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Passaic County is setting aside a week this September to get people through the doors of its museums, parks, and historic sites. See Passaic County Week runs September 14–20, 2026: seven days of events, open houses, walking tours, live music, and restaurant deals scattered across the county, most of them free.
The county runs it under the line Many Places. One Passaic, a nod to its 16 municipalities and the range packed into them. Dense cities like Paterson and Passaic sit a short drive from reservoirs, ironworks, and mountain reservations up north in Ringwood and West Milford. The week is built to send you from one to the other.
Below is what the week is, why the county puts it on, and a day-by-day rundown of every event.
What the week actually is
It’s a countywide tourism celebration that works as a distributed lineup of events: a different site, town, and activity on offer most days.
The schedule opens with a party in Haledon on Monday and closes with a full-day music festival at Rifle Camp Park the following Sunday. In between are art receptions, a children’s archaeology dig in Ringwood, quill-pen writing at a Hawthorne arts center, an open-hearth cooking demonstration at a Revolutionary War headquarters, and a pair of restaurants running week-long discounts.
The county has also partnered with the Let’s Rallie app, which lets visitors browse locations, check in at each stop, and track where they’ve been over the week. It’s optional. Every event is open whether or not you download it.
Why the county does it
The Department of Cultural & Historic Affairs exists to promote heritage tourism and keep visitors moving through sites like the Dey Mansion and Garret Mountain Reservation. A themed week is a low-cost way to turn general awareness into actual visits: free programming gets first-timers in the door, and the county is betting they’ll come back, bring people, and spend money in the surrounding downtowns. County officials have pointed to a VisitNJ study ranking Passaic among the fastest-growing tourism economies in the state as evidence the strategy is working.
Two factors make 2026 a larger year than usual.
The first is the United States semiquincentennial, its 250th anniversary. The theme runs through the schedule: two art exhibitions organized around “America at 250,” a lecture on Washington’s 1777–78 winter at Valley Forge, and another on the Pompton area’s role in the Revolution. The county has promoted its Revolutionary history under a #StillRevolutionary banner for years, and 2026 is the payoff. The tie is more than branding. The Dey Mansion in Wayne served as George Washington’s headquarters in 1780.
The second is the Many Places. One Passaic framing itself, which does some quiet work. A week that moves you from a Haledon block party to a Ringwood archaeology lab is the county’s argument that a patchwork of very different towns still reads as one place.
The full Passaic Week event lineup
The schedule is organized by day below. Registration links are noted where required, and the free hands-on programs tend to fill, so reserve those early. You can get more information on the See Passaic County website.
Monday, Sept 14 — Kickoff Party
6:00–9:00 PM · The Yard, 289 Belmont Ave, Haledon
The official launch. Passaic County Tourism takes over The Yard for an evening of food, drinks, and community, with complimentary food for the first 100 guests and happy-hour pricing at the bar all day. Expect a photo booth, tourism giveaways, and a chance to meet the tourism staff. Haledon carries its own weight here: the American Labor Museum at the Botto House was a rallying point during the 1913 Paterson silk strike, a block from where the party sits.
Tuesday, Sept 15 — Tuesdays in the Plaza
10:00 AM–2:00 PM · Passaic County Courthouse Plaza, 71 Hamilton St, Paterson
A midday farmers market with live music and tables from local community organizations, set up in the courthouse plaza. It’s an easy stop on a lunch break for anyone working in or near downtown Paterson.
Thursday, Sept 17 — Art Gallery Reception
6:00–9:00 PM · Passaic County Arts Center at the John W. Rea House, 675 Goffle Rd, Hawthorne
An after-hours reception for a new exhibition at the Rea House, with wine, charcuterie, passed hors d’oeuvres, and the featured artists on hand. It’s the quietest evening on the calendar, closer to a gallery night than a crowd.
Saturday, Sept 19 — The Busiest Day
Saturday carries the heaviest schedule of the week. Anyone planning a single full day should look here first.
Can You Dig It? — 10 AM–12 PM & 2–4 PM · Passaic County Archaeology Center, 1093 Greenwood Lake Turnpike, Ringwood. A simulated excavation aimed at kids and families: digging for artifacts, sifting and screening, then cleaning and examining finds in the lab. Free, with registration required.
Behind the Artifact — 1:00–2:00 PM · Lambert Castle Carriage House, 3 Valley Road, Paterson. The county’s Director of Collections and Registrar bring out objects from the collection and explain how museum work is done, from cataloging to storage and preservation. Free; registration encouraged.
