Seventeen festivals in this directory sit in the southern shore region, which covers Cape May County plus Cumberland County. That is more than any other New Jersey region here, and the reason is simple geography: Ocean City, the Wildwoods and Cape May each run their own multi-event calendar along one short stretch of coast.
The season opens May 2 and closes October 10. Eight of the seventeen list free admission, and every one of those eight is a single day or a long weekend. What follows is the calendar in date order, then the two town clusters broken out on their own.
May and June: the season opens before the crowds
Ocean City Spring Block Party on May 2 is the earliest southern shore event on the calendar, a single Saturday with crafts, food, live music and kids activities, free to attend.
Cape May Music Festival then stretches across the whole front half of the season, May 9 to June 21. It is the longest run of any event in this directory at six weeks, and its only listed feature is live music, so treat it as a concert series rather than a street festival.
The middle of May stacks up. Cape May Exit Zero Jazz Festival runs May 15 to 17 with food and live music. The following weekend, Wildwoods International Kite Festival runs May 22 to 25 across four days with competitions, kids activities and free admission.
June splits between Ocean City and Wildwood. Ocean City Flower Show runs June 5 to 7 and is listed as an agricultural event built around competitions. Barefoot Country Music Fest in Wildwood runs June 18 to 21 and is the region's only country music festival. Ocean City Antique Auto Show closes the month on June 27 with competitions and a parade.
July: the peak, and two events on the same night
Inland, Cumberland County Fair in Millville opens the region's July on the 7th and runs to the 11th. It is one of two county fairs inside the southern shore region and the only listing in the whole region with a ride midway, which makes it the region's default answer if what you want is a traditional fair rather than a beach event.
July 10 puts two events on the beach at once a few miles apart. Wildwood Crest Sand Sculpting Festival is a single free day built on competitions, and New Jersey State BBQ Championship & Anglesea Blues Festival opens in North Wildwood the same day and runs through July 12 with competitions, food and live music.
Cape May County 4-H Fair follows July 16 to 18 in Cape May Court House, with animals, competitions, food, kids activities and live music, and no rides.
July 25 is the region's collision date. Wildwood Crest Christmas in July Festival & Boat Parade runs that day, and Ocean City Night in Venice runs the same day with fireworks and a parade. Both are free. They are different towns on different islands, both built around boats, and you will have to pick one. Four days later, Wildwoods Baby Parade takes July 29.
August through October: parades, then a fall weekend
August thins out to one southern shore listing. Ocean City Baby Parade runs August 13, free, with kids activities and a parade. Paired with the Wildwoods edition on July 29, the shore gives you two separate baby parades sixteen days apart in two different towns.
September brings the region's only multi-day fall festival. Irish Fall Festival in North Wildwood runs September 25 to 27 with crafts, food, live music and a parade, the only southern shore listing carrying all four.
The calendar then closes on October 10 with Ocean City Fall Block Party, the seasonal bookend to the May event on the same street format: crafts, food, live music, kids activities, free.
Ocean City runs its own six event calendar
If you are staying in Ocean City, six listings here are yours without leaving town: the Spring Block Party on May 2, the Flower Show June 5 to 7, the Antique Auto Show June 27, Night in Venice July 25, the Baby Parade August 13 and the Fall Block Party October 10.
That is at least one event a month from May through August, two of them in June, then a gap, then October. Four of the six list free admission. The two block parties are the ones with crafts and food vendors, the other four are competition and parade formats.
The Wildwoods cluster: seven events, three towns
Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood are three separate municipalities on one island, and this directory lists seven events across them: the Kite Festival May 22 to 25 and Barefoot Country Music Fest June 18 to 21 in Wildwood, Sand Sculpting July 10 and Christmas in July July 25 in Wildwood Crest, and the State BBQ Championship with Anglesea Blues July 10 to 12 plus the Irish Fall Festival September 25 to 27 in North Wildwood, with the Wildwoods Baby Parade July 29 rounding it out.
Practical read: the island's calendar is front loaded into June and July, and the one event that reaches into fall is the Irish Fall Festival. July 10 is the tightest day on it, with Sand Sculpting in the Crest and the barbecue championship opening in North Wildwood.
Confirm times, road closures and any ticketing with each event directly. Our records carry dates, towns and features, not schedules or prices.
