Arts & Entertainment

Super Bowl XLVIII Guide: Essex County Big Game Events

Check out activities happening locally each and every day leading up to the Super Bowl!

Written by Teresa Akersten

Okay, so our local teams won't be represented. But with Super Bowl XLVIII happening in our backyard, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate. And, the party starts now. 

This weekend through Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2, there are Big Game activities happening locally each and every day. So call in a sick week and let's get ready for some football!

Find out what's happening in Livingstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Saturday, Jan. 25

Super Kick Off Party & Tricky Tray
Commonwealth Club of Montclair
26 Northview Ave., Montclair
7 to 11 p.m. 

Find out what's happening in Livingstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Junior Women’s Club of Verona will hold a Super Kick Off Party & Tricky Tray fundraiser. Bring a bottle of wine to the event to get a free raffle ticket for the Wall of Wine, one of their grand prizes. The winner of the Wall of Wine will get all of the bottles which were brought to the event. Tricky Tray admission is $45. Ticket bundles are $30 and $50. 50/50 tickets are $5. To purchase, visit the event page.

Sunday, Jan. 26

Montclair Super Bowl Restaurant Week

Jan. 26 through Feb. 2

As an official Super Bowl town, Montclair will be in the middle of the action leading up to the big game. For the sixth year, dozens of participating restaurants — including some of New Jersey's finest like Blu, CulinAriane and Fascino — will offer special lunch and dinner menus at discounted prices. Reserve a table.

Beer Bowl Huddle
Montclair Public Library
60 South Fullerton Ave., Montclair
6 p.m. 

Two prominent sportswriters and a Montclair coach will discuss the issues facing football at a beer tasting reception, including craft and artisanal beers sponsored by NJ Beer Co. and provided by Amanti Vino, and food catered by Belgiovine’s Italian Deli. Panelists include Harvey Araton, columnist and reporter for The New York Times; John Fiore, head football coach at Montclair High School; and Conor Orr, Giants beat writer for The Star-Ledger. They will address a wide range of topics, including the business of football, increasing concerns about the health of players, and the role that bullying plays in the locker room. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased by calling 973-744-0500 ext. 2222 or by visiting www.montclairplf.org.

Tuesday, Jan. 28

Super Bowl XLVIII Media Day

Prudential Center, Newark

Tickets are available for purchase through SuperBowl.com. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. to all ticket holders. Media Day will begin at 10:30 a.m. (ET). All seating for the event will be reserved.

Wednesday, Jan. 29

Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America
Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center
Campus of Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave., Montclair
Museum Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.

The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center will host a special Smithsonian Museum traveling exhibit, “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America,” which opens just in time for the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium. Nowhere do Americans more intimately connect to sports than in their hometowns. The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program celebrates this connection in its “Hometown Teams” traveling exhibition. The exhibit captures the stories that unfold on the neighborhood fields and courts, and the underdog heroics, larger-than-life legends, fierce rivalries and gut-wrenching defeats. For more information, visit www.yogiberramuseum.org

Thursday, Jan. 30

Females, Football and Philanthropy
Upper Montclair Country Club
Clifton, New Jersey
6 p.m. VIP, 7 to 10 p.m. Main Event 

A glammed-up tailgate party for a good cause. Event raising funds for The American Cancer Society will feature a cocktail dinner and tailgate, wellness lounge, boutique shopping, silent auction, martini bar, and more. Purchase tickets. For more information, visit www.femalesfootballphilanthropy.org or call Allison Sargent Events at 973-783-5683.

Saturday, Feb. 1

"Undefeated"
Glenfield Middle School Auditorium
25 Maple Ave., Montclair
3 p.m. 

To celebrate the Super Bowl coming to New Jersey and the beginning of Black History Month, the Montclair Film Festival and Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence will present a screening of the 2012 Academy Award-winning documentary Undefeated. Set in the inner-city of Memphis, the film chronicles the Manassas Tigers' 2009 football season, on and off-the-field, as they strive to win the first playoff game in the high school's 110-year history. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with one of the subjects of the film, Coach Bill Courtney, conducted by Nelson George, an author, filmmaker, television producer and critic with a long career in analyzing and presenting the diverse elements of African-American culture. Suggested donation is $10. Reserve seats online at www.montclairfilmfest.org.

The Big Game: Winter Festival
Church and Park Streets, Montclair
Afternoon festival: Noon to 5 p.m.
Evening Pub Crawl: 7 to 10:30 p.m. 

Streets will be closed off for music, a Madden games truck, ice sculptures, Norwegian candles, kids activities, Montclair High School football players and cheerleaders and more for The Big Game Afternoon Festival. In the evening, a shuttle will take you around to participating pub crawl stops, including DLV Lounge, The Office, Egan & Sons, Trend, 12West, Just Jake’s and InsaniTea, where there will be free live music. Details at www.montclair2014.com.

Huddle Up! Big Game Program
Montclair Public Library Auditorium
50 South Fullerton Ave., Montclair
1 to 4 p.m.

The Montclair Public Library's Teen Advisory Board invites you to Huddle Up! Join in the Library's festivities and train in the Drills Corner, listen to football stories in the Play Book Station, go head to head with a friend on Madden NFL on the Wii, then visit the End Zone and learn how to make paper footballs, pom poms, and other fun football themed arts and crafts. Come dressed in your favorite football team apparel or cheerleader gear. Free

VHS Super Bowl Blitz: Gavin DeGraw
Wellmont Theater
5 Seyour St., Montclair
9:30 p.m. 

The VH1 Super Bowl Blitz will travel through all five boroughs of New York City before making its only New Jersey stop in Montclair on the eve of the NFL championship game. Gavin DeGraw will headline the Wellmont show, hosted by television personalities Nick Cannon and Stacy Keibler. Get tickets.

Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2

Super Bowl XLVIII

MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford

6:30 p.m.

It’s a day of historic firsts, according to the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee website

  • The first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl.
  • The first NFL championship in the Northeast. 
  • The first hosted by two states.
  • The first hosted by two teams.


Hosting a party? Grabbing a stool at a favorite watering hole? Where do you plan to watch Super Bowl XLVIII? Tell us in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here