and live performances to uplift LGBTQ+ people, issues and history. Pride takes over most of Downtown Montclair with street closures of Bloomfield Avenue from Church St. to Midland, S. Park from Church to Bloomfield Ave., Park St. from Bloomfield Ave. to Portland Pl. and Church from Bloomfield Ave. to S. Park with partnership from Essex County and Montclair Township. For more information, go to the Out Montclair webpage, IG, or Facebook pages.
June 23rd: Summer Sunday Sidewalk Sale & Outdoor Film
Pet friendly! Family friendly!
Get ready for a day filled with excitement and fun as Montclair Center kicks off the long-awaited summer season with Summer Sunday! On Sunday, June 23rd, from 1 to 6 p.m., businesses will open their doors and spill out onto the sidewalks for a day of shopping, dining, and exploring all that downtown has to offer! The theme of the day: SUMMER HOLIDAY!
And the fun continues for everyone in the family! There will be buskers throughout the district to enhance that summer energy! Plus, children’s community murals will be placed in several locations, providing an excellent opportunity for kids to get creative and contribute to a collaborative art project.
Join us for a free outdoor movie—the perfect way to end the day! Brought to you by Montclair Film, a free screening of BARBIE will take place on Lackawanna Plaza beginning at sunset. Attendees are encouraged to come early with lawn chairs. Grab a bite to eat at Minia’s and grab a drink on the patio of Pineapple Express.
August 25th: MedievalFest
MAM invites you to embrace the pageantry of the past at MedievalFest, hosted by Montclair Early Music (MEM).
Spend the day watching armored knights spar, playing Viking lawn games, dancing a merry jig, and getting styled with fairy hair at this family-friendly fair.
Take a break from the action and stroll through the village marketplace where you will find handcrafted keepsakes from an array of period artisans. Savory meat pies and other refreshments, including cold brews and fruit ices will be available for purchase.
Throughout the festivities, enjoy live music from the Montclair Early Music vocal and instrumental ensembles and the children’s recorder group Dragon Bards, as they bring you music from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.
You are welcome to join us in donning period garb to help channel your inner lord, lady, jester, peasant, pirate, or fairy and immerse yourself in the revelry of a bygone era. Huzzah!
Click here to purchase tickets.
September 14th: Montclair Jazz Festival
8 hours of music. Over 150 vendors. Five stages.
The MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Downtown Jamboree will transform the vibrant, arts-rich, New York City urban suburb of Montclair, NJ into a musical mecca. The 14th Annual, this is the third year that the festival takes to the streets of downtown Montclair to support the vibrant main business district. Get ready for 5 downtown stages and 150 food and artisan vendors on a ½ miles stretch of Bloomfield Avenue and expanded Family Jazz Discovery Zone!
No tickets required. Beach and lawn chairs welcome. Please note pop-up tents and beach umbrellas are prohibited
For more information, go to the Montclair Jazz Festival website, IG, and Facebook pages.
If you are interested in being a vendor, click here for more information.
October 18-27th: Montclair Film Festival
The 13th annual Montclair Film Festival will entertain film lovers and professionals from across the region and country with ten days of compelling independent films, comedies, documentaries, panels, family events, and work by emerging artists. The festival will provide a platform for talented filmmakers from around the world and give special recognition to New Jersey artists.
Visit Montclair Film’s website, IG, and Facebook pages for more information.
Save the date for Light Up Montclair on Oct. 19! Our dazzling, inclusive celebration of Diwali/Deepavali returns to the Montclair Art Museum for a day of community performances, family-friendly activities, artisans, delicious food, and more.
Visit AAPI’s event page for more information.
October 31st: Halloween Stops
Children are invited to show off their costumes in Montclair Center! Downtown businesses displaying a Halloween Stop Trick-or-Treat poster in their window will be waiting to hand out treats. Over 70 businesses participating.
November 30th: Winter Wonderland (Small Business Saturday)
Montclair Center BID is partnering with The Wellmont Plaza and Pharmacie Bar+Kitchen to celebrate shopping small all season long. Many special guests will be hanging out throughout the day…rumor has it, we might even get a visit from Santa himself!
Free activities include ornament making, greeting cards, Hanukkah and Kwanza art projects, and gnome making to name a few. Music and performances by local artists! Pick up your holiday gift guide map with specials from over 70 local businesses. The festivities start at 12pm and end with the Wellmont Plaza tree lighting.