It’s Memorial Day weekend, and all of New Jersey is heading down the Shore. Or are we?

Some of us will be shopping. Up in Sussex County the specialty shops of rural Lafayette Village are having their annual Memorial Day event, which this years includes a sale of heirloom tomato plants. In Central New Jersey, the outlets in Flemington are having a sidewalk sale. And in South Jersey, cool Collingswood has its 29th annual May Fair on Saturday, with music and art exhibits along Haddon Ave.

Some of us will be spectators. Saturday is opening day for the Cowtown Rodeo down in Pilesgrove — it’s New Jersey’s own Western-style professional rodeo with cowboys and bucking broncos. Or you can watch professional cyclists: the four-day Tour of Somerville Cycling Series, first held in 1940, is one of the top competitive cycling events in the country; it gets off tomorrow and culminates Monday with a 50-mile race through town.

It’s also a big weekend for a another kind of bicycling, with the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking at Diablo Free Ride Park, part of the Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, Friday through Sunday. Last year, nearly 450 racers from seven different countries and 37 different states competed.

Maybe you just want to relax. One place to do that is at the Blues and Wine Festival sponsored by the Garden State Wine Growers Association Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Natirar Park, in the Somerset hills. There will be hundreds of bottlings to taste from New Jersey wineries, a live blues bands, artisan vendors, gourmet food and kids’ activities.

You can do good, too, this weekend. On Saturday starting at noon The Glen Rock Poverty Project is holding a Water for Africa Festival at Wilde Memorial Park. There will be music, fair trade shopping, games and educational activities to raise funds to buy PlayPumps, devices that double as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children (top picture). Organizers hope to provide 12,000 people with clean water, a precious commodity in Africa.

Water is precious in here, too, specially when it comes to our very own Jersey Shore. The Shore is more than the beach, of course — and this weekend just about every restaurant or shop that had not opened yet will open. It’s summer, starting now. Look for our NJ My Way story tomorrow with a rundown of what’s new and what’s hot at the Shore.

Also, our partners at New Jersey Monthly are out with their annual Shore issue, which includes two features by our own NJ My Way editor in chief. He spent time running around the Shore, finding the last of the secluded beaches in New Jersey, and then went looking for what people who in the 1980s hung out in classic twenty-something Shore bars like The Osprey are doing on their Shore vacations now that they are fifty-something.

He cannot believe he gets paid for doing this.

Festivals across the state this weekend, from big city to small town to the Shore.

The Everything Jersey City Festival is Saturday on Central Avenue in the Heights section of town. Three street stages will have music as diverse as the people of Jersey City: salsa, jazz fusion, Celtic rock, urban pop, classical Indian. Also kid-friendly rides, lots of food, plus arts and crafts exhibits.

That festival is the first annual. In Bordentown they are celebrating the 31st annual Street Fair along Farnsworth Ave. It’s two days, Saturday and Sunday, of crafters, food from the terrific local restaurants, music and fun for the kids like face painting. Local antique shops and boutiques will have displays all along the street.

A little further south on Rt. 130, another historic 17th century town on the Delaware is throwing a party: tomorrow Burlington is celebrating Burlington Day. Kids will find games, races, and rides along the riverside Promenade. For adults there’s an art show, quilt vendors, a trolley tour of landmarks on historic Wood St., plus live jazz and bluegrass. Everybody gets to munch up High Street enjoying A Taste of Burlington from local restaurants, bakeries and snack shops.

Cape May is having yet another busy weekend. Sunday is the first day of the 19th Annual Cape May Music Festival. From then until June 15 concert-goers can hear jazz, classical, ethnic folk, gospel. Also, just one week after the World Series of Birding, the National Audubon Society is sponsoring a Cape May Spring Weekend full of field trips and workshops for the bird-minded, Friday through Sunday.

Nature lovers, specially those who want their kids to grow up being nature lovers, can explore the Shore with Ocean Fun Days, sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium. There will be student science fair projects and hands-on activities including fishing workshops, marine crafts and eco-tours to see bay and ocean environments, shorebirds and fish habitats. Two locations: Island Beach State Park on Saturday, and Sandy Hook on Sunday. Both run 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Finally, all you horse lovers will find seminars, demonstrations and more than 100 vendors of equine accouterments at the New Jersey HorseXpo, Saturday and Sunday, South County Park in Ringoes.

