Miss New Jersey Competition to Return to Ocean City

After years away, the Miss New Jersey pageant is returning to the Ocean City Music Pier in 2026, reestablishing its roots in a city that hosted the competition for more than two decades. Ocean City had been host before the event relocated, including a stint in Atlantic City.

Reigning Miss New Jersey Belle Nicholas has already made her connection to Ocean City clear. She joined Ocean City's own royalty — Little Miss Ocean City Harper Juelg, Junior Miss Ocean City Arianna DiAntonio, and Miss Ocean City Antonella DiAntonio — on the beach Jan. 1 for the traditional first dip in the ocean.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to do this as Miss New Jersey," Nicholas told the Sentinel on New Year's Day, trying to warm up after the chilly dip, "and how special is it to do it here in Ocean City?"

The pageant's return also brings back a beloved public event: the Miss New Jersey "Show Us Your Shoes" Parade, scheduled for 7 p.m. June 17 on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Contestants will ride in convertibles, dressed in costumes and showing off decorated footwear, a tradition that echoes the famous boardwalk parade once tied to the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, which drew massive crowds before the national competition left in 2005.

Preliminaries at the Music Pier are set for 8 p.m. June 18 and 19, with the finals at 8 p.m. June 20. The Miss New Jersey Teen Competition is scheduled for 1 p.m. that same Saturday.

Atlantic and Cape May counties have long fed the state program, producing multiple Miss New Jersey winners over the years. Local preliminary pageants — including Miss Cape May County, Miss Ocean View, and Miss Avalon, among others — serve as pathways to the state competition.