Soon it will be time for fireflies and barbecue, for long, bright days at the Shore and balmy summer nights on the boardwalk.

To embrace the spirit of spring and look ahead to those warmer days, here's a rundown of summer festivals in New Jersey, whether celebrations of food, music, art, film or plain ol' fun.

The list starts in the weeks before Memorial Day and wraps up in September. What other festivals do you plan to enjoy this summer? Let us know in the comments.

MAY

9 - For those who like a cold one, the Big Brew Sussex Beer Festival touches down at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta; bigbrewnj.com/sussex

16 - Get those spoons ready! The New Jersey State Chili and Salsa Cook-off is set to spice up Toms River; downtowntomsriver.com

16/17 - The Skate and Surf Festival in Asbury Park sparks up music festival season. Dropkick Murphys headline on Saturday and the Gaslight Anthem takes the stage on Sunday; skateandsurffest.com

22 - What says spring and summer more than pretty kites floating in the air? The Wildwoods International Kite Festival runs from May 22 through 25; skyfestivals.com

23/24 - Electric Daisy Carnival, a sprawling EDM -- electronic dance music -- festival, returns to MetLife Stadium with lights of the scene like Calvin Harris and Tiesto; electricdaisycarnival.com

23-25 - How about some tasty delights ... on wheels? The Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival rolls into Monmouth Park in Oceanport; monmouthpark.com

30 - More food trucks will be congregating at Meadowlands Racetrack for JerseyFest, which will star a Jersey vs. Philly Food Truck Mashup, pitting N.J. trucks like the Empanada Guy and Callahan's hot dogs against Philly trucks like The Cow and the Curd and Rigatoni's Crab Cakes; playmeadowlands.com

29-31 - Craving some spanakopita and souvlaki? St. Demetrios in Perth Amboy hosts the three-day Greek Festival By the Bay; stdemetriosperthamboy.org

30 - The New Jersey Film Festival at Rutgers University in New Brunswick kicks off its 2015 summer season. Screenings run through June 14; njfilmfest.com

31 - Atlantic Highlands' Eats & Arts Festival pairs fine local art with fine local food; aharts.org

JUNE

4-7 - Like your flicks by the Shore? The Lighthouse International Film Festival docks at Long Beach Island; lighthousefilmfestival.org

4-7 - Kimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church invites everyone to be Greek for the day at the four-day Bayshore Greek Festival in Holmdel; greekfestivalholmdel.com

Fetty Wap, a hip-hop artist from Paterson, performing at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas in March. He'll bring his hit song 'Trap Queen' to the festival stage of Hot 97's Summer Jam in June. (Matt Kaplan)

5-7 - If that's not enough Greek food and culture for you, there's always the Big Greek Festival hosted by Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Randolph; biggreekfestival.com

5 - Metuchen's Junebug Artfest, a series of open-mics, art exhibits and musical performances, takes flight every Friday night in June; junebugartfest.com

5/6 - The band Mumford & Sons headlines the Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers festival tour in Seaside Heights; gentlemenoftheroad.com

6 - Point Pleasant SummerFest, with live music, rides for kids, food, beer and wine, celebrates its 25th year (rain date June 7); pointpleasantchamber.com

6 - ARRRRR. Get your tri-corner hats and eye patches in order. Tuckerton Seaport's Privateers and Pirates Festival is sailing in for a rollicking good time; tuckertonseaport.org

7 - Kendrick Lamar, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Big Sean and Paterson "Trap&B" artist Fetty Wap -- who hit the charts in a big way with his song "Trap Queen" -- will all be at Hot 97's Summer Jam hip-hop festival at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford; hot97.com/summerjam

12-14 - The New Jersey Seafood Festival returns to Belmar for three days of fish and shellfish and more than 40 seafood vendors; visitbelmarnj.com





Historic Whitesbog Village's Whitesbog Blueberry Festival is on June 27 in Browns Mills. (Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)

13/14 - Buh-dum. Buh-dum. Buh-dum buh-dum buh-dum buh-dum. Shark Fest 2015 circles Atlantic Highlands with a screening of "Jaws", mechanical shark, shark show and kids' fishing derby; sharkfest2015.com

20 - The Camden Children's Garden hosts Festival de Aibonito, modeled after a flower festival in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, which will have Hispanic arts and crafts and tropical plants;

camdenchildrensgarden.org

20/21 - Sea Isle City's Skimmer Festival is back with a sand-sculpting demonstration, live music, a giant obstacle course, a Father's Day antique auto show and guided trolley tours; visitsicnj.com

20/21 - Does Dad like a little shrimp with his brew? The Baymen's Seafood & Music Festival at Tuckerton Seaport stars shellfish and craft beer; tuckertonseaport.org

20/21 - Learn about the history of the Shore and its people and tour a lighthouse at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse's Maritime Festival in North Wildwood; herefordlighthouse.org

21 - Terhune Orchards in Lawrence Township stages a tribute to a hallmark of summertime -- the firefly -- with its Firefly Festival; terhuneorchards.com

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse in North Wildwood hosts a Maritime Festival from June 20 to 21. (Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)

24-29 - The Newark Black Film Festival returns to the Newark Museum for its 41st season; newarkmuseum.org

27 - Revel in the long history of New Jersey blueberry farmers with blueberry-picking and wagon rides at Whitesbog Village Blueberry Festival in Browns Mills; whitesbog.org

27 - Miss food trucks? They're back -- more than 25 of them -- at the Just Jersey Food Truck & Music Festival in Succasunna; justjerseyfest.com

