Union County MusicFest: Daily Rundown

Correction appended.

Union County’s MusicFest and County Fair begins Wednesday evening at Oak Ridge Park in Clark. This free, five-day festival includes a carnival, a walkathon and, Friday through Sunday, a host of musical acts on multiple stages.

We'll be live-blogging the entire festival, plus uploading photos and videos throughout. But you can help us tell the story – send us your photos from the fair and Music Fest, and chime-in on our discussion thread. Be sure to check us out on Twitter, too (www.twitter.com/spfpatch). If you Tweet during the fair and festival, be sure to use the hashtag #ucmusicfest and your Tweets will automatically show up in our live chat.

Here’s what’s happening each day of the festival:

Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

• The festival kicks off at 5 p.m. with the opening of the “County Fair at MusicFest.” The fair, ongoing through Sunday, will feature more than 20 rides, a midway and food vendors.
• Four bands take the stage on the Crossroads stage, starting at 5:15 p.m.: The Cranford Guitar Center Band, Doomsday Diaries, Nikki Briar, and b.Funk. For each group’s stage time, click here.

Thursday, 5 p.m to 10 p.m.

• Family Day at the County Fair. The purchase of a wristband buys endless rides all day. The evening comes to a close with fireworks.
• Four bands perform on the Crossroads stage, starting at 5:15 p.m.: RMC All Stars, The Flies, Mikey B, and The Wandering Bards. For each band’s stage time, click here.

Friday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

• Here come the headliners! Satellite Hearts, Chelsea Kills, The Skins, Dirty Bird, Ed Kowalczyk of Live, and Collective Soul all perform. For stage locations and times, click here.
• Watch some of the world’s action-sports athletes perform stunts on BMX bikes, freestyle motocross, skateboards, inline skates, and street bikes at “Hell on Wheels.” Shows will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• The Marketplace, a midway filled with vendors and food merchants, opens Friday.

Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Rock On! Walkathon begins at 9 a.m.)

• The Rock On! Walkathon and 5k Rock ‘n Run starts at 9 a.m. The event benefits the Love Hope Strength Foundation and The Valerie Fund, which together support the fight against cancer. For more information, click here.
• Entries are due for the second annual Union County Harvest Contest. Categories include funny vegetables, vegetable characters, heaviest tomato, heaviest zucchini, best pumpkin and a Healthy Harvest Quick Bread Contest. All entries may be submitted between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Tent. For details, click here.
• Saturday’s bands include Mike Peters with the School of Rock All Stars, Cy Curnin, Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Neon Trees, Paul Rodgers and Blondie. For stage times, .
• The Kids Kingdom opens Saturday and Sunday with fun educational activities for children of all ages. The area will include a petting zoo, pony rides, face-painting, sand art, inflatable rides, a clay station and more. For details, click here.
• The Green Village Collective returns Saturday and Sunday with an art installation made of recycled plastic bottles. The installation also includes a dance floor for getting down to live DJs.  

Sunday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• The final day of MusicFest features some New Jersey favorites: a School of Rock Tribute to Springsteen, The Smithereens (featuring Scotch Plains resident Pat Dinizio), and Southside Johnny. For stage times, .

Correction: This article has been amended to reflect the following correction made Thursday, Sept. 15, at 12:56 p.m.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Wednesday's and Thursday's musical acts were scheduled to take place at the Crossroads bar in Garwood. Instead, the bands were scheduled to perform on the Crossroads stage located on the MusicFest grounds at Oak Ridge Park.