Perth Amboy's two main October events take place three days apart, and neither group running them is using its own building. On Saturday, October 17, The Proprietary House is selling tickets to a lantern tour of St. Peter's Episcopal graveyard while its own museum is closed. On Tuesday, October 20, the Perth Amboy Business Improvement Corporation brings back the Taste of Perth Amboy aboard a Cornucopia Cruise Line ship that will stay tied up at the waterfront all night.
As of today, October 12, the lantern tour is five days away and the Taste is eight. Here is how each night works, what it costs, and the details the announcements leave out.
The Museum Selling the Tickets Is Closed
The Proprietary House at 149 Kearny Ave was completed in 1764 and now operates as a museum. The Liberty Trail lists it as the Royal Governor's Mansion and identifies it as the residence of William Franklin.
Right now you can't go in. The museum's tours page still lists Sunday hours of 1 to 4 p.m., with guided tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Above those hours, it says the house is closed until further notice and hopes to reopen in early spring. The homepage puts the reopening later and says the house will not open until late 2026. Until the house posts one date, treat both timelines as unconfirmed.
The museum's events page currently lists exactly three programs, and all three are time slots for the same night: the Haunted Lantern Tours on October 17. With the mansion closed, its main public program this fall happens a few streets away, in someone else's churchyard.
A Churchyard With Older Stones Than the Mansion
St. Peter's is a fitting host because it is older than the mansion. The parish history at St. Peter's Episcopal Church dates its first service to 1685, notes that 2025 marked its 340th anniversary, and says the churchyard holds gravestones older than the American Revolution. Perth Amboy Now says some of those stones date to 1687, which makes them among the oldest in New Jersey.
Perth Amboy Now's headline says the tours "return," which means this isn't the first year. Perth Amboy Now calls them hour-long tours, and the ticket pages book each slot for 75 minutes. Every slot follows the same route:
- Check in at St. Peter's Parish House, 183 Rector St.
- Take a guided walk through St. Peter's Graveyard, where costumed "spirits from the past" tell creepy stories.
- Go inside the historic church for seasonal music from organist and concert pianist Simon Mulligan.
- Finish with hot cider and sweet and savory treats.
One address detail matters for the meeting point. Perth Amboy Now gives the church's address as 188 Rector St. The ticket pages send tour guests to the Parish House at 183 Rector St, so go there.
Times: 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., and 8:30 to 9:45 p.m. Tickets: $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under. Buy them on The Proprietary House site. Availability: When checked on October 12, none of the three slots showed a sold-out label, and each still had a working registration page.
The 5:30 slot starts before sunset in mid-October. The 8:30 slot is the one where the lanterns do all the lighting.
Three Days Later, a Ship That Stays Tied Up
The second borrowed venue is on the water. Perth Amboy Now reported on October 7 that the Taste of Perth Amboy will run Tuesday, October 20, from 5 to 9 p.m. aboard the Cornucopia Cruise Line at 401 Riverview Drive. The ship "will not be going out on a cruise, but will be docked on the waterfront." Tickets cost $35 for general admission and $20 for seniors, sold through Eventbrite.
Staying at the dock keeps the evening simple. With no sailing time, you can arrive anytime in the four-hour window and leave when you're done.
Cornucopia's own Perth Amboy home port page describes departures from 401 Riverview Drive with views of Raritan Bay. Its fleet page lists two vessels at that address: the 130-foot Princess, based in Perth Amboy, and the St. Charles, which is permanently moored at the home port. The event announcements don't say which one hosts the Taste.
One more listing detail: the Perth Amboy Now event calendar spells the street "Riverside Dr," while both the news article and Eventbrite use Riverview Drive. Riverview matches Cornucopia's own address.
The Taste Is a Revival, and the Day Has Moved
The Taste has run before. Perth Amboy Now's archive for the business district lists editions in October 2017 and October 2018, and both were on Thursdays: the 19th and the 18th. MyCentralJersey's 2018 photo gallery called it a showcase of the "best fare of City by the Bay," and its coverage said one vendor was back for a fourth year. That means the event dates back several years before 2018.
The 2026 edition moves to a Tuesday and onto a ship. The host is the same type of organization. The City describes the Perth Amboy Business Improvement Corporation as a board the City created and as a nonprofit agency serving local businesses and the community.
Here is what has been published about this year's event and what hasn't:
| Detail | Status as of October 12, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Date and hours | Tuesday, October 20, 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Location | Cornucopia Cruise Line, 401 Riverview Drive, docked |
| Tickets | $35 general, $20 seniors, on Eventbrite |
| Host | Perth Amboy Business Improvement Corporation |
| Participating restaurants | Not yet named in the event listing or news article |
| Beneficiary | Not stated |
| Which vessel | Not stated |
The missing vendor list is the detail most people will want, and 2026 has given the organizers plenty of new options. An online restaurant directory lists a run of openings this year along Smith and State streets. These include Las Katrinas MX at 410 Smith St. and Alebrijes Mexican Restaurant at 108 Smith St., both in March, and Eclipse Burgers Cachapas Y Mas at 368 State St. and Sabroseando at 323 Smith St., both in May. These are directory listings, not confirmed vendors, and none has been announced for the ship.
Fitting the Week Together
The outdoor season that came before this week is over. The City's 2026 concert schedule ended its Historic Ferry Slip shows with Swing Combo on September 5, and its last October date, the Hispanic Heritage Month Music Festival at Patten Park, was on October 10. With those finished, these nights fill the calendar:
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Haunted Lantern Tours, 5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m. | St. Peter's Parish House, 183 Rector St | $30 adult, $20 age 12 and under |
| Tue., Oct. 20 | Taste of Perth Amboy, 5 to 9 p.m. | Cornucopia Cruise Line, 401 Riverview Drive | $35 general, $20 seniors |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Raritan Yacht Club Wine Tasting | Details and tickets via Eventbrite | See listing |
The Perth Amboy Now calendar lists the yacht club tasting and points readers to Eventbrite for tickets. It doesn't give a time or price, so check the listing before you plan around it.
For the Saturday tour, children's tickets make it the family option. For the Tuesday Taste, the four-hour window works for an after-work stop. Both events are close to the water, and both are run by groups making do without their usual spaces this fall: a museum with no confirmed reopening date, and a business district bringing back an event it last held on Thursdays in 2017 and 2018.
The Proprietary House is still waiting on a firm reopening date. Older Perth Amboy buildings that aren't museums run on timelines too, and keeping those timelines moving is the work we do at Turnkey Tverdov: buying, renovating and managing rental properties in Central New Jersey's older housing stock, with clear reporting so owners always know where their building stands. If you own or plan to own property in Perth Amboy, Join the Turnkey Waitlist.