Mother’s Day down the Shore? Mother’s Day in the Jersey countryside? Mother’s Day shopping? In all ways, have we got you covered!

Victorian Ocean Grove has a Mother-Daughter Weekend. Participating inns and hotels are offering special rates and discount coupons for local restaurants. There’s a music and art festival on Saturday, then on Sunday there’s a flower arranging demonstration, jewelry show and carriage tours. All that and the beach, too! More at www.oceangrovenj.com.

Or take Mom to the Mother's Day Food and Wine Festival at Alba Vineyards, in rural Finesville near the Delaware River. There will be (of course) food and wine, plus hot air balloon rides, a horse and carriage tour of the vineyard, and music from the VooDUDES, who combine jazz, rock, and zydeco. Bring the kids for face painting, sand art, moon bounce, pony rides.

If you are still shopping for Mom, we’ve got a special pick. From today through Saturday the Junior League of Montclair-Newark is hosting its Spring Shopping Extravaganza and French Flea Market, where you find seasonal fashions, accessories, jewelry and assorted gifts at bargain prices. Proceeds go to JLMN programs that help children at risk.

If you don’t mind celebrating late, get all your Mom friends together and head to Princeton next Thursday, a week from today. That’s when Palmer Square merchants host a Girls Night Out, 5:30 to 9, with discounts and free gifts from the fabulous boutiques in the area. We are telling you a week ahead of time because you need to sign up (it’s free) to get the gift bag, V.I.P. card, shopping guide and free parking. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (609) 921-2333.

Maybe there’s a play Mom wants to see? If you live in North Jersey, take her to see Enchanted April, staged by The Strollers Community Theatre in Maplewood. And if you live in South Jersey, try Forever Plaid at the Broadway Theatre of Pitman. Both shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Also in South Jersey there’s Bordentown’s 11th Annual Iris Festival, with artists, antiques, jazz musicians, and the amateur iris growers competition all nestled among the quaint shops and excellent restaurants downtown.

And everywhere around the state (at least everywhere there’s lots of birds) you might see people wandering around with binoculars. They are competing in the 25th Annual World Series of Birding, sponsored by the New Jersey Audubon Society. An intrepid NJ My Way correspondent will be among them, and report back to you on Monday.

You can start this weekend off on a good foot at the first ever North Jersey Komen Race for the Cure (www.komennorthjersey.org), Sunday at Branch Brook Park in Newark, to benefit breast cancer research. You can register on the website, or beginning at 7 a.m. on race day at the park. There’s a 5K run/walk and the 1.5 mile Fun Walk. NJ My Way is a media sponsor of this event. Make sure you wave to our cameras!

If we stretch our definition of “weekend,” we have another place to do good while having fun. Monday at 6 p.m. at Birchwood Manor in Whippany you can taste fine wines and dishes prepared by more than 40 chefs from some of New Jersey’s top restaurants. It’s the Taste of the Nation (www.njdiningguide.net/TasteofTheNation) benefit, proceeds going to fight childhood hunger in New Jersey. To buy tickets call (973) 772-4474.

There are festivals at both ends of the state. The Cape May Spring Festival continues its second and final weekend with Victoriana tours, a crafts show at the Emlen Physick Estate, and dinner specials around town. Details at www.capemaymac.org.

Meanwhile on Sunday it’s the Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival (www.myspace.com/hobokenculturalaffairs). More than 300 painters, sculptors, photographers craftspeople, food vendors and musicians, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m on Washington Street by 7th Street. Headliner is Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.

Or do a day in the country. Valley Shepherd Creamery (www.valleyshepherd.com) in Long Valley is having its annual spring shearing festival Saturday, with crafts, food, music and cheeses from the sheep who give their wool. Also Saturday, in Princeton, Terhune Orchards (www.terhuneorchards.com) has a spring festival with kite flying, music, tractor rides and food including and Terhune’s own apples, cider, donuts, pies, chili, fresh and grilled asparagus.

Maybe a day of gardening? Find rare and heirloom plants at Van Vleck House & Gardens (www.vanvleck.org) in Montclair, and at Morven Museum and Garden (www.historicmorven.org) in Princeton. Both sales are Saturday.

Finalmente, get a jump on Cinco de Mayo at Morristown’s Mayo Center for the Arts (www.mayoarts.org), at the Sunday performance by Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.

Plenty of choices this weekend; enjoy the dance, savor the outdoors, eat — and run for a good cause.