2017 Maritime Festival at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

When it comes to fun activities in North Wildwood New Jersey, we always look forward to the annual Maritime Festival held on the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse grounds. We've been attending the festival every year since 2015, so this was our third year in a row.

This year the Maritime Festival was held on Saturday June 17th and Sunday June 18th, 2017. This year they didn't have as many street vendors in attendance, but overall...it was still very nice. It's free for guest to attend, but if you want to tour the inside of the lighthouse, you'll have to pay a small fee. You can find free and paid parking nearby.

During the festival you'll see live demonstrations, have the opportunity to meet local artists and book authors, shop from numerous vendors, eat some local food and at times they do have some live entertainment going on. I personally enjoy shopping from the local vendors and always pick up a few items for myself and a few to give as  gifts.

This year when it came to the vendors, we saw booth's that were selling jewelry, handcrafted home decor, yard art, apparel items, candles, books, hand painted artwork, sport's items and more. Something for everyone! You simply walk around and visit the vendors that catch your eye. Some do take credit cards and other's will only accept cash. Just a head's up on that.

During the festival you'll find a few food vendor trucks there too! We saw them selling ice cream, popsicles, lemonade, smoothies, hot sandwiches, chicken and several other things. We enjoyed some cold beverages and that's about it. Sorry, we had full bellies this time around. Sigh.

After we did a little shopping we walked behind the lighthouse to visit their lovely botanical gardens. You'll see all kinds of different flowers on display (a lot of hydrangeas, hostas, etc.) and I was really impressed with their butterfly houses. Their gardens attract beautiful butterflies, so make sure you bring your camera!

Want to sit down in the shade and relax? You'll find some park benches sprinkled throughout the gardens and if your looking for a spot to take a great family photo, we recommend that you all jump into one of the North Wildwood wooden row boats out back. It's a popular area for family photographs!

We had a great time visiting the 2017 Maritime Festival at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse in North Wildwood, New Jersey and looking forward to attending again next year. A great family-friendly activity to do while visiting the Jersey Shore!