When Is The First Day Of Fall 2023? Ways To Celebrate Autumn In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Fall is here, bringing with it the chance to gather ripe apples, pick pumpkins, and enjoy the beautiful changing of the seasons in New Jersey.

The equinox officially ushers in the new season and its promise of crisp air, show-stopping fall foliage, and cool evenings just perfect for sitting around a fire pit, or perhaps taking in a half-dozen fall and winter meteor showers.

There are plenty of chances in the Garden State to play in the sunshine before the cold of winter creeps in (the winter solstice is Thursday, Dec. 21, if you’re keeping track on the calendar). It's prime time to go to apple orchards, or to pick the pumpkins ripening on the vine. Farmers are cutting mazes into their cornfields or setting up other activities to entertain local families.

We could fill several cornucopias with all the events going on in New Jersey, so here is an “early harvest” of things going on as we welcome the official first day of fall: Saturday, Sept. 23.

Patch recommends checking with event organizers for any weather-related postponements or cancellations.

North Jersey

Von Thun Farms Fall Fest 2023

• 438 NJ-57, Washington
• Sunday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bergen County Fall Harvest Festival

• Overpeck County Park, Ridgefield Park
• Friday, Sept. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

German American Society of Trenton Oktoberfest

• German-American Society, Trenton
• Friday, Sept 22 from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 23 from 12 to 9 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 24 from 12 to 6 p.m.

Nutley Fall Festival in the Park

• Memorial Park I (the Mud Hole), Nutley
• Sunday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Chester Lions Club's Oktoberfest Weekend and Car Show

• Chubb Park, Chester
• Saturday, Sept. 23 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 24 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Fall Festival

• Wightman Farms, Morristown
• Weekends Sept. 2 – Oct. 29 (weekends)

Central Jersey and the Shore Region

Harvest Home Festival

• Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel
• Saturday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

First Red Bank RiverFest Oktoberfest

• Two River Theater Plaza, Red Bank
• Saturday, Sept. 24 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Oktoberfest at Six Flags

• Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson
• Select dates Aug. 26 through Nov. 5

10th Annual Belftoberfest

• Belford Brewing Company, Belford, Middletown Twp.
• Thursday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 1

Mudhen HarvestFest

• Mudhen Brewing Company, Wildwood
• Friday, Sept. 29 and Saturday, Sept. 30

16th Annual Stafford Township Fall Harvest Festival

• Manahawkin Lake Park, Manahawkin
• Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8, from 12 to 5 p.m.

South Jersey

Evesham Harvest Festival

• Main Street, Evesham
• Sunday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

30th WXPN XPoNential Music Festival

• Wiggins Waterfront Park, Camden
• Friday, Sept. 22 through Sunday, Sept. 24

Made In Jersey Festival

• Wiggins Waterfront Park, Camden
• Saturday, Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CCTS Food Truck & Craft Fall Festival

• Camden County Technical Schools, Sicklerville
• Saturday, Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Haddonfield Music Festival

• Kings Highway, Haddonfield
• Saturday, Oct. 14 from 1 to 6 p.m.

Harvest Festival

• Croft Farm, Cherry Hill
• Sunday, Oct. 15 from 12 to 4 p.m.

Gloucester Township Food & Craft Beer Festival

• 15 S Black Horse Pike, Blackwood
• Saturday, Oct. 21 from 2 to 7 p.m.

When is the autumn equinox, exactly?

The autumnal equinox isn’t a daylong event but rather occurs at the exact moment the sun crosses the celestial equator — that’s at 2:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sept. 23.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words “aequus,” which means “equal,” and “nox,” which means night. That’s led to the perception that everyone worldwide sees the same amount of daylight and nighttime, but it’s not the absolute truth. To be precise, daylight lasts about eight minutes longer than nighttime on the day of the equinox, EarthSky reported.

Speaking of daylight, it’ll be time for the twice annual clock-changing ritual before you know it. Daylight saving time ends Sunday, Nov. 5. You may recall legislation for year-round daylight saving time sailed through the Senate, but the issue is far from settled in the House.

Here are five other things to know about the September equinox:

1. There’s no guarantee, of course, but the chances of seeing stunning northern lights displays increase after the fall equinox, according to NASA. Both the spring and fall equinoxes are good aurora seasons, but autumn produces a surplus of geomagnetic storms — almost twice the annual average. And right now, the chances of seeing auroras are greater as the sun approaches “solar maximum” in its 11-year cycle and the number of sunspots ramps up.

2. The date of the September equinox varies. Usually, it’s on the 22nd, as it is this year, or the 23rd, but it can occur as early as Sept. 21 or as late as Sept. 24, according to Space.com.

A Sept. 21 autumnal equinox hasn’t occurred in several millennia, but some folks alive today may see it the next couple of times it rolls around, in 2092 and then again four years later in 2096. And the first day of fall hasn’t fallen on Sept. 24 since 1931, and that won’t happen again until 2303.

Here’s the reason: A year is defined as 365 days by the Gregorian calendar, but it takes the Earth 365-¼ days to orbit the sun. What this means is the autumnal equinox occurs about six hours later than it did the year prior, which eventually moves the date by a day.

3. Thank Canada for spectacular fall sunsets with more vivid pinks, reds and oranges than at any other time of the year. The Weather Channel offers an explanation: As dry, clean Canadian air begins to sweep across the country, fewer colors of the rainbow spectrum are scattered by air molecules. That means the reds, oranges, yellows and pinks make it through for your sunset-viewing pleasure.

4. No matter where you are in the world, the sun will rise due east and set due west during the fall equinox (the same thing happens during the spring equinox). For the directionally challenged, it’s a good time for a reset. Go outside around sunset or sunrise, find a landmark and mark the sun’s location in relation to it.

5. Fall isn’t just a time to start winterizing homes against stink bugs and other insects and buttoning up other things outside. It’s rutting — or mating — season for deer, elk and moose, and males will battle it out by thrusting their antlers together until one of them gives up or dies.

Swans, geese and ducks begin their migration south. Frogs burrow deep into mudholes to wait out the winter. Chipmunks retreat to their underground tunnels. Bears eat and drink almost nonstop as they prepare for hibernation.

Patch’s national desk contributed to this report.

Related articles:

• Fall Foliage Map 2023: See When Autumn Leaves Peak In NJ
• Aurora Borealis Displays More Likely In Active Solar Storm Season
• Aurora Borealis Hunting: What’s A Kp Index, More Northern Lights Tips
• 2023 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons And Other Celestial Events