Ocean City's Holiday Season Fits Between Sixth and 14th Streets, Right Up to the Boardwalk Rebuild

Look at Ocean City's holiday calendar on a map and it fits inside about eight blocks. The Civic Center sits at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk. The Music Pier is at 825 Boardwalk. Mark Soifer Park is at Ninth and Asbury. The Christmas Parade runs up Asbury Avenue from Sixth to 11th. From Winterfest this Saturday to the parade on Dec. 4, almost every event on the city's schedule happens on that short strip of the north end.

The 14th Street mark matters this year. That's where the city's Boardwalk rebuild starts. As of the mayor's Nov. 6 letter, the crew had pilings and girders in place between 14th and 16th streets and was due to start on the joists. The holiday events stay north of that block. Last year, the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot course was the one that ran well past it.

The Season Opens at Sixth Street This Saturday

The Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce kicks things off with its sixth annual Winterfest By The Sea from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, inside the Civic Center. The city's calendar lists craft vendors, food vendors and a strolling Santa. The Civic Center is at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk, as OCNJ Daily noted in its 2024 preview. That year the event also brought out Tom Turkey and characters from "Frozen."

Last year's parking setup may help with planning. Shore Local's 2025 preview noted free parking in the Boardwalk lot next to the Civic Center, entered from Fifth Street. The whole season starts from that corner. The parade's first block and the carriage boarding spot on Nov. 21 are both a short walk inland at Sixth and Asbury.

One Week Later, Asbury Avenue in Pajamas

Earlier than the Bird runs from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 21, the weekend before Thanksgiving. The city invites shoppers to come downtown in their pajamas for early-bird specials. Free horse-drawn carriage rides start the same day, noon to 3 p.m., boarding at Sixth Street and Asbury Avenue.

The last two years show what the morning looks like. Shore Local's 2025 preview placed the shopping on Asbury between Sixth and 14th streets. It listed free turkeys for the best-dressed shoppers, merchant prize drawings, and coffee at Jon & Patty's and Ocean City Coffee Company. OCNJ Daily's 2024 preview gave the coffee stops' addresses: Jon & Patty's at 637 Asbury Ave. and Ocean City Coffee Company at 917 Asbury Ave.

In OCNJ Daily's 2024 recap, sidewalks were crowded. Santa, the Grinch, city mascot Martin Z. Mollusk and a six-foot costumed turkey worked the blocks, and Stainton's Gallery of Shops set up a "Whoville" photo spot. The same report quoted Laura Gibbons, owner of Partyology Firm at 411 E. Eighth St., saying the event gave her shop exposure. In 2025, the Ocean City Sentinel counted more than 40 shoppers lined up at Stainton's that morning, where a staff member held an impromptu prize auction.

Last Year's Thanksgiving Course Ran Past 14th Street

The Humane Society of Ocean City's Fast & Furriest 5K Turkey Trot is Thursday, Nov. 26, at 8:30 a.m. On the race's registration page, the 5K run and the 5K walk cost $35 each and the 1-mile kids' fun run costs $20. All proceeds go to the Humane Society.

The same page reminds runners that city ordinance bans dogs from the Boardwalk at all times and asks them to leave pets behind.

The race page's course description comes from last year's edition, and that course left the downtown stretch. Runners and walkers start at the Music Pier, head south on the Boardwalk to a turnaround at 23rd Street, and come back north to finish at the Music Pier. The kids' mile is one loop north from the Music Pier to Fifth Street and back. The 2025 route passed 14th through 16th streets, the stretch the city is now rebuilding from the pilings up. The mayor described where that work stood in the Nov. 6 letter:

"All pilings and girders for our 14th Street to 16th Street boardwalk reconstruction project are in place, and the contractor will begin installing joists on Monday. Lumber for the decking is on site, and the project remains on track to be done before the end of the year."

The race page also says the event promoters can change or cancel events for any reason, and that the race goes on rain or shine. Race-day details will be posted there.

That rebuild is a separate project from the one farther north. A $4.9 million Boardwalk Preservation Fund grant is helping pay to rebuild from St. Charles Place to Fifth Street, with a full replacement of the substructure and decking. A section of the ipe decking will be kept.

