Events in NJ: The New Jersey Festivals & Events Calendar (Month by Month)

New Jersey packs a lot into a year: a cranberry festival in the Pine Barrens, a Renaissance faire, a state fair, St. Patrick’s parades that draw tens of thousands, haunted hayrides, drive-through light shows and a Revolutionary War battle fought again in the streets of Trenton every December. This month-by-month calendar of events in NJ covers the ones worth planning a trip around, from October 2026 through September 2027: the dates that have actually been announced, the ones that haven’t yet, and the festivals that have quietly moved, changed names or stopped.

Quick answer: October is New Jersey’s busiest event month, with the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival and the Lighthouse Challenge on October 17-18, 2026 and haunted attractions everywhere. The holiday light shows open from November 14-21, Trenton’s Patriots Week runs December 26-31, and the big announced dates in 2027 are the St. Patrick’s parades (March 7, 12 and 13), the Renaissance Faire (weekends from May 22), the Soar & Shore airshow (June 4-6) and Jersey Pride (June 6).

Last updated September 24, 2026. Dates, prices and hours were checked on September 24, 2026, against each event’s or organizer’s own website and the host town’s or county’s official calendar. We give a 2027 date only when the organizer has announced it; otherwise we give the 2026 date and the usual month, and say so.

• Already announced for 2027: St. Patrick’s parades in Belmar-Lake Como (March 7), Newark (March 12) and Morristown (March 13); the Garden State Film Festival (March 18-21); the Renaissance Faire (from May 22); Soar & Shore (June 4-6); Jersey Pride (June 6); the New Jersey Beer & Food Festival (June 19); Hammonton’s Red, White & Blueberry Festival (June 27); and Mountain Creek’s Oktoberfest (September 18-19).
• Gone or on hiatus: the Festival of Ballooning (no festival since 2023), the Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival (ended in 2026), and the wine growers’ spring festival, cancelled after the April 2026 freeze.
• Moved or renamed: the Atlantic City airshow is now Soar & Shore in late spring, LBI’s Chowderfest is the Beach Haven Chowder Cook-Off, the Montclair Film Festival is in October, the New Jersey Folk Festival is in August, Belmar’s seafood festival is in May, and the Hambletonian leaves for Indiana in 2027.
• Free: the St. Patrick’s parades, Branch Brook’s blossoms, the Asbury Park Zombie Walk, the Soar & Shore airshow, the Shore’s weekly summer fireworks and Trenton’s Battle of Trenton reenactments.
• Getting there by train this fall: NJ Transit runs reduced schedules from October 11 to November 14, 2026.

On this page: At a glance | Month by month | Planning tips | What’s changed | What to skip | FAQ

Events in NJ at a Glance: The Big Annual Festivals

These are the recurring events with a statewide draw. “Next date” is the next edition’s date where the organizer had announced it by late September 2026; otherwise it’s the most recent edition’s date.

Event	Where	Usually	Next date	Cost
Chatsworth Cranberry Festival	Chatsworth, Pine Barrens	Third full weekend of October	Oct. 17-18, 2026	Not published
Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey	11 lighthouses statewide	October	Oct. 17-18, 2026	$10 registration plus site admissions
Haunted houses and hayrides	Statewide	Late September to Nov. 1	Through Nov. 1, 2026	About $20-$80
Drive-through light shows	East Brunswick, West Berlin, Hillsdale and more	Mid-November to early January	From Nov. 20, 2026	$35-$55 per car
German Christmas Market of New Jersey	Augusta	Early December	Dec. 4-6, 2026	Ticketed (2026 price not yet posted)
Patriots Week	Trenton	Dec. 26-31	Dec. 26-31, 2026	Most events free
Polar Bear Plunge	Seaside Heights	Late winter	2026 edition: March 14 (moved by snow)	$100-$125 fundraising minimum (2026)
St. Patrick’s parades	Belmar-Lake Como, Newark, Morristown	March	March 7, 12 and 13, 2027	Free
Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival	Branch Brook Park, Newark	April	2026 edition: April 4-19	Free to visit the park
New Jersey Renaissance Faire	Columbus	Weekends, late May to June	From May 22, 2027	See organizer
Soar & Shore Airshow	Atlantic City	Late spring	June 4-6, 2027	Free
Jersey Pride	Asbury Park	Early June	June 6, 2027	See organizer
Red, White & Blueberry Festival	Hammonton	Late June	June 27, 2027	See organizer
Night in Venice	Ocean City	Late July	2026 edition: July 25	See organizer
New Jersey State Fair	Augusta	Late July to early August	Aug. 6-14, 2027	$16 adults in 2026; free parking
Sea.Hear.Now	Asbury Park	September	2026 edition: Sept. 19-20	See organizer
Mountain Creek Oktoberfest	Vernon	September	Sept. 18-19, 2027	$25 (2026)

Festivals in NJ, Month by Month

The calendar below runs from October 2026 to September 2027. For the next three months we give firm 2026 dates. For 2027 we give a date only when the organizer has announced it; otherwise you’ll see last year’s date and the usual timing, which is a good guide but not a promise, since several New Jersey festivals moved, changed names or ended in the last two years. Events that belong to a single town (Cape May’s Christmas, Atlantic City’s shows, the Jersey Shore towns’ own festivals) get a line here and the full story in that town’s guide.

