NJ Festivals & Fairs 2026
Every seafood festival, county fair, craft show and music fest on the Jersey Shore calendar — with confirmed dates.
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New Jersey's shore counties run 70 festivals and fairs across the 2026 calendar, and they are not evenly spread — June alone carries 17. The season opens with winter plunge weekends, builds through the spring food festivals, peaks across June to August, and closes out with the fall chowder and Irish festivals in September and October.
31 of them are free to walk into. The ones that charge are mostly the two county fairs and the ticketed music festivals; everywhere else, parking is the real cost of a festival Saturday. Everything below carries a confirmed date — floating events without a verified 2026 date are deliberately excluded rather than estimated.
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County fairs & craft fairs
The shore counties run two full county fairs plus a handful of craft fairs and street fairs. These are the events people mean when they search for a fair rather than a festival.
Red Bank Spring Street Fair & Craft Show
Red Bank
Artisan crafts and food in downtown Red Bank.
Ocean County Fair
Berkeley Township
Classic county fair with rides, 4-H, pig races, and fair food since 1947.
Monmouth County Fair
Freehold
Biggest outdoor summer event in Monmouth County.
One-day craft fair on the grounds of St. Elizabeth's Chapel by the Sea in Ortley Beach, a block from the ocean.
Free communitywide environmental fair at the Music Pier with exhibitors promoting sustainable living, sponsored by the Environmental Commission.
January festivals
All January events →Comics, collectibles, and pop culture convention with celebrity guests.
All-you-can-eat wings from 20+ restaurants with live music. 21+.
March festivals
All March events →April festivals
All April events →3-day youth entertainment festival with music, wrestling, and fashion at Showboat.
Premier craft beer festival with 100+ breweries and live music in Atlantic City.
200,000 tulips in bloom with garden tours, wine tastings, and trolley tours.
Red Bank Spring Street Fair & Craft Show
Red Bank
Artisan crafts and food in downtown Red Bank.
May festivals
All May events →48th annual world-class birding festival at one of North America's premier migration sites.
Intimate jazz festival featuring Grammy-winning artists in Cape May venues.
Belmar's 36th annual free seafood festival with 30+ vendors and live music.
Two-day plant-based food festival with 50+ vendors at Convention Hall.
North America's largest kite festival with world-class flyers, night fly, and indoor exhibition.
Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival
Oceanport
30+ food trucks at Monmouth Park with live horse racing Memorial Day weekend.
Aerial demonstrations and beach celebration over Memorial Day weekend.
Jersey Shore Cigar Box Guitar Festival
Neptune City
Festival celebrating handmade cigar box guitars.
June festivals
All June events →Cape May MAC's seaside classical and chamber music festival runs concerts through late June.
Festival celebrating local strawberries with food, crafts, music, and family fun.
New Jersey Irish Festival
Oceanport
Irish music, dance, food, and culture celebration at Monmouth Park.
18th annual film festival named among world's 25 coolest by MovieMaker magazine.
Four days of conservation films and meet-the-filmmaker sessions at Cape May Point.
Music, comedy, and arts across Asbury Park, Newark, and Atlantic City — extended to July 19, 2026.
Open-air juried arts festival with handmade jewelry, fine art, and specialty foods.
Craft beer and hot sauce festival with live music for the Jetty Rock Foundation.
Northeast's largest outdoor country festival on Wildwood Beach with 40+ artists.
A multi-day boardwalk craft vendor show with regional makers.
Annual skimboarding competition with family activities on the beach.
Free Juneteenth community festival with live music, food, vendors, and kids' activities.
City Pride Month festival with live entertainment, food and drink, and all-ages fun.
Evening festival with food, drink, balloon artists, and family entertainment.
Baymen's Seafood & Music Festival
Tuckerton
Jersey-fresh seafood with a brew court, baymen demonstrations, and live music.
Boardwalk tasting festival with 100+ craft beers, wines, and spirits in Asbury Park.
Hands-on wildlife festival with live turtles, exhibits, and a "Diaper Derby."
July festivals
All July events →Ocean County Fair
Berkeley Township
Classic county fair with rides, 4-H, pig races, and fair food since 1947.
KCBS-sanctioned BBQ competition with live blues music in North Wildwood.
Professional sand sculptures on Wildwood Crest Beach with family workshops.
Downbeach Summer Fest
Ventnor City
Three-day festival with drone shows and 60+ vendors from Ventnor to Margate.
Monmouth County Fair
Freehold
Biggest outdoor summer event in Monmouth County.
Italian Festival & Wine Tasting
Oceanport
Italian food, wine tasting, and live racing at Monmouth Park.
Christmas in July festival on Sunset Lake with live music, free Santa photos and a decorated boat parade of about 40 boats at 8:45 PM.
Annual summer festival with seafood, rides, and family fun at St. Francis.
Three-day tattoo convention at Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch with artists, contests and live music.
Highlands Clam Fest
Highlands
Three-day Highlands seafood festival in Huddy Park with clams, food trucks, a beer garden and live music.
August festivals
All August events →The Totally Tubular Festival 80s package tour stops at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena on Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
One-day craft fair on the grounds of St. Elizabeth's Chapel by the Sea in Ortley Beach, a block from the ocean.