Black Friday Moves to City Hall

The day after Thanksgiving, everything shifts back to Asbury Avenue. Christmas in the Downtown, "Our Miracle on Asbury Avenue," starts at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, with downtown merchants and the Chamber putting on what the city calls an old-fashioned downtown Christmas. It builds to Santa's arrival at 5 p.m.

How Santa arrives has become the tradition. The city tourism site's 2024 preview described him arriving on the City Hall roof by fire department ladder truck, along with a tree lighting, carolers, performers and free carriage rides. Last year, Shore Local described carolers and performers on Asbury from Sixth to 14th, carols at City Hall, and a holiday drone show new for 2025.

The Sentinel's 2025 holiday shopping story followed shoppers through Stainton's and the Shoppes on Asbury during last year's Miracle. It also named nearby shops including 8th and Crown, Sea Grass Boutique, Ferka, Dune, Flirt!, Bala and Beyond Yoga.

Free carriage rides run noon to 3 p.m. on Nov. 27, 28 and 29, then on December weekends. The weekend after Thanksgiving fills in the rest of the stretch:

• Saturday, Nov. 28: The Ocean City Pops play their holiday show at the Music Pier at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., with conductor Vince Lee and the Ocean City Pops Festival Chorus. Tickets are sold at any Welcome Center or by calling 609-399-6111.
• Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 28 and 29: Santa visits Mark Soifer Park at Ninth Street and Asbury Avenue from 9 to 11 a.m., then heads to the Music Pier in the afternoon. The city's announcement puts him outside the pier in a lifeguard boat.
• Friday, Dec. 4: The Christmas Parade steps off at 6 p.m. on Asbury Avenue and runs from Sixth Street to 11th Street. Participant registration is at ocnj.us/christmas-parade.
• Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 and 6: Santa is back at Soifer Park from 9 to 11 a.m., and the Music Pier hosts a Train Show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

The Drive In Has a Thanksgiving Break

Winter work is happening across the island while the events stay downtown, and it affects the drive in. The same Nov. 6 letter said NJDOT's repairs to the bridge lights were set to begin Nov. 9, with single-lane closures in both directions. The letter promised no lane closures during Thanksgiving week and said the work should be done before Christmas. It also noted that Roosevelt Boulevard is down to one inbound lane.

For drivers, Thanksgiving week is the one stretch this month with no bridge-light lane closures. It's also the week of the Turkey Trot, Black Friday downtown and the Pops.

Elsewhere on the island, the same letter and the city's project list give this snapshot:

• Sandcastle Park, 34th Street: Playground equipment foundations and shade-sail posts are in, and the equipment is on site. The base course is done for the tennis, pickleball and basketball courts, and so is the foundation for the office and restroom building. A $3.5 million county grant is helping fund the work, which is scheduled for fall 2026 to spring 2027.
• 19th to 26th streets: The flood mitigation contractor expected to start drilling test pits the week of Nov. 9. The project adds drainage improvements and two pumping stations between Bay Avenue and West Avenue.
• The Gardens: The water company is putting in a new sewer main in the alleys around West Inlet, West Seaspray and West Seabright roads. The letter says the work will be finished by Christmas, with final paving in the spring.
• West Avenue: On the city's schedule, the raised-intersection work along County Route 619 finishes Dec. 21, 2026.
• 34th Street and Bay Avenue: Atlantic City Electric is upgrading underground cables there as part of a $4 million investment in reliability for Merion Park and other nearby neighborhoods.

Several of these jobs have the same finish line. The mayor's letter puts the bridge-light repairs and the Gardens sewer main "before Christmas" and the 14th-to-16th Street Boardwalk "before the end of the year." The West Avenue schedule ends Dec. 21. Most of this year's holiday calendar takes place while that work is still underway around the stretch between Sixth and 14th.

If you're in town for Winterfest this Saturday or watching the parade from Asbury Avenue on Dec. 4, these weeks are also a good time to think about how an Ocean City home shows in the off-season. Rebuilt Boardwalk sections, a new Sandcastle Park and finished street work can change how buyers see a block next spring. Teresa Campama is glad to walk you through what your home could bring with a free home valuation, timed around your own holiday plans.