Things To Do in New Jersey This Weekend: April 24-April 26

New Jersey delivers a weekend worth leaving the house for. AREA 57 brings free family fun with robots, drones, and hot air balloons in Warren County, Glen Burtnik's Summer of Love Concert turns the Basie Center stage into a 14-performer '60s rock happening, and Simply the Best in Dunellen celebrates the women who defined '80s rock. From Washington to Red Bank, there's something for every kind of crowd.

Get hands-on with the future at AREA 57:  Flying Objects & Other Fun, a free family event at Warren Technical School in Washington, New Jersey. Watch combat robots battle it out in the April Annihilation Bout, meet SPOT the robot dog, catch a live agricultural drone demo, and explore Warren County Community College's nationally acclaimed drone and robotics program. Kids can build their own glider with the Da Vinci Science Center Mobile Fab Lab, test-drive a robot, and discover hot air balloons with a photo op in an ADA-accessible gondola.

Glen Burtnik's Summer of Love Concert is less a concert and more a happening: a 14-performer rock festival on one stage celebrating the classic rock and soul of the 1960s Woodstock generation. Featured vocalists, a horn section, strings, and a rock rhythm section bring songs from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Marvin Gaye, and dozens more to life, accompanied by psychedelic lighting and video. The show was created by Burtnik, an alumnus of Styx and the original Broadway production of Beatlemania.

Simply the Best pays tribute to the iconic women of '80s rock with theatrical medleys and show-stopping numbers from the catalogs of Heart, Blondie, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Cher, Stevie Nicks, and more. Featured vocalist Dayna Daddio brings serious vocal firepower to the stage, backed by a six-piece band of nationally and internationally touring musicians whose specialized arrangements give the show a sound all of its own. The Saxsations saxophone quartet will open the evening with contemporary jazz and popular music, warming up the crowd with the rich, versatile sound of the sax family.

New Jersey's weekend has something for every kind of night out. Catch Janeane Garofalo's sharp wit in Red Bank, let Vivaldi wash over you by candlelight in Somerville, or spend a Sunday afternoon swinging with the Rat Pack in Bound Brook.

New Jersey's weeknight calendar serves up something for every taste, from culinary samplings and gospel harmonies to boardwalk laughs and stand-up comedy at the Shore. There's plenty of reasons to get out after the weekend winds down.