The boardwalk flipped to summer mode fast: no dogs, no bikes, and badge checkers at every ramp. Over the next few months, new youth arts funding, the city’s summer schedule, and a packed fall festival weekend and more below!

A curated handful of events in and around Asbury Park

Asbury FRESH Farmers & Makers Market ~ Sundays, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. @ Press Plaza ~ The FRESH market is back downtown for its 13th season, with farms, bakers, and makers filling Press Plaza.

Memorial Day Weekend Pool Party ~ Sunday, May 24, 5–9 p.m. @ The Asbury Hotel – The Pool ~ Kick off summer with a poolside celebration featuring DJ sets, cocktails, and grill bites; tickets are 15 dollars and include your first drink.

Summer House Reunion Watch Party ~ Tuesday, May 26, 8–11 p.m. @ Asbury Lanes ~ If your friend group has strong opinions about reality TV, this is your night! Grab a seat, sip curated wine flights, and watch the Summer House reunion on the big screen with a full crowd reacting with you.

Rock’n Music Academy Student Showcase ~ Sunday, May 31, 12:30–3:30 p.m. @ Asbury Lanes ~ Local students take over the stage for an afternoon of covers and originals, turning the bowling alley into a community recital hall for a few hours.

North to Shore Festival Bazaar ~ Saturday and Sunday, June 20–21, 12–5 p.m. @ Grand Arcade, Convention Hall ~ Asbury Park Bazaar is bringing back its North to Shore pop‑up inside the Grand Arcade, with a packed lineup of local makers, artists, food, drinks, and live music. Free admission.

The City published its official Spring and Summer 2026 newsletter, dates, civic meetings, recreation programs, and seasonal info in one place.

A new grant for the TANJ Youth Arts Initiative will fund free and affordable arts programs in Asbury Park, from after‑school workshops to pop‑ups in neighborhood businesses, plus paid internships for teens. The aim is to give young people real creative work and job experience without asking them to travel far from their own blocks to find it.

This year’s Sea.Hear.Now festival returns to the Asbury waterfront on September 19–20, with a lineup that includes Moby, The Strokes, Mumford & Sons, Chaka Khan, Offspring, Goo Goo Dolls, and Shaggy. Tickets are already on sale!

What are you most excited for this summer in Asbury Park?? Sea.Hear.Now Festival, Pride, the farmers market, or just looong beach days?

Elléna Lourens + A New Practice Wall

Near the Casino walkway, there's a two-panel mural painted in warm reds and terracotta, two seated figures, facing inward, rendered in bold outline against shifting tones of the same color. It's by Elléna Lourens, an artist whose work moves between murals, illustration, painting, and embroidery.

Lourens painted the piece in collaboration with the Wooden Walls Project, the same organization behind some of the most recognizable large-scale work on the Asbury waterfront. Her work pulls from older visual traditions: ancient symbols, layered patterns, applied at a scale you notice from across the street.

The City just announced the Asbury Park Mural Practice Wall, a rotating public surface run by the Public Art Commission where local artists can work at scale, test ideas, and develop their practice without applying for a permanent installation. No competition, no permanent commitment. The wall resets after each artist and the next person gets their turn.

Artists interested in using the space can email Michele Alonso at [email protected] with a few examples of their work and a short note on how they'd use it.

New apartments and offices near the train station. Jersey Digs covers a newly approved project at Springwood Avenue and Memorial Drive that will add 92 apartments, street‑level retail, office space, and a parking structure, with 19 units reserved as affordable housing.

Summer Day Camp goes full‑day again. For the first time in more than a decade, Asbury Park’s Summer Day Camp will run as a full‑day program, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with activities and trips for local kids.

Free “Movies by the Sea” screening of Elemental at The Showroom Cinema on Friday, May 22, including popcorn and a drink for residents as part of the Movies by the Sea series.

Community farm stand with no‑cost produce. Free Community Farm Stand on Saturday, May 23, offering fresh produce while supplies last, with a rain date set for Sunday.

Perfect score on LGBTQ+ equality index. If you haven’t heard, Asbury Park earned a 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2025 Municipal Equality Index, recognizing protections, services, and policies that support LGBTQ+ residents, visitors, and city staff. The city’s write‑up is worth a read.

The NJ Primary is June 2. Early voting opens Tuesday, May 26 and runs through Sunday, May 31, no appointment needed, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Find your polling place and check your registration at vote.nj.gov. Monmouth County candidates are listed at monmouthcountyvotes.gov.

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