One Saturday in December, Ocean Grove lets visitors inside. The Ocean Grove Area Chamber of Commerce's Holiday House Tour, which the chamber says has run for more than 40 years, takes place Saturday, December 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association has built its own Christmas in Ocean Grove program around the same day. Between the two, the square-mile town on the National Register of Historic Places has something going from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

The house tour

The tour is self-guided. Ticket holders walk through decorated private homes, historic sites and inns, plus a holiday tent, at their own pace. A free trolley loops through town to bring visitors closer to some stops, though there is still walking between houses, so the chamber advises comfortable shoes and dressing for the weather.

Every visitor starts at the chamber office, 39 Pilgrim Pathway, where tickets and maps are handed out beginning at 9 a.m. Advance tickets are sold online through the chamber, and the presale is limited; once it sells out, any remaining tickets go on sale that morning while they last. The tour is listed for ages 12 and up, sales are final, and parking is free.

Christmas in Ocean Grove

The Camp Meeting Association's schedule for the same day:

  • 9 a.m.: Pray in One Accord, Thornley Chapel.
  • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: the Ladies Auxiliary Christmas Marketplace in the Youth Temple, a sale of lightly used Christmas decorations and gifts. Saturday admission is free. A presale with early access to the full selection runs Friday, December 4, from 3 to 6 p.m., for a $5 entry.
  • Noon: a Birthday Party for Jesus for young children in Thornley Chapel West. It is free, children attend with a parent or caregiver, and registration is required through the association.
  • 1 p.m.: the Salvation Army Band at the Cupola in the Park.
  • 3 p.m.: the World Milal Missionary Choir in the Bishop Janes Tabernacle.
  • 5 p.m.: the Living Nativity, the Christmas story performed live inside the Great Auditorium.
  • 6 to 7 p.m.: the tree lighting in Auditorium Square Park. The Anchor Bible Church Band plays from the moment people leave the Great Auditorium through a welcome, a prayer, the lighting itself and a visit from the North Pole, mixing sing-along songs with sacred carols.

The chamber's listing also mentions Santa on Main Avenue during the day.

Getting there

Ocean Grove sits inside Neptune Township, directly south of Asbury Park across Wesley Lake. The nearest train is the Asbury Park station on the North Jersey Coast Line, roughly a mile from Auditorium Square. By car, Parkway exit 100 to Route 33 east leads into town. Main Avenue is the downtown spine, and the Great Auditorium sits at its ocean end.

House tour tickets are sold through the Ocean Grove Area Chamber of Commerce at oceangrovenj.com, and the chamber office can be reached at 732-774-1391. Program details for the Camp Meeting Association's events are at oceangrove.org/christmas, or 732-775-0035.

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