1. October 2026: Cranberries, Lighthouses, Oktoberfest and Haunted Hayrides

New Jersey’s busiest festival month. If you can only plan one event trip, make it October. The Shore towns throw their last big parties of the year, the Pine Barrens celebrate the cranberry harvest, every farm with a hayride turns into a pumpkin festival, and the state’s haunted attractions run at full scream. Here’s the month in order.

• October 2-4: The Race of Gentlemen, vintage cars and motorcycles racing on the beach at Morey’s Piers in Wildwood (race times depend on the tide), and Wildwood’s free Olde Tyme Italian Festival at Fox Park (October 2-3).
• October 3: the 18th Asbury Park Zombie Walk, free and all ages. The makeup tent on the Boardwalk opens at 11 a.m., and the walk starts at 4 p.m.
• October 3-4: Historic Smithville’s free Oktoberfest, with more than 150 crafters (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and WheatonArts’ Festival of Fine Craft in Millville. Long Beach Island’s old Chowderfest now runs as the Beach Haven Chowder Cook-Off, with its Merchant Mart on October 3 and the cook-off on October 4.
• October 9-12: Cape May’s Victorian Weekend, and Seaside Heights’ Italian Festival on Grant Avenue (October 9-11).
• October 10: Ocean City’s Fall Block Party on Asbury Avenue, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free parking in the municipal lots and three days of merchant Discount Days (older guides call this Indian Summer Weekend, a name the city’s 2026 calendar doesn’t use); Wildwood Days; Smithville’s free Irish Festival (October 10-11); and Red, White and Brew, a beer tasting aboard Battleship New Jersey in Camden ($50, 21 and over).
• October 16-25: the Montclair Film Festival, which older guides list in May but which has run in October every year since at least 2021 (general ticket sales from October 1).
• October 17-18: the big weekend. The Chatsworth Cranberry Festival fills the Pine Barrens village, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine (bring cash; the lines at the ATMs get long). The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey opens 11 lighthouses, four lifesaving stations and a museum for a two-day tour (a $10 registration covers the souvenirs, and sites charge their own admission; at Absecon Lighthouse, kids 11 and under climb free). The same weekend brings the Atlantic City Marathon, the Far Hills Race Meeting steeplechase in Somerset County (October 17), Laurita Winery’s OktoberFEST in New Egypt ($15 online, free under 21), and a crowded Saturday in the Wildwoods: the Fall Festival, the Wildwoods Oldies Spectacular concert and the Monsters on the Beach monster-truck show, moved to October 17-18 after flooding postponed it in September.
• October 24-25: Belmar’s Fall Festival (October 24), Atlantic City’s free Harvest Town at Gardner’s Basin (October 24), and Ocean City’s Dog Days, when leashed dogs may walk the Boardwalk, with a Howl-O-Ween costume parade on the 24th.
• October 29-30: Ocean City’s Halloween Parade on Asbury Avenue (Thursday, October 29, 7:15 p.m.) and Princeton’s 50th Hometown Halloween Parade, from Palmer Square at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30.

Oktoberfest: Zeppelin Hall, the Jersey City beer garden, runs its Oktoberfest from September 12 to October 26, 2026; Morey’s Piers holds weekend Oktoberfests in Wildwood through October 11; and Six Flags Great Adventure runs one on select days through November 1. Mountain Creek’s long-running Oktoberfest (the 42nd was on September 19-20, 2026) is a September event, and its October weekends are a separate Fall Fest.

Pumpkins and corn mazes: nearly every farm with a hayride runs fall festival weekends through October, from Heaven Hill in Vernon to Johnson’s Corner in Medford, usually with an admission ticket on weekends. There’s no single statewide pumpkin festival; the farms are the festival. Our guide to farms in NJ compares them farm by farm, with 2026 prices.

Haunted houses and hayrides: New Jersey takes Halloween seriously, and the big haunts run from late September to November 1. These were confirmed on their own sites for 2026:

Haunt	Where	2026 nights	2026 price	Worth knowing
Brighton Asylum	Passaic (Clifton border)	20 nights, Sept. 25-Nov. 1	$47.99-$52.99 general admission	Three indoor haunted houses; no age limit, but kids must walk through themselves
Night of Terror at Creamy Acres	Mullica Hill	13 nights, Oct. 2-31 (no Sundays)	$40 online, $50 at the booth, on general nights	Four attractions plus a haunted paintball hayride ($30); under-18s need an adult 21 or over
Farm of Horrors at Schaefer Farms	Flemington	Fridays-Sundays, Oct. 2-31	$36 opening weekend, $40 Sundays, from $46 Fridays and Saturdays	Four attractions over 200 acres; not recommended under 13
Hayride of Horrors at Corrado’s Farm	Hackettstown	Weekends, Sept. 26-Oct. 31	$25 per attraction, $55 for all three (cash at the booth)	A 45-minute haunted hayride; under 15s need an adult
Field of Terror	East Windsor	22 nights, Sept. 18-Nov. 1	$22 for one attraction to $75 for all five	Includes a zombie paintball wagon hunt; metal detectors at the gate
C. Casola Farms Haunted Attractions	Marlboro	Fridays and Saturdays Sept. 26-Oct. 31, plus Sundays in October	$20-$70, cash only	Zombie paintball from an army truck is fine for ages 5 and up; the rest isn’t for young kids
13th Hour	Wharton	Select nights, Sept. 25-Nov. 1	$45-$50	Three indoor houses; formerly The Haunted Scarehouse
Scare Farm at Norz Hill	Hillsborough	Fridays-Sundays, Sept. 25-Nov. 1	See the farm’s site	Two haunted hayrides and two walking trails

