Three of Bay Head's holiday events this year are listed at the same street number. The Gratitude Tree at the Town Clock is listed at 81 Bridge Avenue, and so is the Bay Head Fire House, where Santa arrives for caroling on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Walk's Saturday program, with breakfast with Santa and trolley rides, also runs out of the Fire House on Bridge Avenue.
That one block is the season's home base. The 45th Annual Christmas Walk on Friday, December 4, is the one evening the celebration spreads to every downtown block from Bridge Avenue to Lake Avenue. Around that Friday, the calendar runs from a church bazaar this Saturday to carols on Christmas Eve, and the Town Clock's tree stays up until New Year's Day.
The Full Run, Mid-November to New Year's Day
Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
Sat., Nov. 14, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | St. Nicholas Bazaar, with takeout lunch | All Saints' Episcopal Church |
Sun., Nov. 22 | Ingathering Sunday and Annual Pie Feast, coffee hour after the 10:15 service | Bristol Hall, All Saints |
Tue., Nov. 24, 7 p.m. | Community Thanksgiving | Bay Head Chapel |
Nov. 28–Jan. 1 | Gratitude Tree, with ornament-making supplies | Town Clock, 81 Bridge Ave. |
Nov. 28–Dec. 24 | Stevie's Cupboard: Letters for Santa | During business hours |
Sun., Nov. 29 | Sentimental Journey Big Band holiday concert | All Saints |
Fri., Dec. 4, 5–9 p.m. | Christmas Walk: tree lighting, Santa photos, shop open houses, music, cocoa | Downtown, Bridge Ave. to Lake Ave., Mount St. and Main Ave. |
Sat., Dec. 5, 10 a.m.–noon | Breakfast with Santa, holiday workshop, trolley rides, scavenger hunt | Bay Head Fire House, Bridge Ave. |
Thu., Dec. 24, evening | Caroling and a visit from Santa | Bay Head Fire House, 81 Bridge Ave. |
The Bridge Avenue entries come from the Bay Head Business Association and the borough's Christmas Walk page. The November dates come from the All Saints events calendar and its parish newsletter.
November Belongs to the Church Calendar
Before the Business Association's events start, the dates on the calendar are All Saints'. The St. Nicholas Bazaar comes first, two days after this post goes up, on Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with takeout lunch. The parish's Ingathering Sunday and Annual Pie Feast follows on November 22, with a coffee hour in Bristol Hall after the 10:15 service, hosted by the Stewardship Committee and Vestry.
Two days before Thanksgiving, the Community Thanksgiving gathering moves to Bay Head Chapel on Tuesday, November 24, at 7 p.m. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 29, the All Saints Community Arts Series has a holiday concert by the Sentimental Journey Big Band, featuring choir members Altha and Curt Morton. The newsletter says more information is coming soon, so the church office is the place to ask about tickets.
Thanksgiving Weekend Moves the Season to Bridge Avenue
On Saturday, November 28, the calendar moves from the church to the Town Clock. The Business Association's Gratitude Tree goes up there that day and stays through January 1, 2027, with supplies on hand for making ornaments. That makes it the longest-running holiday event in town, outlasting the Christmas Walk by about four weeks and Christmas Eve by a week.
Letters for Santa opens the same day. The Stevie's Cupboard event runs from November 28 through December 24 during business hours. For families, the four weeks of letter-writing end on the same night as the Christmas Eve caroling, back at the Fire House at 81 Bridge Avenue.
Friday, December 4: The Night the Map Gets Bigger
For four hours on the first Friday in December, the season reaches past the firehouse block. The borough's listing for the 45th Annual Christmas Walk runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and covers downtown from Bridge Avenue to Lake Avenue, plus Mount Street and Main Avenue. The program includes the Christmas tree lighting, pictures with Santa, open houses at the shops, musical performances, hot cocoa and light bites.
The "open house at all shops" part covers several streets of independent storefronts. The Business Association directory lists these addresses on the Walk's route:
- Bridge Avenue: Taylor Sam's at 58, Charlie's of Bay Head at 72, Saltwater House at 76, Mueller's Bakery at 80, and Bay Head Cheese Shop & Bottles Too at 91.
- Mount Street: Waterlily at 41.
- Lake Avenue: Noon Design Shop at 524 and Andi's at 526.
- Main Avenue: Port Coffee Roasters at 519, Theresa's South at 530, and Burke's Market at 534–536.
One of those Bridge Avenue addresses had a different tenant before the summer of 2025. The Asbury Park Press reported in February 2025 that Taylor Sam's was taking over 58 Bridge Avenue from Dune Grass Cafe, and the paper covered its Bay Head opening day in June 2025. The Business Association directory describes it as a scratch-made kitchen, brunch spot and ice cream parlor.
Saturday Morning Goes Back to the Firehouse
The morning after the Walk, everything happens at the Bay Head Fire House on Bridge Avenue, from 10 a.m. to noon on December 5. The program lists Breakfast with Santa, a holiday workshop, trolley rides and a scavenger hunt. The Business Association's Santa's Workshop page lists the same activities and is the place to check for updates before heading out.
Santa at the firehouse is one of the town's oldest holiday habits. Patch's preview of the 2011 Christmas Walk described downtown stores open on Friday, Santa at the firehouse, a Nutcracker-in-the-Sky performance, a Saturday pancake breakfast and trolley rides with Santa. Fifteen years later, the shape of the weekend is much the same. Downtown is open Friday night, and Saturday morning brings breakfast, Santa and the trolley, run from Bridge Avenue.
The windows have been part of the tradition too. A 2014 reader-submitted piece in the Asbury Park Press described ballet students performing scenes from "The Nutcracker" in the second-floor picture windows at 56 Mount Street, at Lake Avenue, as a free part of that year's Walk.
The Museum at the Far End of Bridge Avenue
The borough's notice also includes a Victorian Christmas at the Museum throughout the weekend. Bay Head's museum is run by the Bay Head Historical Society in an 1867 farmhouse. The Society lists its address as 1643 Bay Avenue, Point Pleasant, at the corner of Bridge and Bay Avenues on the Bay Head–Point Pleasant border. Earlier Business Association pages for the Walk listed the Victorian Christmas stop as "Bay Head Historical Society - Loveland House."
The museum is also open outside the holiday weekend. The Historical Society's events page lists regular hours of 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, with donations suggested, and an exhibit called "From Creek to Canal." For anyone hosting relatives over Thanksgiving weekend, a Saturday or Sunday afternoon at the museum fits well alongside the Gratitude Tree and the Big Band concert.
Christmas Eve Ends Where the Season Started
The season's last single-day event is back at 81 Bridge Avenue. The Business Association lists Caroling and a Visit by Santa at the Bay Head Fire House on December 24, an evening of carols with Santa on hand. Letters for Santa closes that same day, and the Gratitude Tree stays up at the Town Clock for another week, until New Year's Day.
Of the Business Association's holiday dates, the Christmas Walk is the only one that fills every downtown street. The tree, the Saturday breakfast and the Christmas Eve carols all come back to the same stretch of Bridge Avenue.
Suzie and I grew up with these December weekends in Bay Head and Mantoloking, and we're glad to see the Christmas Walk turn 45. If family is coming to the shore for the holidays and you want help putting together a weekend around the Walk, or just want to compare notes on the season, reach out to Edwin O'Malley and the Suzie & Ed team. Contact Us.