27 - The sixth installment of Margate's celebration of surf, sand and family, Beachstock, arrives with paddleboard races, a beach volleyball tournament, beer garden, kids' stage and movie on the beach, right in front of Lucy the Elephant. Rain date June 28; margatehasmore.com



27/28 - "More lobster than ever before" is promised at the seventh Bradley Beach LobsterFest; bblobsterfest.com



27/28 - Lovers of meat, music and cowbell can mosey on over to the Rock, Ribs and Ridges Festival at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, where some wicked barbecue will be on offer and Blue Oyster Cult will play on Saturday; rockribsandridges.com

JULY

4 - Oceanfest in Long Branch is one of the largest Fourth of July celebrations in the state. Look for live music, sand-sculpting and a grand fireworks display; oceanfestnj.com



10 - The music festivals continue as the Vans Warped Tour comes to the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, then PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on July 19. Jersey acts include Ridgewood's Senses Fail, Ramsey's Candy Hearts and Woodbridge's Palisades; vanswarpedtour.com





10-12 - Get your fill of blues and beef at the New Jersey State Barbecue Championship and Anglesea Blues Festival in North Wildwood; njbbq.com



11 - See what it takes to craft a super sandcastle -- or try one yourself -- at the Wildwood Crest Amateur Sand Sculpting Festival; visitwildwoodcrest.com

11 - The 15th South Jersey Caribbean Festival brings a taste of the islands to Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden; sjcaribbean.org

18 - Toms River's Summer in the Street Festival, formerly the New Jersey Ice Cream Festival, will have live music, crafts, inflatable rides and food; downtowntomsriver.com

18 - The New Jersey Crab Festival in front of Ice House Restaurant in Wildwood promises oodles of crabs, crab mallets and "crabby" bloody marys; njcrabfestivalicehouse.com

18 - Check out the pirates and boats of all sizes at the Toms River Seaport Society's Wooden Boat Festival; tomsriverseaport.org

18/19 - Party Celtic Highlands-style at Historic Cold Spring Village's Celtic Festival in Cape May, which will have live music, dancing and a beer pavilion; hcsv.org/events

St. Ann's Italian Festival runs from July 22 through 25 in Hoboken. (Star-Ledger file photo)

22-25 - It's St. Ann's Italian Festival -- also known as St. Ann's Feast -- in Hoboken, a celebration of food and music organized by St. Ann Roman Catholic Church; stannhoboken.com

23-26 - Now for a different kind of musical festival. The Somerset Folk Harp Festival beckons would-be attendees to "take a harp vacation" in Parsippany; somersetharpfest.com

24-26 - It's liftoff for the 33rd QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington. Look for Darth Vader and Yoda-shaped hot air balloons; balloonfestival.com

25 - Bayville's Soulsational Festival promises live music, yoga demonstrations and a beer garden; soulsational.info

25 - August 1 - In the mood for more balloons? The Balloon Fest of the Warren County Farmers Fair takes flight each night just outside Phillipsburg; warrencountyfarmersfair.org

AUGUST

8 - There's more brew -- local and regional craft beers -- and seafood in store at Cape May's Craft Beer and Crab Festival; capemaymac.org



8 - Children will dress up in their best wings to go butterfly-watching at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association's Butterfly Festival in Pennington; thewatershed.org

The Butterfly Festival on August 8 is hosted by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association in Pennington. (Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association)

15 - Historic Walnford in Upper Freehold celebrates another bounty of summer -- sweet corn. The Sweet Corn Festival will have corn crafts and live music.

15 - The Trenton African American Cultural Festival will have live music on three stages at Cadwalader Park; taacf.com

15 - Hammonton's The Early November are among the many bands playing Millville's Pinelands Music Festival; pinelandsmusicfest.com

15/16 - There even more crab to be had -- crab cakes -- at the Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-off at Monmouth Park in Oceanport; monmouthpark.com

22 - Celebrate the Morris Canal with live music and kayak and boat rides at Wharton's Canal Day Music and Craft Festival; canalday.org

23 - Chefs will square off for the best corn and tomato dishes at Flemington's Corn and Tomato Festival; downtownflemington.com

29 - The Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival comes to Long Branch's Promenade, with seven bands and food and craft vendors; jerseyshorefestival.org

SEPTEMBER

4-7 - The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum in Rio Grande hosts AirFest, with aircraft on display including the B-17 Flying Fortress, P-51 Mustang and B-24 Liberator; usnasw.org

5-7 - Back at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, brisket, pulled pork, ribs and craft beer will be on offer at the three-day BBQ & Craft Beer Festival; monmouthpark.com

6 - Chubby Checker is slated to make an appearance at the Wildwood Block Party & Music Festival; wildwoodsnj.com

The 31st Scandinavian Festival, or ScanFest, is on Sept. 6 in Budd Lake. (Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

6 - Grab a Swedish meatball at the 31st ScanFest, or Scandinavian Festival, at Vasa Park in Budd Lake. The annual bash celebrates the culture -- food, clothing, music and dance -- of Nordic nations; scanfest.org

10-13 - Looking for more Italian culture? The four-day Hoboken Italian Festival, or Feast of the Madonna Dei Martiri, comes to Sinatra Drive, with fireworks on Saturday; hobokenitalianfestival.com

12/13 - The Atlantic City Seafood Festival helps close out the summer with a whole lot of "surf" at Bader Field; acseafoodfest.com

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup. Find NJ.com Entertainment on Facebook.