Six Flags Great Adventure’s Fright Fest runs select nights through November 1, with nine haunted mazes that cost extra even for passholders (from $35 a night in 2026). Weekday and Sunday nights are the quietest almost everywhere; several haunts warn of two-hour lines on late-October Saturdays. Two haunts that turn up on New Jersey lists aren’t in New Jersey: Headless Horseman is in Ulster Park, New York, and The Bates Motel is in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

Getting around this month: from October 11 to November 14, NJ Transit runs reduced “Portal Cutover” rail schedules on every line except the Atlantic City line, and from October 11 to 25 buses replace North Jersey Coast Line trains between Manasquan and Bay Head, so check the timetable before you ride to a Shore festival.

2. November 2026: Wine Month and the Lights Come On

The quiet start and the loud finish. Early November is a lull between Halloween and the holidays, which makes it a good time for wine: the Garden State Wine Growers Association calls November New Jersey Wine Month, with events at wineries from Sussex County to Cape May County. Its third NJ Wine Expo, billed as the biggest gathering of New Jersey wineries, is Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Bell Works in Holmdel (tickets and times weren’t posted in late September). Then, from the middle of the month, the holiday light shows switch on one after another.

• November 14: Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township begins its Christmas Fantasy with Lights, more than a million lights on select nights through December 30. Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May holds a Candlelight Walk, Allaire Village a holiday craft and vendor show ($5), and the Wildwoods Convention Center a new family event, Christmasween, from noon to 4 p.m. ($15 adults, $10 children 13 and under).
• November 20: two drive-through light shows open for the season. Winter WonderLights at the Middlesex County Fairgrounds in East Brunswick, which bills itself as the state’s largest animated drive-thru, runs nightly to January 3 for $39.99 a car Monday to Thursday, $49.99 Friday to Sunday and $54.99 from December 23 to 26 (cash knocks $5 off). Diggerland, the construction theme park in West Berlin, runs its drive-thru through January 3, Christmas Day included, from $37.99 a vehicle online.
• November 21: Six Flags Great Adventure’s Holiday in the Park returns on select nights through January 3, 2027; Orchard of Lights opens at Demarest Farms in Hillsdale, a 20- to 25-minute drive through 32 acres of lights ($35 a car, reservations required, on select nights to December 29); and Cape May lights its Christmas tree at the Physick Estate.
• November 27-29, Thanksgiving weekend: Historic Smithville’s Holiday Light Show starts its nightly run to January 6, with a Dickens Fest on November 28-29; the Asbury Park Holiday Bazaar opens in Convention Hall’s Grand Arcade, Fridays to Sundays through December 20 (the hall itself is closed for restoration, but the arcade is open); Sea Isle City’s Winter Village and tree lighting run November 27-28; The Polar Express train ride starts out of Phillipsburg ($48 adults, $38 children, weekends through December 20); and the Holiday Wine Trail Weekend opens winery doors across the state.

More drive-through and walk-through shows run every year but hadn’t posted 2026 dates by late September, so check before you go: Magic of Lights at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, the Skylands Stadium light show and Christmas Village in Augusta, GLOW in Washington Township, Creamy Acres’ Night of Lights hayride in Mullica Hill, Holland Ridge Farms’ Winter Wonderland in Cream Ridge, the free Holiday Lights at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, and Let it GLOW, the lantern walk at the Bergen County Zoo in Paramus. In 2025, the ones that posted dates opened between November 6 and November 28. One show that tops a lot of New Jersey lists, Shady Brook Farm’s, is actually across the river in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Ice skating: the outdoor rinks open from late November. Last season’s pattern: the Bergen County Winter Wonderland rink at Van Saun County Park in Paramus opened November 28, as did WinterFest at Cooper River Park in Cherry Hill ($9 adults in 2025-26), Middlesex County’s rink in Roosevelt Park, Edison, opened December 3, and Union County’s Warinanco rink in Roselle started public skating on November 1. None had posted its 2026-27 season by late September. American Dream’s indoor rink in East Rutherford is open all year ($25 off-peak, $35 peak, skates included).

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Check your town’s or county’s official calendar for a local Thanksgiving Day parade; if a parade is the point, New York’s is the one within reach.

3. December 2026: Christmas Markets, Candlelight and the Battles of Trenton

The month New Jersey does best after October. Every light show from November keeps running, the historic villages dress up for candlelight evenings, and the month ends with one of the state’s great history events. The highlights, in order:

