German Christmas Market of New Jersey

There was a long line for security check but the line moved pretty fast. Buying tickets there wasn't so painful. There were so many vendors. Food trucks were pretty decent. The Christmas tree and ice sculpture area was okay. It could be a bit bigger and better. The train show was the highlight for kids and was nice. It's a good activity for the family.

our 2nd year attending the german christmas festival!!! the windchill was 20* degrees today, we layered up and still had a great time!! it was our first time doing the horse carriage ride, absolutely would recommend doing it!!! the person driving the carriage made the ride extremely enjoyable, telling us all about the horses breeds. we learned a lot! I paid only $20 for my daughter to go on the carousel, pony ride, and the 4 of us to go on the horse carriage ride. definitely worth the $20 to do those 3 things. they have food trucks and then 2 halls with german food. it was a plus we got to see Santa!! absolutely loved the Pocono Mountain Garden Railway Society in the greenhouse. we uploaded some videos on youtube, please check it out!! they did a great job with the display, its G-scale. my daughter absolutely loved it. (@poppopstrainroom) get there early if you want to park close to the gate, it opens at 10 am. we bought our tickets online ahead of time so we didn’t have to wait in line to buy. they have a security bag check before you enter. kids 12 years old and younger are free!! SHOUTOUT TO STROOPIES- they are my favorite snack!!!

Very nice German Christmas Festival, ashame,it's only for three days,if you are into German Smokers they have 100s for sale and figures carved with chainsaws very nice

Fun flea market for Christmas. Activities throughout the day. Parade fun. Trains were amazing

We enjoyed going to the market again... But,,the market is getting more a craft show than a German Market

This was my second time attending this event against my will. Happy wife, happy life. Bah humbug! I spent over an hour driving to the nether regions of NW NJ to park in a muddy field—only to stand in a ridiculously long line in the freezing cold to get into this hallowed event. Gentlemen, let me save you some grief and aggravation—let your significant other shop by themselves while you enjoy the beer and food trucks. There might be a vendor or two that peaks your interest, but the majority will not. You will be miserable fighting the crowds to see these vendors peddling their wares. Have a beer, find a warm spot and laugh at all the other that did not heed my advice.

Great place - lots of good vendors and really spread out (so never felt super crowded). The german food was delicious and reasonably priced. So many authentic german items to choose from. A lot is in tents that are pretty cold - so dress warm. I’m sure it’s pretty at night as i saw lots of lights strung up. Santa riding around on a horse drawn carriage was very pretty.

A fun holiday activity for people of all ages! Cute shops and locally made goods from cookies, Christmas decorations, gifts, and home decor. In the back there’s one building that has German made goods, mostly foods and chocolate. Santa is available for pictures, Mrs. Claus provided story time, and on the first night there’s a quaint tree lighting in the very back of the fair. Lots of parking and happy parking attendants. Not a ton of food options, so you may want to eat a meal before or afterwards depending on how cold it is at the fair and how hungry you are. Worth a visit, and we will be back again next year!

Christmas magic! This was our first time attending this event, and my family had a wonderful time. We beat the crowds by going on Friday during the day. However, I'm sure that the nighttime would be delightful. The goods for sale are top quality. Not the junk that you'll find at some fairs. We purchased some items that will become treasured heirlooms. We also had some delicious German food, that was actually reasonably priced. Definitely check out the German food tent. This is a lovely holiday experience. I highly recommend.

Finally made it back to the German Christmas Market since it moved to the Sussex County Fairgrounds from Lake Mohawk. So much to see, buy, & sample and lots of photo ops too. Eleven different food trucks & a biergarten with hot food from Hayek's Market. A carousel & petting zoo as well. LOTS of fun for families. Unfortunately, I liked it sooooo much better at Lake Mohawk. At Lake Mohawk, there was scenery, MORE Christmas ornaments instead of run-of-the-mill, year round crafts, Santa was nicer, and lastly, Krampus was there. This German Christmas Market 2.0 just seemed like a money grab to me.

Updating my review because this event has been redeemed, in my opinion, since it moved to the Sussex County Fairgrounds. We gave this another shot last night at its new location, as we love the fairgrounds and have attended several events there. The difference from my last experience was night and day. It is a very festive environment. The authentic German food hall offered some excellent food. We recommend the bratwurst sandwich, the German pulled pork on the pretzel roll, etc. They were all delicious. The pierogi truck was also wonderful. Authentic German beer on draft was located in multiple places. Excellent craft beer was widely available. Ramstein, Spaten, etc. could be found easily. Gluwein was also available and is quite good to warm you up. The vendors range from modern day items to authentic German items. We picked up some incredible hand-made German items that were beautiful. We did some Christmas shopping and found some very unique gifts for loved ones from friendly and kind sellers. The beer stein selection was awesome! The event was well-laid out and there was lots to see and do. The train display was awesome. The courtyard with the multiple photo booths was a nice touch. Overall, we had a very nice time. Would return!

