If you live in Brick, you already know the drill on a Thursday in July. Chairs in the trunk by five, a cooler on the shuttle bus by five thirty, fireworks over the Metedeconk by nine. What most residents miss is that the summer doesn't wind down when SummerFest ends on July 23. It moves. About a mile west, across the Mantoloking Road bridge, to a different park on a different body of water, and it runs deep into August.
That handoff, from Windward Beach on the Metedeconk to Traders Cove on Barnegat Bay, is the shape of a Brick summer. Here's what's left of it in 2026.
The July 23 Finale: Suit and Mai Tai
SummerFest wraps its 31st season with Suit and Mai Tai, a yacht rock cover band pulling from Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Toto, and Christopher Cross. They played last year and got asked back. The set fits the venue better than most people expect: a grassy park, a river behind the stage, a crowd that would rather sway than mosh.
The mechanics are the same as every other SummerFest Thursday. Windward Beach Park opens at 5 p.m., music starts at 7, fireworks fire off over the Metedeconk River the moment the last song ends. The food court and the beer and wine garden open with the gates. Outside alcohol is not permitted, and kids under 17 need an adult with them. Admission is free because Pine Belt Cars has been title sponsor for years, with Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center, Brightview Senior Living, and Comcast filling in the rest.
The shuttle is the move
Parking at Windward fills fast, which is why the township runs free shuttle buses from five schools starting at 5 p.m.:
- Drum Point Elementary School
- Veterans Memorial Middle School
- Midstreams Elementary School
- Lanes Mill Elementary School
- Brick Township High School
Chairs and coolers ride the bus. Return trips start immediately after the fireworks and keep going until every attendee is back at their pickup lot. If you have never taken it, this is the year to try it. Walking out of Windward on foot after fireworks with a folding chair over your shoulder is a specific kind of penance.
Saturday Mornings Are the Other Half of Windward
The park does double duty. Every Saturday from May 2 through October 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Brick Farmers' Market sets up in the same lot the concerts spill into on Thursday nights. The 2026 season is the market's twelfth and the roster is close to seventy vendors.
A few names worth knowing if you have only wandered through once or twice:
| Vendor | What they sell |
|---|---|
| BE B.I.O. Cafe | Prepared food and cafe items |
| J. Josephine Creations | Handmade goods |
| SoGood Guacamole & Dip Co. | Fresh dips |
| The Hangover Snack Co. | Snacks |
| Toms River Brewing Co. | Local craft beer |
Free admission, free parking, leashed dogs welcome, an ATM on site, and playgrounds for kids who lose interest in produce shopping around minute twelve. The next market Saturday after the SummerFest finale is July 25, which means you can close out SummerFest on Thursday night and be back at the same park thirty six hours later buying mozzarella made on site. That kind of double booking is one of the reasons long time residents defend Windward the way they do.
Then the Whole Thing Moves to Barnegat Bay
Here is the part most people who moved to Brick in the last few years do not know yet. When SummerFest ends, the township pivots to a second free concert series at Traders Cove Marina and Park, 40 Mantoloking Road, just over the Mantoloking Bridge. Same format, different water. The concerts run on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. through August. Bring chairs or blankets, coolers are welcome, no alcohol, and the show sits on the grassy area behind the boat ramp.
"Brick's summer celebrations are moving from the Metedeconk River to Barnegat Bay, as the major 'Summerfest' series celebrates its finale this week and the annual Traders Cove Marina concert series starts next week." — Shorebeat, on last year's handoff
The audience skews different at Traders Cove. Smaller crowd. More boaters, because you can anchor off the park and listen from the water. And Brick Township Senior Services runs a complimentary door to door shuttle for residents 60 and over on a first come basis. The number is 732-920-8686 if you or a parent want to book a seat.
Traders Cove is a working municipal marina the rest of the year. Slips for boats and personal watercraft, kayak and stand up paddleboard storage, launch ramps, walking paths, and a resource building with restrooms that opened in 2017. KiteFest and movie nights land here too. If you have been in Brick a while and still think of Traders Cove as "the boat ramp on Mantoloking Road," August is when it earns the rest of the description.
A Practical Week Ahead Guide
For anyone reading this the week it went up, here is what the next stretch actually looks like on the ground:
- Saturday, July 18: Brick Farmers' Market at Windward Beach, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Thursday, July 23: SummerFest finale with Suit and Mai Tai. Gates 5 p.m., music 7 p.m., fireworks after. Shuttle from the five schools listed above.
- Saturday, July 25: Farmers' Market at Windward Beach.
- Wednesdays in August: Traders Cove Concert Series, 7 p.m., 40 Mantoloking Road. Bring a chair. Senior shuttle available.
- Saturdays through October 3: Farmers' Market continues weekly.
That is roughly six weekends of free programming stacked into two parks that sit less than a mile and a half apart. For a shore town where the beach communities to the east are mostly running paid badge programs and metered lots, having two municipal parks throwing free concerts and a farmers market on your side of the bridges is not a small thing. It is one of the reasons people who move here from the barrier islands rarely move back.
Why the Handoff Matters
Most townships have one signature summer event. Brick has two, and they are deliberately staggered so residents do not have to choose. SummerFest is the big one, thirty one years old, thousands of people, fireworks. Traders Cove is the smaller, quieter, boat friendly cousin that starts the week after SummerFest ends. If you only know one, you are catching about half of what the township puts on the calendar.
The other thing worth flagging: both events are anchored to public waterfront parks the township has spent real money keeping accessible. Windward Beach on the Metedeconk, Traders Cove on Barnegat Bay. Two rivers, two vibes, two schedules that lock together like a hinge. Miss July 23 and you can still find live music on the water for the next four Wednesdays. That kind of continuity is what makes summer here feel long instead of frantic.
Pack the chairs. See you at the shuttle stop.
If you love the way this town spends its summers and are thinking about what a year round Brick address would actually look like on paper, The Shore Standard covers Brick and the rest of Ocean and Monmouth Counties with the same attention to what is actually happening block by block. Get Your Free Home Valuation when you are ready to talk.