• December 3: the New Brunswick Winter Wonderland Bazaar, free, 4 to 9 p.m. in two heated tents on Monument Square.
• December 4-6: the German Christmas Market of New Jersey at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, a volunteer-run market of wooden huts, bratwurst and handmade gifts that says it draws about 30,000 people (10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, to 5 p.m. Sunday; tickets go on sale online in November, and parking is free). Also on December 4: the Absecon Lighthouse Luminary Light Festival in Atlantic City (5 to 7 p.m., $25), and Morven Museum’s Festival of Trees party in Princeton. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday, December 4.
• December 5: Seaside Heights lights its Christmas tree (from noon, with carousel rides and fireworks), Allaire Village holds a Christmas flea and craft market ($5), and Cape May’s Christmas Candlelight House Tours begin (also December 12 and 19).
• December 11-27: New Jersey Ballet’s The Nutcracker with the New Jersey Symphony at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, 15 performances. At Allaire Village, the Holiday Evening Stroll through the lit-up 1830s village runs December 11-12 and 18-19 ($12, with a 7 p.m. tree lighting), and Christmas at Allaire, with Santa and carolers, fills the Sundays of December 13 and 20.
• December 12: the free Atlantic City Holiday Parade and Market on Atlantic Avenue, and the Holiday Celebration at Historic Cold Spring Village near Cape May.
• December 25: the Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware reenactment, noon to 3 p.m. (the crossing itself at 1 p.m.). It’s staged at Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Pennsylvania side of the river; New Jersey’s Washington Crossing State Park sits across the bridge.

• December 26: the best free event of the winter. Patriots Week in Trenton runs December 26-31, and 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Trenton, so the organizers are staging a bigger program than usual. The reenactment of the First Battle of Trenton starts at 11 a.m. at the Trenton Battle Monument and moves down Warren and Broad streets toward Mill Hill Park; the Second Battle follows at 3 p.m. in Mill Hill Park; and from 4 to 6:30 p.m. the Assunpink Firewalk lights 13 torches along the creek. All three are free, and the First Battle goes ahead rain, snow or shine.
• December 31: New Year’s Eve. Seaside Heights runs a First Night on the Boardwalk from 1 to 5 p.m. with fireworks at 5, weather permitting. Morristown’s First Night Morris County and Ocean City’s First Night OCNJ, both alcohol-free arts festivals that started in 1992, are held every New Year’s Eve, but neither had posted its 2026 details by late September; last year, buttons started at $30 in Morristown and cost $20-$25 in Ocean City, where attendance is capped at 10,000. (Both name each edition for the year it welcomes: the December 31, 2025 events were billed as “2026.”)

Still running all month: Holiday in the Park at Six Flags, Winter WonderLights, Diggerland’s drive-thru, Orchard of Lights (to December 29), Storybook Land (to December 30), Smithville’s Holiday Light Show and the Asbury Park Holiday Bazaar (weekends to December 20), and The Polar Express out of Phillipsburg (weekends to December 20). The Holiday Wine Trail weekend is over by then, so check individual wineries for their holiday hours.

4. January 2027: Plunges, Skating and a Quieter State

The quietest month. After the light shows go dark (Holiday in the Park, Winter WonderLights and Diggerland finish on January 3, Smithville on January 6), New Jersey’s event calendar goes quiet. What’s left is brisk and mostly outdoors:

• New Year’s Day plunges: Atlantic City’s annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge is at Resorts Casino Hotel, and Ocean City’s First Day Plunge starts on the beach by the Music Pier (in 2026 it began at 2 p.m., free with a signed waiver, after a First Day 5K at 1 p.m.). Neither had posted its January 1, 2027 times by late September.
• Special Olympics New Jersey’s Polar Bear Plunge at Wildwood: the 2026 edition, its 20th, was on Saturday, January 17, based at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Plungers raise a minimum of $100 to $125 depending on when they sign up. The 2027 date hadn’t been announced.
• Ice skating: the outdoor county rinks are in full swing; last season, WinterFest at Cooper River Park in Cherry Hill ran Thursdays to Sundays until February 22, and the Roosevelt Park rink in Edison stayed open until March 29.
• Indoor shows: Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall has All Stars of Hip Hop on January 17 and indoor auto racing on January 29-30, 2027.

Plan around winter closures: Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange closes from January 1 to February 25, 2027, Storybook Land is shut until spring, and many Shore attractions cut back to weekends or close for the winter, so check before you drive down.

5. February 2027: Wine and Chocolate, Boat Shows and the Big Plunge

Valentine’s weekend and one very cold swim. February’s events are few but distinctive:

• Wine & Chocolate Trail Weekend: the Garden State Wine Growers Association’s first trail weekend of the year falls on Valentine’s weekend (February 13-15 in 2026), with pairings at wineries across the state. Some wineries require reservations, some are 21 and over, and the 2027 dates weren’t posted by late September.
• Cape May’s Presidents’ Weekend: Cape May MAC’s Crafts & Collectibles in Winter show is Saturday, February 13, 2027 at Cape May Convention Hall.
• Polar Bear Plunge at Seaside Heights: Special Olympics New Jersey’s biggest plunge usually lands in late winter; the 2025 edition was February 22, and the 2026 plunge, set for February 28, was pushed to March 14 by a snowstorm. More than 6,600 people plunged in 2026 and raised $2.3 million. Plungers must raise at least $100 to $125, and the 2027 date hadn’t been announced.
• Atlantic City Boat Show: February 24-28, 2027 at the Atlantic City Convention Center (noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday). The same week, the state high school wrestling championships fill Boardwalk Hall (February 25-27), which Visit Atlantic City says draws about 35,000 people, so book rooms early.

Thomas Edison National Historical Park reopens after February 25, and Cape May MAC builds a Presidents’ Weekend program around its winter crafts show.