Waterfront festival on Dock Road held alongside the Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational weigh-ins, with vendors, live music and food.
A new three-day Woodstock tribute festival on Showboat's Garden Pier, August 14-16, with ten tribute acts recreating the original 1969 sets.
Surf & Turf Seafood Festival at Monmouth Park
Oceanport
Two-day seafood festival at Monmouth Park with lobster rolls, crab cakes and shrimp from a dozen shore seafood vendors.
Atlantic City's Assumption Day tradition: a 10 a.m. Mass at Hard Rock's Seminole Ballroom followed by a procession to the ocean and blessing of the waters.
Bayfront craft show at Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars with dozens of vendors, food and a crab race run by the local PBA.
Free communitywide environmental fair at the Music Pier with exhibitors promoting sustainable living, sponsored by the Environmental Commission.
The Hollow ParaCon & Film Fest
Galloway
Paranormal and horror convention with film screenings, panels and a vendor hall at Stockton University in Galloway on August 22, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Juried summer arts and crafts festival at Squan Plaza with roughly 100 exhibitors, gourmet food and kids' activities.
Townwide pirate-themed day in Bradley Beach paired with a reggae music festival, running all day on the third Saturday.
Inaugural Greek festival at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church with Greek cuisine, folk dancing, live music, a Greek DJ and market items.
25th annual free jazz and blues festival with fireworks finale.
Free juried handcraft festival at Stone Harbor Recreation Field featuring ceramics, jewelry, glass, fiber art, woodworking and photography.
September festivals
All September events →BBQ & Craft Beer Festival
Oceanport
BBQ food trucks and craft beer close out Monmouth Park festival season.
Upscale food and wine tasting in Stone Harbor with local restaurants and regional wines.
Argos Farm Fall Festival
Forked River
Pumpkin picking, corn maze, and fall activities at Shore area farm.
Two days of beach music featuring Mumford & Sons, The Strokes, and 25+ artists on Asbury Park oceanfront.
47th annual festival with 250+ craft vendors, seafood, and live entertainment.
Downbeach Seafood Festival
Ventnor City
Fresh seafood and wine tastings on Ventnor's Ski Beach.
Two-day aviation event with airport displays and boardwalk aerobatic show.
End-of-summer family festival with music, food, and activities.
Red Bank Guinness Oyster Festival
Red Bank
Major oyster festival with live Irish music and Guinness in downtown Red Bank.
Largest Irish festival on the East Coast with music, dancing, boxing, and grand parade.
October festivals
All October events →LBI's premier fall food festival — free Saturday Merchant Mart, ticketed Sunday chowder cook-off.
International kite festival with giant kites and magical night fly.
Fall seafood celebration with local restaurants competing for best dishes.
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Festival calendars by town
Year-round event calendars for the shore towns with the fullest festival schedules.
- Asbury Park29 events
- Atlantic City87 events
- Avalon10 events
- Barnegat Light16 events
- Beach Haven18 events
- Bradley Beach8 events
- Cape May34 events
- Long Branch17 events
- Manasquan9 events
- North Wildwood28 events
- Ocean City49 events
- Ocean Grove9 events
- Sea Isle City16 events
- Ship Bottom8 events
- Ventnor8 events
- Wildwood47 events
- Wildwood Crest23 events
Jersey Shore festivals — frequently asked questions
What festivals are happening in New Jersey in 2026?
There are 70 festivals and fairs on the Jersey Shore calendar for 2026. Coming up next: Dock Road Marlin Fest in Beach Haven (August 11-14, 2026), Re-Wind 69' Music Festival in Atlantic City (August 14-16, 2026), Surf & Turf Seafood Festival at Monmouth Park in Oceanport (August 15-16, 2026), Wedding of the Sea Festival in Atlantic City (August 15, 2026), Blue Claw Craft Show in Harvey Cedars (August 15, 2026). They run from January polar-plunge weekends through October's fall festivals, with the heaviest concentration in June, July and August.
When is the NJ Seafood Festival?
The New Jersey Seafood Festival is held at Silver Lake Park in Belmar each May — the 2026 edition ran May 15-17 and admission is free. Point Pleasant Beach runs its own seafood festival, the Festival of the Sea, on September 19, 2026.
What county fairs are there at the Jersey Shore?
Red Bank Spring Street Fair & Craft Show (Red Bank, April 26, 2026); Ocean County Fair (Berkeley Township, July 8-12, 2026); Monmouth County Fair (Freehold, July 22-26, 2026); St. Elizabeth's Chapel Craft Fair (Ortley Beach, August 8, 2026); Ocean City Green Fair (Ocean City, August 21, 2026).
Are Jersey Shore festivals free?
Most are — 31 of the 70 festivals and fairs on the calendar have free admission, including the NJ Seafood Festival and the Festival of the Sea. County fairs and ticketed music festivals charge admission; parking is usually the bigger cost on a festival weekend.
What festivals are happening this weekend at the Jersey Shore?
The next festivals on the calendar are Dock Road Marlin Fest (August 11-14, 2026), Re-Wind 69' Music Festival (August 14-16, 2026), Surf & Turf Seafood Festival at Monmouth Park (August 15-16, 2026). This page is rebuilt on every deploy, so the month listings below always reflect the current calendar.
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