The food festivals of 2026 range from the Mount Holly Fire & Ice Festival on January 31 (unconfirmed) to the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival on October 17. Eighteen are spread over seven months, and ten of them are free events.
Ten of the eighteen dates were unconfirmed, and the Jersey City date was inferred from a yearly pattern.
January to May: from ice carving to seafood
Mount Holly Fire & Ice Festival was a free event listed for Saturday, January 31 (unconfirmed), in the historic downtown. It was billed with live ice carving by master carvers, fire performances, food and family activities along High Street. Main Street Mount Holly was listed as the organizer.
Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival was listed for April 11 (unconfirmed). It was a 21-and-over craft beer festival with live music and ticketed sessions at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Lambertville Shad Festival followed, listed for April 25 and 26 (unconfirmed), across downtown Lambertville. It celebrated the annual shad run on the Delaware River, with artisan and craft vendors, food, live music and shad-related exhibits organized by the Greater Lambertville Chamber of Commerce.
Ocean City Spring Block Party was listed for Saturday, May 2 (unconfirmed), with several hundred craft, food and business vendors along Asbury Avenue and free admission. New Jersey Seafood Festival in Belmar was listed for May 15 to 17 (unconfirmed) at Ferruggiaro Park at Silver Lake, in its 38th year. Admission was free, with seafood vendors, craft vendors and live music. Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival was listed for Sunday, May 17 (unconfirmed), on Washington Street between Observer Highway and Seventh Street, with multiple music stages, artists, crafters and food vendors.
June: two blueberry festivals and L.E.A.D. Fest
Whitesbog Blueberry Summer Fest was listed for select dates at Whitesbog Village in Browns Mills, a historic Pinelands cranberry and blueberry company town. The organizer listed music and wagon rides on June 19, June 28 and July 11. Admission was free, with donations supporting preservation of the village.
Red, White & Blueberry Festival in Hammonton was listed for Sunday, June 28 (unconfirmed), at Hammonton High School. It was billed as the 40th annual festival, with blueberry foods, craft and food vendors, a car show and family entertainment.
L.E.A.D. Fest State Fair in West Windsor was a carnival-style fair at the Mercer County Park Festival Grounds, listed for June 26 to July 5 (unconfirmed), with a carnival midway, games, food vendors and nightly entertainment. Weekday admission was $5 and weekend admission was $10 for ages 13 and up and $5 for ages 12 and under. Proceeds supported drug and violence prevention programs.
July: barbecue, a feast week and a street festival
New Jersey State BBQ Championship & Anglesea Blues Festival ran July 10 to 12 in North Wildwood's Anglesea district. Competition barbecue teams, food vendors and blues acts filled the Olde New Jersey Avenue area.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Festival in Hammonton was billed as the 151st annual celebration in 2026, and its organizing society describes it as the longest-running Italian festival in the country, a tradition since 1875. Feast week was listed for July 13 to 18 (unconfirmed) at the Mt. Carmel Carnival Grounds, with nightly live music and DJs, Italian food, a beer garden and a carnival midway. On the feast day, a Mass was listed, followed by a procession through Hammonton and fireworks after dark. Admission to the grounds was free.
Summer in the Street was listed for Saturday, July 18 (unconfirmed), on Washington Street in downtown Toms River, part of the town's slate of free community events.
September 19: three food festivals, one Saturday
Three food festivals fell on Saturday, September 19, in three towns across two counties.
All About Downtown Street Fair in Jersey City filled Newark Avenue and Grove Street from noon to 8 p.m. with local vendors, food, music and family activities, and admission was free. The Historic Downtown Special Improvement District holds it on a Saturday in mid-to-late September. The 2026 date applied that pattern and was reported by local press. Downtown Toms River Comfort Food Festival ran noon to 6 p.m. on Washington Street, also free. Point Pleasant Beach Festival of the Sea was the 48th annual, a one-day seafood street festival downtown that started at 10 a.m., organized by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce, with local seafood vendors, crafters and entertainment. The rain date was September 20.
Late September: the Irish Fall Festival
Irish Fall Festival in North Wildwood ran September 25 to 27, with Celtic music, dance, food and a Sunday parade.
October: Oktoberfest, then cranberries
Oktoberfest at Historic Smithville ran October 3 and 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Galloway, Atlantic County. Admission was free. More than 150 juried crafters, an international food court, kids' activities and nonprofit booths shared the village with its shops, train and carousel rides, paddle boats and eateries. A free shuttle ran from Smithville Square, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days.
Chatsworth Cranberry Festival, last of the eighteen: October 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, rain or shine, in the Pinelands village of Chatsworth, on the third full weekend of October, with a juried craft show of as many as 150 vendors, as many as 15 food vendors and live music. Organizers note that cell reception in Chatsworth is unreliable for card payments.
The Cranberry Festival of Fine Arts and Crafts on Farnsworth in Bordentown, October 3 and 4, shared the fruit in its name but was a different event: a juried fine arts and crafts show on Farnsworth Avenue, organized by the Downtown Bordentown Association, with free admission.