6. March 2027: St. Patrick’s Parades, a Film Festival and Taste Atlantic City

Parade season. New Jersey has an Irish streak, and March is when it shows. Three of the state’s big parades have already announced 2027 dates:

• Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Sunday, March 7, 2027: the 54th parade on Main Street, the Shore’s big one. It began in 1974, and the organizers’ history says it was drawing roughly 200,000 spectators within a decade of 1993. NJ Transit usually adds trains to Belmar; drivers are pointed to the Belmar Marina lots off Route 35. The 2025 and 2026 parades stepped off at 12:30 p.m., and the 2026 parade was pushed from March 1 to March 28, so check the organizers’ site as the date nears.
• Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Friday, March 12, 2027: the 92nd. Its organizers say it’s the oldest St. Patrick’s parade in New Jersey, dating to 1936; in 2026 it stepped off at noon in front of the Prudential Center.
• St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Morris County, Saturday, March 13, 2027: the 48th steps off at noon on South Street in Morristown, and its organizers say it draws 50,000 to 70,000 spectators and more than 3,000 marchers.

Atlantic City’s Boardwalk parade (2026’s, on March 7, drew more than 50,000 people by the city’s count) hadn’t set its 2027 date. Hoboken, once famous for its parade day, had no official parade listed for 2026 or 2027.

Also in March: the 25th Garden State Film Festival runs March 18-21, 2027 in Cranford and Asbury Park; the conference basketball championships of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference fill Boardwalk Hall from March 4 to 9; and Taste Atlantic City, the month-long restaurant promotion that replaced Restaurant Week, returns in March 2027 (in 2026, more than 70 restaurants served $20 three-course lunches and $30 to $60 dinners). The cherry blossoms follow in April.

7. April 2027: Cherry Blossoms, Tulips and Shad

New Jersey’s flower month. The state’s best spring show is in Newark, of all places: Branch Brook Park, 360 acres laid out by the Olmsted firm and the first county park in the country opened to the public, holds the Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival every April. The 2026 festival, the 50th, ran April 4-19 with a Bloomfest day on the last Sunday. The 2027 dates hadn’t been announced in late September; watch Essex County’s parks site from March. Weekday mornings are the calmest time to go.

• Tulips: Holland Ridge Farms in Cream Ridge plants more than 8 million tulips for a festival that typically opens in mid-April, with dates announced on social media once the fields are assessed (2026 admission was $17-$25, with tulips to pick for $1 a stem or less). Von Thun Farms in Washington, Warren County, ran its tulip festival on weekends from April 18 to May 3, 2026, from $19.99 online.
• Shad: Lambertville’s ShadFest, named for the Delaware River’s spring shad run, is held in late April (April 25-26 in 2026); the 2027 date wasn’t posted.
• Running: the April Fools Half Marathon and 8K run on the Atlantic City Boardwalk on Sunday, April 11, 2027.

Two spring traditions older guides still list have gone: the Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival held its last edition in April 2026, and the New Jersey Folk Festival left its April date at Rutgers and now runs in August in South Brunswick. And the Asbury Park Music + Film Festival’s own site hasn’t listed a festival since its 2021 edition was cancelled.

8. May 2027: The Faire, the Seafood Festival and the Shore Wakes Up

Festival season starts in earnest. By May the Shore towns are reopening, the street fairs return, and the state’s biggest costume party gets going.

• New Jersey Seafood Festival, Belmar: now held in mid-May rather than June; the 2026 edition ran May 15-17 at Ferruggiaro Park on Silver Lake, with free admission, seafood from local restaurants, crafts and live music. The 2027 date wasn’t posted. (Its old web address now sends you to an unrelated festival in Ventnor, so use the Borough of Belmar’s calendar.)
• Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival: Washington Street fills with two music stages and more than 300 artists and vendors for a Sunday in May (May 17 in 2026), and the city says it draws more than 30,000 people.
• Wine: the Mother’s Day Wine Trail Weekend runs over Mother’s Day weekend at wineries statewide, and Crystal Springs Resort in Sussex County holds the New Jersey Wine & Food Festival, which bills itself as the state’s largest, in early May (May 1-3 in 2026).
• Cape May Music Festival: Cape May MAC’s chamber and choral season runs from early May to late June (May 9 to June 21 in 2026), including a free Memorial Day weekend brass concert in Rotary Park.
• New Jersey Renaissance Faire, from May 22, 2027: the faire returns to the Burlington County Fairgrounds in Columbus on weekends May 22-23, May 29-30, June 5-6, June 12-13 and June 19-20, 2027, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine, with jousting and plenty of period costume.
• Collingswood May Fair: more than a mile of Haddon Avenue fills with about 200 artists and crafters on a Saturday late in the month (May 23 in 2026), with an estimated 50,000 visitors; the PATCO station is a block away.
• Memorial Day weekend: Monmouth Park in Oceanport opens its festival season with the Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival (2026 admission $7, kids 12 and under free), and the Shore’s boardwalks, rides and beaches begin their summer schedules.

One date to note for next year: Atlantic City’s Soar & Shore airshow, held on the weekend after Memorial Day in 2026, moves into June in 2027.

