There are a few things in life that are inherently good. In my opinion, those include: live music, carnival food, thrill rides, good weather, quality time with friends, and animal freak shows. The Union County Music Fest provides all of the above and more, and all at the super low price of ... well, NOTHING! Let's start with the logistics. First of all, it would be nearly impossible to get to Music Fest without a car, so I'm lucky my Jersey-dwelling pals offered to drive. Second, Music Fest is held in association with the county fair, which accounts for the rickety and slightly scary rides, the carnival food (funnel cake, anyone!?), and the Anibal freak show. Freaks on display included a zebra/donkey cross breed, sheep with five legs, and a midget bull. Awesome! Now on to the music. There was a great mix of styles on display, and the three bands I saw each provided a very different experience. First I saw The Zombies, a '60s psychedelic band that was popular with the older crowd, but still were pleasantly enjoyable. For me, the highlight of the evening was getting to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band, who were absolutely spectacular. His mix of rock, funk, rhythm and blues, and gospel is not to be missed and I was totally blown away by his incredible work on the pedal steel. In fact, I was so impressed that I weaseled my way backstage after his set so that I could tell him I was hooked and will definitely be seeing him again soon. See the attached picture for visual proof. Headlining Sunday night was Spoon, another band that I really like. They were better than when I first saw them a couple of years ago in NYC in a venue that I hate, and the crowd was very receptive. The threat of rain kept many people away, which was too bad for the bands but good for me and my friends. We were right up near the front for both Robert Randolph and Spoon. A few of my friends were there for the Saturday lineup as well, and they said it was much more crowded, which isn't a surprise since the weather was so much better. Saturday's performers included headliners Train (not my thing, but ok), OK Go, The Bravery, and several others. The festival also boasts a small stage for local bands, as well as a pop/dance area, which seemed popular with the tweens. I hear there was also a human freak show on Saturday, but unfortunately it was not open Sunday. I'm excited to see who will be back for Music Fest in 2011, but it will be hard to beat the experience I had there yesterday. read more

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For Union County, this was a great festival. However, it was poorly put together also. First off, we did the smarter thing and used Uber to get to and from the event because I heard parking was a disaster. Also, there were very few signs. When you did park, you had a bit to walk but there were no signs that told you where to go. I think they need better signage and more lighting in the dark as I almost twisted my ankle walking over. The craft beer garden was $9 a drink, which was a bit high. And you didn't get to sample anything before you bought it (also note get your token beforehand) so careful how you spend it. Though, they had some great beers there. The waits weren't too long surprisingly. However, the lines for some of the food trucks were way more. Many food trucks already sold out of food when I got there Saturday night. Meh. But thankfully there were plenty that were more well prepared. The rides were a little pricey also at $1.50 a ticket and some of the rides at 5 tickets. Eek. I think I'd go again but they do need some improvement. Also, more lighting would be appreciated all around. This review doesn't include the concerts because I didn't bother with that. If you angled yourself properly in the food truck/carnival area, you got a GREAT view of the MainStage for FREE FYI. read more

A weekend Food Truck and Rock Carnival in my area really had me excited . I decided to skip Friday and wait for Saturday and Sunday when there would be headliner bands... I bought my tickets online. I highly recommend doing this in advance . U can save quite a bit of money even with the fee that's applied for using the service.People on Facebook were also selling extra tickets for $60 for two days. I had a choice of printing my ticket or having it sent directly to my iPhone. I chose my iPhone. The venue itself was free to enter, unless you wanted to see the bands then they were charging $60 per day at the gate. If you did this you had to wait in long ,long lines...... I was able to bypass this line and go directly to the concert area. I also chose to park directly outside the park and park on the street and walk in. ( 15 min walk) That saved the $20 parking fee and having to wait in long lines to exit. Once at the park everyone had to go through some kind of security. Saturday was great . Security was a piece of cake and no issues. They were very pleasant 2second look through my purse.this day was enjoyable... I found Saturday very disorganized when it came to finding out where to go or enter to see the concert, or get wrist bands . I must of waisted 1/2 hour just trying to find out where to go! There were no signs . I kept stopping and asking different security guards but they didn't quite know either... It was basically word of mouth... I was happy to see all the different iPAs tents neatly in a row. I had to get in line once again to get a beer wrist band. The biggest problem was you had to have tokens to purchase a beer or mixed drink. That meant getting in another line... This became a pain in the butt... ( you should just be able to pay cash at the bar.) The other issue I had was if you did get a drink you had to stay in that one area that was fenced in. You couldn't walk around freely with your alcohol and enjoy the different bands or food trucks. I felt like we were herded cattle.... I've been to 3 different festivals this summer and this is the only one that did this. A domestic beer was $8. A IPA beer was $9. A mixed drink $10. I felt this was a bit steep for a festival in the park. On the other side of fence was another beer and Tito's vodka tent. Again, kept in this area like herded cattle.... The food trucks were in a different area and there was a nice variety of them. Again ,you had to exit one gated area and go threw another gated area. There was a stand for hamburgers and hotdogs, grilled chicken, and chicken fingers and fries.I thought it was a little steep to pay eight dollars for a plain hot dog. The chicken fingers for seven and the fries were five. The carnival for kids had a nice assortment of rides and games... The only thing that made it worthwhile was seeing some amazing bands. My friends from Edgar Cayce played on Saturday . They were amazing! Along with Myles Kennedy and Slash! They both rocked the house! There were other bands that were great too! Sunday, I parked outside on the street and walked in....Sunday was a totally different story. The lines were long and security looked in my purse and patted me down. The woman looked like she was enjoying this alittle too much!....(don't ask). Once inside I knew exactly where to go because I already had my 2day pass. My friends from Prophet were playing and I thank them for the crew passes. The headliner was Stone Temple Pilots and Godsmack. Godsmack rocked the house with dueling drum sets!!! I was extremely disappointed with the security team for this venue! On Saturday they were very nice understanding no issues! On Sunday those same security guards became belligerent, aggressive, and downright nasty! One of them even tried to push me because I asked a question. The one security guard at Birch Hill even tried to throw bandmembers out after they just played. No one got out of hand, no one was drunk, and no one was rude yet this particular security guard let his temper, and ego get the best of him. If it wasn't for the great bands a lot of people would a left! They were selling tee-shirts for $25. After the show and while walking I was able to get a great tee for $10. If they decide to host this carnival next year they need to make some changes and it will be a lot more fun. For all the bands I give it ----5 stars For the variety of food trucks and IPAs ----- 4stars For parking ------3 stars The Carnival ------5 stars For the entire venue -----5 stars For the security team and guard who pushed me ----1 star All in all I think they did an ok job... If they do it next year my suggestion would be to have signs spelling everything out where to go. Hire a new security team!!!!! read more

