September 12, 2026
Provided Courtesy/Edelman Fossil Park & Museum
South Jersey GreenFest at Edelman Fossil Park & Museum will feature live bugs, edible insects, roach races, fossil activities, a BioBlitz and an electric vehicle show from Sept. 18-20.
Visitors to Edelman Fossil Park & Museum can eat crickets, watch cockroaches race and encounter live insects and arachnids during South Jersey GreenFest on Sept. 19-20.
The Mantua Township museum's first GreenFest will bring together bugs, fossils, citizen science and sustainability programming, with activities exploring biodiversity, ecosystems and how studying the past can help inform the planet's future.
A major part of the weekend will be World of Bugs, which runs from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and is included with museum admission. The program will feature live bug encounters, roach races, bug walks, specimen investigations, hands-on crafts and fossils of prehistoric invertebrates.
Entomologist and educator Zack Lemann, known as the "Bug Chef," also will lead insect-cooking demonstrations and offer samples. The menu includes "Chocolate Chirp Cookies" made with crickets, crispy Cajun crickets, red beans served with poached caterpillar instead of rice, and fried dragonflies with sautéed mushrooms and Dijon-soy butter.
GreenFest will extend outdoors with a free BioBlitz, where participants can search the museum grounds, gardens and Nature Trail for plants, insects, animals and other organisms and help document what they find. A bird-focused BioBlitz with Rowan University's Flight Club will take place Saturday from noon-4 p.m.
A free electric vehicle show also will run Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., featuring vehicles from local owners and dealerships, sustainability organizations and activities for kids.
The weekend gets an early start Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. with a free kickoff featuring entomologist Dan Duran, an after-dark search for moths and beetles, and telescope views of the moon.
Sept. 18-20
Edelman Fossil Park & Museum
66 Million Mosasaur Way
Mantua, NJ 08080
World of Bugs: Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; included with museum admission
BioBlitz: Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; free outdoor event
EV Car Show: Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; free outdoor event
Friday kickoff: 7 p.m.; free
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