9. June 2027: An Airshow, Pride, Portugal Day and Blueberries

The start of summer, with dates already on the calendar. June 2027 has more announced dates than any other month next year:

• Soar & Shore Airshow, June 4-6, 2027: Atlantic City’s airshow, free on the beach and the Boardwalk and centered near Bally’s. It replaced the old midweek August show; Visit Atlantic City says the 2025 revival drew 150,000 people.
• Jersey Pride, Sunday, June 6, 2027: the state’s largest and oldest Pride celebration by its own account, noon to 7 p.m. in Asbury Park, with a parade through town at noon; the organizers say it usually draws more than 20,000 people.
• New Jersey Renaissance Faire: weekends continue through June 19-20.
• Portugal Day in Newark’s Ironbound: a full weekend every June, according to its organizers (June 12-14 in 2026), with food, music and a big parade down Ferry Street on the Sunday afternoon. The Ironbound’s Portuguese restaurants are the other reason to go.
• New Jersey Beer & Food Festival, Saturday, June 19, 2027: at Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, 200-plus beers, ciders and seltzers with an unlimited buffet; 21 and over only, and 2026 tickets were $120 ($65 for designated drivers).
• Red, White & Blueberry Festival, Sunday, June 27, 2027: Hammonton, which its chamber of commerce bills as the Blueberry Capital of the World, celebrates the harvest with a festival and car show (held at Hammonton High School in 2026). Whitesbog Village in the Pine Barrens, where Elizabeth Coleman White began growing blueberries between the cranberry bogs, held its free 2026 Blueberry Summer Fest on three dates in June and July; its 2027 dates weren’t posted.

Also in June, in 2026: Warren County’s hot air balloon festival at the community college in Washington (June 6-7; $10 in advance), the 54th New Jersey Irish Festival at Monmouth Park (June 7), and the Atlantic City Classic Car Auction at the Convention Center (June 10-12, 2027 is already set). The Shore’s weekly fireworks start by the end of the month.

10. July 2027: Fireworks, Barbecue and Italian Feasts

Peak Shore season, and fireworks nearly every night somewhere. The Fourth of July is the big one, but the Shore towns keep the show going all summer on a weekly schedule. The 2027 schedules weren’t out in late September, so here’s the 2026 pattern to plan around:

• Seaside Heights: Wednesday-night fireworks at 9:30 p.m. from the start of July through late August, plus July 4.
• Point Pleasant Beach: Jenkinson’s Thursday fireworks from mid-June to early September, starting at dark.
• The Wildwoods: free Friday fireworks at 10 p.m. from late June to the Friday before Labor Day.
• Atlantic City: no single city show; in 2026 Borgata put on a Grucci show on July 3 and Tropicana ran a summer series over the beach.

The other July events worth a trip:

• New Jersey State Barbecue Championship: the Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned contest in the Anglesea section of North Wildwood (not Wildwood itself) starts on the second Friday of July each year, according to its organizers; in 2026 it ran July 10-12 with free admission, alongside the Anglesea Blues Festival.
• Mt. Carmel Festival, Hammonton: held since 1875, and billed by its organizing society as the longest-running Italian festival in the country, it centers on the feast-day procession every July 16.
• St. Ann’s Feast, Hoboken: Saint Ann Church’s Italian festival fills a late-July week with nightly bands and food (the 116th ran July 22-26, 2026).
• Night in Venice, Ocean City: the city’s bay-side boat parade (the 71st sailed on Saturday, July 25, 2026) starts near the Ocean City-Longport bridge at 6:30 p.m., with fireworks after dark.
• Warren County Farmers’ Fair: a classic county fair near Phillipsburg with nightly hot air balloon launches (up to 20 balloons at 6:30 p.m., weather permitting); in 2026 it ran July 25 to August 1, and admission was $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12.
• Monmouth Park: the Oceanport racetrack’s summer festival series included an Italian Festival & Wine Tasting in late July 2026.

One July event you won’t find anymore: the New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington, long a late-July fixture, was cancelled in 2024 and 2025, and no festival took place in 2026. The balloons to see now are in Warren County.

11. August 2027: The State Fair, the Baby Parade and the Folk Festival

Fairs and beach traditions. August is the height of Shore season, so most events here are either on the beach or at the fairgrounds.

• New Jersey State Fair (Sussex County Farm & Horse Show): the state fair is the Sussex County Farm & Horse Show, held over nine days at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta; in 2026 it ran July 31 to August 8. The fair has announced August 6-14, 2027 for next year’s run.
• Ocean City Baby Parade: a Boardwalk tradition for more than a century; the 116th was on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.
• New Jersey Folk Festival: free, rain or shine, and now held in late August at Davidson’s Mill Pond Park in South Brunswick (August 29 in 2026), after five decades as an April festival at Rutgers.
• Atlantic City Triathlon: Sunday, August 1, 2027.
• Monmouth Park: the track’s 2026 series added a Latin Festival: Tacos & Tequila (August 2) and a Surf & Turf Seafood Festival (August 15-16).
• Sunflowers: several farms run sunflower festivals in August and early fall; our farms guide lists them.

The Hambletonian harness race, an early-August fixture at the Meadowlands for 46 years, won’t be there in 2027: after the 2026 running on August 8, the Hambletonian Society voted to move it to Harrah’s Hoosier Park in Indiana for 2027 through 2029.

