The Weekend Ahead: Early Voting Opens, Garlicsville in Bernardsville and a Barn Trick-or-Treat at Lord Stirling Park

Good morning, Somerset County. Early in-person voting for the November 3 election opens Saturday, and Bernardsville turns into Garlicsville for a one-day street fair on Sunday. Lord Stirling Park hosts a barn trick-or-treat with horses in costume, Bridgewater Commons celebrates Diwali, and Somerville welcomes Anthony Bourdain's longtime travel companion Zamir Gotta. It's the last weekend for Snyder's Farm Fall Festival and for Almost, Maine, and Somerset Valley Players open an Agatha Christie mystery in Hillsborough. Drivers heading for I-287 should note an overnight ramp closure on I-78 Friday night.

Friday

• Spoopy Bubble Dance Party at the Somerset County Library System's Hillsborough Branch, 379 South Branch Road, 11 a.m. Halloween music, lights, bubbles and balloons. Details
• Nature Photography 101 at Duke Farms, 1112 Dukes Parkway West, Hillsborough, 2 p.m. A guided course on seeing nature through a camera lens. Details
• Halloween Bingo at the North Plainfield Branch library, 6 Rockview Ave., 3 p.m. Costumes encouraged. Details
• Pumpkin carving with goats at Abma's Farm, 282 Amwell Road, Hillsborough, Friday evenings from 5 p.m. It's BYOB. Details
• Fright Night at the Library for teens in grades 6 to 12 at the Somerville Branch, 35 West End Ave., 6 p.m. Details
• Birds of the World, the first talk in a new NJ Audubon lecture series with program director Ben Barkley, at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, 11 Hardscrabble Road, Bernardsville, 7 p.m. Details
• Destroying David, American Theater Group's one-man comedy written and performed by Jason Odell Williams, at the Sieminski Theater, 8000 Fellowship Road, Basking Ridge, 7:30 p.m. It runs Friday through Sunday, and tickets are $51 to $61. Details
• Almost, Maine enters its final weekend with the Lord Stirling Theater Company in the English Barn Theater at Farmstead Arts Center, 450 King George Road, Basking Ridge. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25, or $23 for seniors, students, children and military. Details
• Agatha Christie's Go Back for Murder opens with the Somerset Valley Players, 689 Amwell Road, Hillsborough, 8 p.m. The run continues through November 8. Details
• The Night I Died at the Palace Theatre, Open Door Arts Center's whodunit, continues at the PeopleCare Center Auditorium, 120 Finderne Ave., Bridgewater, 8 p.m. Details

Saturday

• Early voting opens at Somerset County's early voting sites, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can vote at any site in the county, and no appointment is needed (see Around the county).
• Bernardsville Farmers' Market at Bernardsville Station, 50 Mine Brook Road, from 9 a.m. Details
• Resilient Raritan River Bike Tour, a five-mile ride through the Lower Raritan watershed with Duke Farms, Hillsborough, 10 a.m. Details
• Diwali @ The Commons in Center Court at Bridgewater Commons, 1 p.m. The Festival of Lights program includes live music, traditional and Bollywood dance and fashion. Details
• The Other Side of the Revolution, the story of the Loyalist Vought family, at the Van Veghten House, 9 Van Veghten Drive, Bridgewater, 1 p.m. Admission is $5. Details
• Decorate a pumpkin, a drop-in craft with the Somerville Branch library at Human Services, 1 p.m. Details
• Legado screening and Q&A with the director at the Manville Branch library, 100 South 10th Ave., 2 p.m. Details
• Make Recycling Fun!, turning paper rolls, egg cartons and bottles into crafts with naturalist Dorothy Smullen, at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, Bernardsville, 2 to 4 p.m. Details
• Spooktacular shows at the RVCC Planetarium, 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg. Shows run at 3 p.m. (Earth, Moon, and Sun), 4 p.m. (Monster Mash laser concert), 7 p.m. (Halloween: Celestial Origins) and 8 p.m. (Fright Light laser concert). Tickets are $11 for one show or $20 for two, and reservations are recommended. Details
• Halloween Party at the Peapack and Gladstone Branch library, 1 School St., Peapack, 4 p.m. Stories, games, crafts and a photo booth. Come in costume. Details
• In Conversation with Zamir Gotta, Anthony Bourdain's travel companion and friend, at Village Brewing Company, 34 W. Main St., Somerville. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the talk starts at 7:30 p.m. It's 21 and over, and tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Details
• Sonic Reign returns to the Riverside Inn, 102 Woodfern Road, Neshanic Station, 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Details
• Latin Night at the Underground in Somerville, 9 p.m., with Dramos, Anderson Flight and Andre Ramorex. Details

Sunday

• Garlicsville, the Bernardsville Garlic Festival and Street Fair, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Main Street Bernardsville takes over downtown for a day of food and fall festivities. Patch · Details
• Stalls, Sweets and Treats, a barn trick-or-treat at Lord Stirling Park, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge, from 11 a.m. Expect a self-guided barn tour, horses in costume, decorated stalls and a hay maze. Costume voting runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Details
• Brunch of Horrors, a Halloween drag brunch at The Hidden Flask in South Bound Brook, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Admission is $20. Details
• Sunday matinees: Almost, Maine at Farmstead Arts Center, Basking Ridge, at 2 p.m., and The Night I Died at the Palace Theatre at the PeopleCare Center, Bridgewater, at 2:30 p.m. (see Friday).

All weekend

• Snyder's Farm Fall Festival, 586 South Middlebush Road, Franklin Township, from 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. This is the festival's final weekend. Details
• Fall Harvest Days from 10 a.m. and the Scare Farm after dark at Norz Hill Farm & Market, 120 South Branch Road, Hillsborough. Harvest Days · Scare Farm
• Hayride, corn maze, pumpkin patch and petting zoo packages at Abma's Farm, Hillsborough. Details
• Woodland Halloween photo props at Shadowline Farm, 345 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, through October 31. Pets are welcome. Details
• Fired en Masse, large-scale ceramic works by eight New Jersey artists at the Center for Contemporary Art, 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, on view through December 7. Details
• The Somerset County Library System has crafts, games and Halloween programs at its branches all weekend. See the events calendar

Around the county

• Early voting runs Saturday, October 24, through Sunday, November 1. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot online or by mail is Tuesday, October 27. The County Clerk's Office has extra hours for mail-in ballots Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, with polls open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. TAPinto's voter guide
• I-78 ramp closure Friday night: the I-78 westbound Exit 29 ramp to I-287 closes from 11 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday while crews shift traffic onto the new I-78 bridge over Routes 202/206. Detour signs send drivers on to Exit 26. Two of the three I-78 westbound lanes past Washington Valley Road are also closed from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. WRNJ
• Next week in Warren: Mountain View Road closes between Round Top Road and Mt. Bethel Road for paving Monday through Wednesday, October 26 to 28, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Local traffic only. Patch
• New in dining: Dog City Grill is planning a soft opening in Bridgewater, and a new restaurant is coming to the Montgomery Promenade. Business alerts
• Car inspections in Somerville: the NJMVC mobile inspection unit comes to the former police headquarters on Thursday, October 29. TAPinto
• On the high school fields: Hillsborough gymnastics won the Somerset County Tournament, ending a five-year title run by the defending champion. Mount St. Mary and Bridgewater-Raritan meet in the girls volleyball county final. Sports

Have an event we should know about? Submit it here. Have a good weekend, Somerset County.