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We've attended 2 of the Union County Music Fests and they were great! A full day of music, fun; there were informational tables between the music & the carnival which are great for kids! Yes, there were a lot of people, but it wasn't packed. Even though we live right in Clark, we found the best way to get there was to drive to the U.C. Vo-tech in Scotch Plains and take the free shuttle bus ~ which drops you right at the entrance. The return buses came frequently ~ no problems! If you park at the site, you'll most likely have to walk quite a distance and you have to pay. I suggest you bring with you, a collapsable chair and a good size water bottle/canteen for each person in your group. Don't forget your camera! The carnival rides are very expensive ~ that's probably why it wasn't too crowded. We just watched and that was enough excitement. read more

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I hope they do this again! I grew up in union county and this was extremely fun and as a vendor it was great! We would live to come back and do this show. The part I personally appreciated was the contained gates of alcohol, i believe that helped. A major complain as to why I wont give it 5 stars was that they completely missed having an accessible bathroom for handicapped. We had several customers complain and with reason. read more

Union County Music Fest - Best Jerky around! Beer, Jerky, and Rock! What else do you need? A good way to end the summer and begin beer season - Festivals Near Me - Clark, New Jersey

This was a miss for me on many levels. However, let me start out with a positive thought. The amount of food trucks there was great and left no taste bud preference dissatisfied. Also, the fact that it was free admission on Friday was good BUT the amount of money that you had to spend otherwise was a bit ridiculous. Parking - $10, no discount for active duty military (which always sits not so well with me), and yes, i would agree with the description below of it being a disaster. After parking you then had a decent walk up a hill with tons of long grass to get into the event. The food trucks were nicely divided along the perimeter. Everything was pretty pricey. Although you could just enter the beergarden with a wristband, you had to then stand on a ridiculous line to find out that the beers were $9 a piece. $9 !!!! LOL I'm sorry this is NOT NYC, people. We are standing around in a park in Central NJ! Come on! We heard this and decided to go home. That was the straw that broke the camel of the rip-off's back. It's such a shame because for families I cant even imagine what it would cost to let a kid go on a few rides and feed everyone. The music itself was fine as background noise, but I certainly would never pay admission to venture back to this event. Actually, if it returns next year, I still doubt I'd be inclined to go even on the "free" night. But hey, if you don't mind being ripped off and potentially leaving a carnival at least being down $50 - $100 with little to show for it, this may be for you. read more

I guess the First Annual Food Truck and Rock Carnival is the same as the old Union County Music Fest. If that's the case, then they brought back a winner. * Logistics: Lightyears better than the taco festival. Cars parked quickly with no backups on the main road. Police stationed at several intersections to get traffic in and out. The initial line to get in moved quickly, and then no lines outside after that. Almost no food truck lines, and the line for the stages moved quickly once they opened. A+ all around. * Security: Not the greatest. Unevenly applied to people entering the park - second day patdown, first day nothing, they never checked just what was in my pockets. No security entering the stage area - people openly brought bottles of water against the rules. Hey, I'm fine with that, but then don't list it. The first day, they told people no smartphones in the concert area. But then they just let everyone through. Okay. Security at the concert was pretty tight, but then they missed some near-fights in the audience. I don't know what they were looking for. * VIP: Don't buy it. I would deduct a star for the way VIPs were treated, but I had a five-star experience as a regular concert goer so too bad. VIPs could be in front for a few songs before being shooed away, except when security decided to shoo them away sooner. VIPs had their own drinking area. That's about it. * Food trucks: Excellent. Wide variety, spaced out well, no lines (except peculiarly at Empanada Guy, one of the worst trucks there). A bit of lack of coordination, since some of the trucks didn't get the memo to raise prices for the carnival, so you had good deals on both food (hey No Pão!) and drinks (hey again No Pão, and Soupman) at some, and then really bad deals at others. I wish a couple of trucks were let into the concert area, because the options inside were sorely lacking, so you'd have to exit to get good stuff and then come back. * Rock: 10 stars isn't enough. Incredible lineup for an incredible price. $55 got me both days with Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Chester Bennington and His Band, and Slash and Some Other Dudes as the headliners - then Anthrax, Skillet, Clutch, Crobots, Skid Row, Puddle of Mudd, Pop Evil, the list goes on. I would have been satisfied with just three bands for that price, but I got over 10. If anyone's reading this, a suggestion for next year: Have the stages at least somewhat facing each other, so that people holding the front few rows at one can at least see and listen to the music at the other. It didn't work too well with them side by side but separated. I'm coming back every year. Already decided. Rock on! read more

Praying they bring this back again...it was by far the best music festival in the state for years!

I'll second the hopeful come back of the festival. I took my kids here for years and we have some really good memories of the rides and music. read more