Portraits of Resilience opening — Reception 1–4 PM, artist Q&A at 2:30 · The Paterson Museum, 2 Market St, Paterson. A charcoal-and-oil portrait series that pairs each work with the subject’s own testimony about experiencing homelessness. The exhibition asks viewers to listen as much as look.
Moonlit Memories opening — 1:00–4:00 PM · Clifton Arts Center, 900 Clifton Ave, Clifton. One of the year’s two “America at 250” shows, this one on night, shadow, and nocturnal life in the American story. The reception includes an artist meet-and-greet, gallery tours, and work for sale.
From Harvest to Hearth — Throughout the day · Dey Mansion, 199 Totowa Road, Wayne. An open-hearth cooking demonstration on how 18th-century households preserved food for winter, staged over the fire at Washington’s former headquarters.
Sunday, Sept 20 — Music Festival & Finale
The week closes with its largest single event.
Music Festival — 11:00 AM–5:00 PM · Rifle Camp Park Amphitheater, 387 Rifle Camp Road, Woodland Park. The music festival features two stages, eight acts, food trucks, and family activities, no ticket required. The lineup:
- Stage 1: MPACK (11:30) · Andrew Lobby (1:00) · The Darla Hood Band (2:30) · Craig Redmond & The C Dreams (4:00)
- Stage 2: Tony Caggiano (12:00) · Grupo Mambo Swing (1:30) · The Bells 2.0 (3:00) · Jungle Habitat (4:15)
Bring a blanket or a lawn chair.
Sunday also runs a slate of free history programming, with registration encouraged on the tours:
- Olmsted Walking Tour of Garret Mountain — 11 AM & 2 PM. Department Curator Isabella Costa on how Frederick Law Olmsted’s park philosophy shaped the county system, and how the Olmsted Brothers firm designed Garret Mountain in 1928. Meets at the gazebo by Barbour’s Pond Boat House. Register here.
- Hands-On History: Artifact Analysis — 1–3 PM · Archaeology Center, Ringwood. Handling real artifacts from the collection and learning how archaeologists interpret them. Ages 16+. Register here.
- Lecture: Washington’s Army at Valley Forge — 1–3 PM · Dey Mansion, Wayne. Historian and Valley Forge guide Kenneth Gavin on the strategic and political reasons behind the encampment, beyond the familiar story of hardship. Register here.
- Lecture: Pompton Area and the American Revolution — 1:30–3 PM · Ringwood Manor, presented by the North Jersey Highlands Historical Society.
Open House Weekend (Sat & Sun, Sept 19–20)
Free admission all weekend at sites across the county:
- American Labor Museum, Haledon — Sat & Sun, 1–4 PM
- Ringwood Manor — Sat & Sun, 10 AM–3 PM
- Muth Museum & Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson — Sat & Sun, 10 AM–3 PM (stadium tours at 10:30, 12:30, and 2:30)
- Long Pond Ironworks, Hewitt — Sat & Sun, 10 AM–3 PM
- The Paterson Museum — Sat, 9:30 AM–4:30 PM
- Clifton Arts Center — Wed–Sat, 1–4 PM
Several drop-in activities run all weekend with no reservation: vintage postcard-making at Lambert Tower, punched-tin ornaments at Dey Mansion (Hammered History), and quill-pen writing at the Rea House in Hawthorne (Ink & Imagination).
One open house is worth planning around. Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson is a National Historic Landmark and one of the few surviving Negro Leagues ballparks in the country. Larry Doby, a Paterson native who later integrated the American League, played there. The Muth Museum runs stadium tours only three times a day, so timing matters.
Dining Specials
Two restaurants are running week-long deals for anyone out exploring:
- Agave Cantina, 412 Piaget Ave, Clifton — 25% off a Tampiquena or House Paloma.
- Brokedown Palace, 95 Mountainview Blvd, Wayne — 20% off your order.
Quick FAQ
When is See Passaic County Week 2026? September 14–20, 2026, Monday through Sunday.
How much does it cost? Most events are free. A handful of hands-on programs require free registration, and the dining offers are discounts rather than freebies. The kickoff party feeds the first 100 guests at no charge.
Do I need the Let’s Rallie app? No. It’s a check-in and tracking tool, useful if you want a record of your stops, but every event is open without it.
Which event should I go to if I only pick one? The Sunday music festival at Rifle Camp Park is the largest and most open-ended: a full day, two stages, food trucks, and no ticket. For a quieter option, Saturday’s museum openings and the Hinchliffe Stadium tours are the standouts.