12. September 2027: The Shore’s Best Month for Festivals

The locals’ favorite. After Labor Day the crowds thin, the water is still warm, and the Shore towns fill their weekends with festivals. Here’s what September 2026 held; of these, only Mountain Creek had announced a 2027 date by late September:

• Mountain Creek Oktoberfest, September 18-19, 2027: the 43rd, at the Vernon ski resort (in 2026, $25 at the gate, with free parking).
• Sea.Hear.Now, Asbury Park: the beachfront music festival, with 25-plus bands on three stages, two of them on the sand (September 19-20 in 2026).
• Point Pleasant Beach Festival of the Sea: about 250 craft vendors, music and a beer and wine garden on a Saturday in mid-September (the 48th was September 19, 2026).
• North Wildwood Irish Fall Festival: four days of Irish music and a grand parade in late September (the 35th ran September 24-27, 2026).
• Hoboken Italian Festival: the Feast of the Madonna Dei Martiri at Pier A, with a procession and a Blessing of the Fleet on the Hudson; the 100th ran September 10-13, 2026.
• Wine and beer: Valenzano Winery’s WineFestNJ in Shamong pours 175-plus wines from 15 New Jersey wineries (September 19-20 in 2026), Cape May MAC’s free Harvest Brew Fest was on September 19, and Monmouth Park’s BBQ & Craft Beer Festival fills Labor Day weekend.
• Greek and harvest festivals: Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Festival in Toms River (the 54th ran September 25-27, 2026), and Margate’s free Fall Funfest by the Bay (September 26-27 in 2026).

By mid-September the fall season has started inland too: farms open their pumpkin and corn-maze festival weekends, Holland Ridge Farms’ sunflower festival runs into October, Six Flags’ Fright Fest and the haunted hayrides open, and the calendar loops back to October.

How to Plan a Trip Around New Jersey’s Big Events

A few habits save a lot of grief, and 2026 supplied plenty of examples:

• Check the organizer’s site the week before. Plenty of 2026 dates changed at short notice: the Belmar-Lake Como parade moved from March 1 to March 28, a snowstorm pushed the Seaside Heights Polar Bear Plunge from February 28 to March 14, flooding moved Wildwood’s monster-truck show from September to October, and high winds cancelled the Wildwood Crest Seafarers Celebration. Some events have rain dates; some, like the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival and the Asbury Park Zombie Walk, go ahead rain or shine with no rain date.
• Don’t trust a year-old date. Many New Jersey festivals don’t post next year’s date until winter or spring, and third-party listings sometimes fill the gap with guesses (one still listed a Festival of Ballooning for July 2026). If only last year’s date is on the organizer’s site, treat it as a rough guide.
• Book Shore rooms early for the big weekends. The Belmar parade, the Soar & Shore airshow, Night in Venice and the Irish Fall Festival draw big crowds to the towns that host them, so book as soon as the date is set.
• Bring cash. Several haunted attractions sell tickets at the booth for cash only (C. Casola Farms, and Corrado’s Hayride of Horrors at the booth), and at the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival the ATM lines get long.
• Use the train where you can. NJ Transit adds trains for the Belmar parade, the Collingswood May Fair is a block from a PATCO station, and the Newark and Hoboken events are easy by rail. This fall, check NJ Transit’s reduced Portal Cutover schedules (October 11 to November 14) before you ride.
• Match the haunt to the kids. Farm of Horrors isn’t recommended for children under 13, Night of Terror requires an adult 21 or over with anyone under 18, and Brighton Asylum makes every child walk through on their own. The family-friendly options are the daytime farm festivals, Haunted Red Mill’s low-scare mornings in Clinton and the free town Halloween parades.
• Watch for out-of-state listings. New Jersey roundups regularly include events that aren’t in New Jersey: Shady Brook Farm’s light show (Yardley, Pennsylvania), Headless Horseman Hayrides (Ulster Park, New York), The Bates Motel (Glen Mills, Pennsylvania) and the Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware, which launches from the Pennsylvania side.

Between the big events, there’s plenty to fill a trip: our guide to things to do in New Jersey ranks the state’s best attractions, with 2026 prices and hours.

What’s Changed: Cancelled, Moved and Renamed Events

Older calendars, and plenty of current ones, still list these the old way:

Event	What changed	Status in September 2026
New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning (Readington)	Cancelled in 2024 and 2025	No 2026 festival; its website domain is parked
Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival	The 20th edition, on April 11, 2026, was billed as the last	Ended
Sips, Stars & Stripes wine festival (Trenton)	Cancelled in May 2026 after the April freeze damaged vineyards statewide	No 2027 festival announced
Atlantic City Airshow	Now the Soar & Shore Airshow, in late spring instead of midweek in August	June 4-6, 2027
LBI Chowderfest	Now the Beach Haven Chowder Cook-Off	Oct. 3-4, 2026
Montclair Film Festival	Held in October, not May	Oct. 16-25, 2026
New Jersey Folk Festival	Left its April date at Rutgers; now late August in South Brunswick	2026 edition: Aug. 29
New Jersey Seafood Festival (Belmar)	Now mid-May instead of June; its old web address redirects elsewhere	2026 edition: May 15-17
Asbury Park Music + Film Festival	No festival listed since the 2021 edition was cancelled	Dormant
Hambletonian	Leaves the Meadowlands for Hoosier Park, Indiana	2027 through 2029
Ocean City’s Indian Summer Weekend	The city’s 2026 calendar lists the Fall Block Party and Discount Days instead	Oct. 10-12, 2026
Wildwoods ’50s, ’60s & ’70s Weekend	Not listed for 2026; the Wildwoods Oldies Spectacular concert is	Oct. 17, 2026 (concert)
Miss America	Left Atlantic City; the 2026 pageant was in West Palm Beach, Florida	Atlantic City keeps the Miss’d America drag pageant (Oct. 11, 2026)
The Haunted Scarehouse (Wharton)	Renamed 13th Hour	Open select nights to Nov. 1, 2026

