Vince Ryan walks Northside Park six days a week, and he told CoastTV the park is a "hidden gem." He said he values its open space and quiet atmosphere. For a few weeks each year, that quiet gives way to a 50-foot Christmas tree, bonfires and carriage rides along the paths. This winter, the quiet that follows the holidays will be shorter than usual.
The Town of Ocean City has lined up two projects back to back at the park on 125th Street. Winterfest of Lights closes on January 2, 2027. Sixteen days later, a contractor is scheduled to start rebuilding the bay edge on both sides of the pier. That work is set to finish on April 19, before the warm-weather crowds return. The town is putting its shoreline repairs in the stretch of the year when the park has the fewest visitors.
The Calendar Has a Sixteen-Day Seam
Seen together, the town's two schedules look like this:
- Thursday, November 19, 2026: Winterfest of Lights opens at Northside Park and runs nightly from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Saturday, January 2, 2027: Last night of Winterfest. It is also a Fire & Ice night.
- Monday, January 18, 2027: The anticipated start of the Northside Park Living Shoreline project, according to the bid documents.
- Monday, April 19, 2027: The anticipated completion date. The bid documents count the job as 92 calendar days, start and finish days included.
The lights come first and the construction fencing follows. If you use the park in late winter, the change will show up on weekday mornings by the pier.
Picking Your Night at Winterfest
The 34th Winterfest opens four weeks from the day this post publishes. Admission is $6 plus fees for guests 12 and older, and children 11 and under get in free. Unlimited-ride wristbands cost $6 per child, and tickets are sold through Etix.
The schedule has a weekly pattern. Each themed program falls on the same days of the week, so you can choose a night by what you want from it:
| Night of the week | Program | 2026–27 dates | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday and Tuesday | Enchanted Evenings | Nov. 30; Dec. 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 | Carriage-only nights with smaller crowds. Reserve a 2- or 6-person carriage, or single seats on the 12-seat carriage. |
| Wednesday | Pet-Friendly Wednesdays | Nov. 25; Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 | Pets are welcome |
| Friday and Saturday | Fire & Ice Nights | Nov. 20, 21, 27, 28; Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 26; Jan. 1, 2 | Live entertainment in the tent, with on-site ice carving by Ice Lab one night a week |
Fire & Ice nights skip December 25. On Enchanted Evenings, the gift shop, food and Santa photos stay open to carriage guests. Advanced Mobility Solution rents scooters and powered wheelchairs on site for $12 per two hours, and standard wheelchairs are also available. The event can close for bad weather, and the town's number for updates is 410-289-2800.
What Arrives at the Pier on January 18
The project's formal name is the Northside Park Living Shoreline, and the town lists it as Project #23-RP-002 in its Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Improvement Plan. It calls for erosion control on the east and west sides of the existing pier. A living shoreline holds the edge in place with a mix of stone, sand and plants rather than a solid wall, and the bid document spells out each piece.
East of the pier:
- About 3,100 square feet of sand-cobble mix, placed up to an elevation of 2 feet
- A 35-by-16-foot Class III rock sill set over geotextile fabric, with its crest at 2 feet above mean low water
- 355 square feet of low marsh and 1,721 square feet of high marsh, planted 1 foot apart
- 8 containers of Myrica cerifera, or wax myrtle
- 212 linear feet of sand fencing
West of the pier:
- About 1,100 square feet of sand-cobble mix, placed up to 1.5 feet
- A rock sill the same size as the east side's, with the same crest height
- 420 square feet of low marsh and 470 square feet of high marsh
- 10 containers of wax myrtle
- 80 linear feet of sand fencing
The two sides get different treatment. The east side gets nearly three times as much fill and almost four times as much high marsh. The west side has less ground to rebuild, yet it gets slightly more low marsh than the east side. Low marsh is the zone closer to the water. The fill itself is about 70% washed sand and 30% river cobble, using stones one to three inches across. All of the work is to follow a permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The working rules matter if you walk the park. Crews are scheduled from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The contractor must take reasonable steps to avoid getting in the way of park visitors and staff, and temporary construction fencing will stay up until the work ends or the town asks for it to come down. Weekend walks and evenings fall outside those hours. A weekday morning loop past the pier will run alongside a work zone from mid-January into April.
The shoreline plan already has support among people who use the park. One visitor described the park to CoastTV as a place for "the winter festive lights" and "the community center with classes." She added, "I think it's a great idea to keep it preserved with the rocks and and keeping the marsh like it is."
Bids Are In, but No Contract Yet
The January start date assumes a contract will be signed in time. The town opened sealed bids for contract B03-27 at the Mayor and City Council work session on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The meeting transcript shows bids read aloud from Bridges Land Management, Shoreline Design, Resource Restoration Group, Unity Land Build and WG Land Company.
Staff had recommended that the bid totals be read into the record and then sent back for staff review. The memo leaves the fiscal impact "to be determined." The bid documents don't list a final project cost, because the contract amount comes out of the bidding. The next step is a contract award at a later council session. The meeting portal on oceancitymd.gov posts agendas and meeting video if you want to watch for it.
The Rest of the Park's To-Do List
The shoreline is one part of a larger plan. In a CoastTV report on the town's Recreation and Parks Committee, the Ocean City Parks Superintendent listed four upgrades. The playground would be replaced. The softball field lights would switch to LED fixtures to cut costs and improve visibility. The walking paths would be improved to fix drainage problems and make walking easier. The shoreline would be stabilized against erosion. The package is estimated at around $1 million, paid for from the town's Capital Reserve Fund and state grants, with construction expected across 2026 and 2027.
So far, only the shoreline has reached the bidding stage. The playground, field lights and paths are still planned work, without public start dates. The shoreline needs the fewest people around while crews work at the water, and the town has scheduled it for the emptiest weeks of the park's year.
The north end is changing beyond 125th Street too. Thirty-one blocks south, construction is moving forward at the former Ocean Plaza Mall, 9401 Coastal Highway, which is being renamed Bayside Shops at 94th. The Salisbury Daily Times reported on October 9 that the site will become a nearly 60,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a grocery store, with townhomes, within about a year.
For Northside Park, the near-term plan is the one in the bid documents. The lights run through January 2, crews are scheduled to arrive at the pier on January 18, and the new rock sills and marsh plantings are due to be finished by April 19.
If you own on the north end and won't be in town this winter, Karla Morgan is glad to keep you posted on how the Northside Park work is going, along with anything else changing near your place while you're away. Let's Connect.