This is so much fun! A yearly event with local vendors, delicious German food, awesome displays and the best holiday vibe. Mrs. Claus was the best. Loved coming here! Can't wait to come next year :)

Moved to the Sussex County Fairgrounds! A place that we go to a few times a year for their excellent events! I sadly have to give them a 4 because of how unorganized that it seemed... This is the first time that we went to this German Christmas Market, either here or in its original location. Most of the market was organized very very nicely, but the food was not thought out in the slightest. There are tons of vendors here!!! You can buy almost anything that you can think of! And the official store of the fair sells tons of really cool imported items! I really like the cookies that they import from Germany. The food trucks that are here are not laid out nicely, and you do not know where 1 line begins and for which truck it is for, they should have moved them to a different area to give them more space, as well as possibly invite more. There were 7 or so food trucks, all ones we have seen before, and the lines were 20-50 people deep... We were not waiting on those crazy lines lol! Good for the trucks though!!! If it was moved to a section right in front of the entrance, the area is soooo much larger, and could accommodate the lines accordingly. My son really enjoyed the train display, I really enjoy the crazy attention to detail that the techs had when they setup the massive display. I also love the tons of German trains, and displays for the German Christmas Market. Santa and Mrs. Clause were there taking pictures. They probably could have set up an official photographer and charged money. Yeah the line would go slower, but its kind of hard trying to do selfies lol!!! The food and drinks were great, but set up soooooo badly!!! There was 1 building that sold sausages and bier, but you didn't know that until you were on line for 20 minutes, and you didn't know if you were on the correct line either until you got inside. They should have posted a sign outside that said stay to the left for sausages, and stay to the right for bier. then they had another building that had the food that was advertised, sauerbraten, schweinshaxen, and schnitzel! But again, there was no indication that that building sold food until you got inside. It was next door to another building that had vendors... The drinks weren't set up nicely either... There were not enough booths, and again wasn't labeled what was for sale until you got to the counter. There also wasn't a map! All in all, I hope that they take time and do research and lay out their market better, as well as label everything better. Other than that, we had a really amazing day here!!!! I highly recommend!!!

I'm surprised that the ratings are very low. The food was great, bratwurst was the best thing I ate all day

I'm a bit concerned when I see that no one has bothered to comment on this market in 10 years?! This year, for the first time, this market was held at the Sussex County Fairgrounds. What an improvement! Using the fairgrounds allowed (almost) unlimited parking, plenty of vendor space, a much easier area to traverse (I have mobility issues) and plenty of space for attractions such as a giant train display, petting zoo, ice sculptures, REAL restrooms and tables with chairs to eat or rest. I hadn't been able to attend this market for the past four years due to the inability to negotiate the terrain at Lake Mohawk and the tiny elevator always broke down. This year, I was able to go two days and I'm looking forward to returning next year, as long as they come back to the fairgrounds!

This is the 10 year anniversary of this wonderful Christmas festival/market. Lake Mohawk (which is a members only, private lake community) is located in Sparta and in the 1930's was a predominantly German community. Many of the buildings surrrounding the Lake resemble chateaus and castles.....very European feeling. The actual christmas market is set up on the boardwalk surrounding the lake and additional vendors were set up inside the large, Lake Mohawak main hall. Wonderful food & vendors and lots of traditional German fare.......German beer, hot mulled wine, bratwurst, sauerbraten, etc. All homemade and excellent. Many really unique and talented craftsmen too......there were gorgeous wreaths crafted from pinecones. Gingerbread houses, stollen, nutcrackers. And the big hit of the day was Stroopwafels. If you have never had a Stroopwafel, you are truly missing out. This is a traditional cookie from Holland and two guys who used to live in Holland opened a business in Lancaster, PA making these amazing cookies. They were being freshly made on a waffle iron type device at the market and people was gobbling them up like crazy. We spent approximately 90 minutes walking around, sampling food, having a great time. It's not a huge market, but it's friendly, quaint and not uber crowded. We will definitely return next year.

Not everything it's cracked up to be. Just a bunch of vendors selling overpriced stuff! The food vendors and the hot apple cider are the best and the only things I come for.

This isn't close but I find it's worth the drive. I love being surrounded by anything Christmas during the season and this hit a home run with that. Parking is hard to get you will have to walk far. It's very very very crowded but as long as your not claustrophobic it's fine. Great goods for eating as well as nice unique Christmas gifts for friends and family. My only suggestion that I suggest you really really take to heart is the beer and food garden. It will take you forever to get your stuff and that tent is claustrophobic once inside. Get a Nutella or cookie butter waffle sandwich from one of the other stands to hold you over and hit up a restaurant afterward

Very crowded but a lot of fun. Good food and the Gluhwein has become a tradition of the event. Expect food and crafts - take time to enjoy the entertainment.

We have been coming to the German Christmas Market since its conception nearly 15 years ago but this will be our last year. It used to be a small showcase of german christmas specialties. By over commercializing the market they have totally ruined the cozy atmosphere it once had. They advertise as far a Pa. and are shuttling the people in from parking lots all over town. There are now so many people it takes hours to go from one end of the boardwalk to the other with walls to wall people. They even bring in food truck vendors now and have added vendors to the front parking lot. It is an absolute madhouse! The food vendors are now running out of food and you can't stop at vendors to shop because you are being pushed along by masses of people. Stay away from this madness for your own good. We will!

We visited the first day holiday market opened. The vendors are just OK and for that I gave it 2 stars. The parking is a nightmare. They have shuttle buses from 3 locations. Sounds good, right? Its disastrous........we waited 1 1/2 hours for bus going to market and a little over one hour going back to parking lot. They had too few buses..this market was poorly planned. We would have been better off calling Uber! Boardwalk was packed with people, carriages, wheelchairs and one could barely move. Will never go back..just wasn't worth it..........I've been to holiday markets with much better planning and vendors.

The German Christmas Market in Sparta is right on Lake Mohawk. It's a beautiful location! My friend and I arrived late afternoon and did not have any trouble finding parking in a nearby public lot. But once we got down to the boardwalk, we could not believe how crowded it was. The boardwalk is narrow to begin with- add to that lots of strollers and wheelchairs and there was absolutely no room to move, either inside or outside. It was really tough to check out any of the vendor's wares and the lines for food and beverages were very long. I wouldn't recommend Sparta's German Christmas Market.