What to Skip

• Planning a July trip around hot air balloons in Readington. The Festival of Ballooning hasn’t run since 2023; go to the Warren County Farmers’ Fair instead, where balloons launch every evening of the fair.
• Late-October Saturday nights at the big haunts without a fast pass. Several warn of lines of two hours or more; Thursdays and Sundays are calmer.
• Heading to Hoboken on St. Patrick’s weekend expecting a parade. There was no official one listed for 2026 or 2027; go to Belmar, Newark or Morristown.
• Booking travel around an unannounced 2027 date. If the organizer hasn’t posted it, it isn’t set, whatever a listings site says.
• Driving to Pennsylvania by mistake. Check the address: several events on New Jersey lists are across the Delaware or in New York.

Events in NJ FAQ

What festivals are in NJ in October?

October 2026 has the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival and the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey (October 17-18), Oktoberfests at Smithville (October 3-4) and Laurita Winery (October 17-18), the Asbury Park Zombie Walk (October 3), Cape May’s Victorian Weekend (October 9-12), farm pumpkin festivals every weekend and haunted hayrides statewide through November 1.

What is the biggest festival in New Jersey?

By the organizers’ own counts, the biggest crowds gather for the Soar & Shore Airshow in Atlantic City (150,000 in 2025), the Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s parade, Morristown’s St. Patrick’s parade (50,000 to 70,000) and the Collingswood May Fair (about 50,000). For sheer length, the Renaissance Faire’s five weekends and the state fair’s nine days lead the calendar.

When is the New Jersey State Fair?

The state fair is the Sussex County Farm & Horse Show at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta. In 2026 it ran July 31 to August 8, and the fair has announced its 2027 dates: August 6 to 14, 2027. Adult admission was $16 in 2026 (ages 13 to 59), and parking was free.

When is the New Jersey Renaissance Faire in 2027?

The faire returns to the Burlington County Fairgrounds in Columbus on five weekends: May 22-23, May 29-30, June 5-6, June 12-13 and June 19-20, 2027. It’s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine. The dates were already on the faire’s website in September 2026.

When do the cherry blossoms bloom at Branch Brook Park?

In April. The Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park in Newark ran April 4-19 in 2026, its 50th year, ending with a Bloomfest day. The 2027 dates hadn’t been announced by late September 2026; watch Essex County’s parks website from early spring.

Where can I see drive-through Christmas lights in NJ?

Three shows had confirmed 2026 dates by late September: Winter WonderLights in East Brunswick (nightly from November 20 to January 3, $39.99-$54.99 per car), Diggerland in West Berlin (from November 20, from $37.99 per vehicle) and Orchard of Lights in Hillsdale (select nights from November 21, $35 per car, reservations required).

Is the NJ Festival of Ballooning still happening?

No. The New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington was cancelled in 2024 and 2025, and no festival took place in 2026. For balloons, the Warren County Farmers’ Fair launches up to 20 every evening of the fair (late July), and Warren County also holds balloon festivals in June and September.

What free events are there in New Jersey?

Plenty: the St. Patrick’s parades, the Soar & Shore Airshow, Branch Brook Park’s blossoms, the Asbury Park Zombie Walk, Smithville’s Oktoberfest and Irish Festival, the Shore’s weekly summer fireworks, and Trenton’s Battle of Trenton reenactments and Assunpink Firewalk on December 26, 2026.

Related New Jersey Guides

• The best things to do in New Jersey: the state’s top attractions, with 2026 prices and hours.
• New Jersey farms to visit: pick-your-own, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and farm festivals, season by season.

Sources and How We Checked

We checked every date, price and hour on this page on September 24, 2026, on the organizers’ own websites and ticket pages and on the host towns’ and counties’ official calendars, saying in the text when a detail comes from last year’s edition. We did not attend these events for this update, and nothing here is sponsored.

• Chatsworth Cranberry Festival and Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey
• Patriots Week (Trenton) and German Christmas Market of New Jersey
• Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade and St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Morris County
• Essex County Parks: Cherry Blossom Festival and New Jersey Renaissance Faire
• Soar & Shore Airshow, Jersey Pride and Town of Hammonton: Red, White & Blueberry Festival
• Garden State Wine Growers Association: wine trail weekends and Warren County Farmers’ Fair
• City of Ocean City: fall events and Greater Wildwood Tourism Improvement and Development Authority: events

New Jersey Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Visit New Jersey or the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, NJ Transit or any festival, venue, town or organizer listed here, and no one paid to be included.

Photo Credits

• Cherry blossoms, Branch Brook Park: photo by Siddharth Mallya, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Cranberry harvest in New Jersey: photo by Keith Weller, U.S. Department of Agriculture, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
• Absecon Lighthouse at dusk: photo by Ted Kerwin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
• Storybook Land entrance: photo by Storybook Land, via Wikimedia Commons (FAL)
• Battle of Trenton reenactment: photo by R'lyeh Imaging, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
• Joust at the Renaissance Faire: photo by Fool4myCanon, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
• Wildwood fireworks: photo by Dough4872, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
• Sea.Hear.Now stage: photo by ANTbook365, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)