From Sunday, Nov. 15 through Sunday, Dec. 27, MetLife Stadium has an event on every Sunday. The schedule starts on Thursday, Nov. 12, with Giants vs. Commanders at 8:15 p.m. After that come three more Giants home games, three Jets home games, two days of state high school championships and the Army-Navy Game, all within about six and a half weeks. For Carlstadt, the stadium schedule decides which days are busy on the Washington Avenue side of town. It also leaves most Saturdays open, and Saturdays and weekdays are when the borough's own season happens.
Seven Weekends, Seven Stadium Sundays
The MetLife Stadium events calendar lists the whole stretch. Laid out by weekend, it looks like this:
| Weekend | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 14–15 | Open | Jets vs. Bills |
| Nov. 21–22 | Open | Giants vs. Jaguars, 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 28–29 | NJSIAA High School Football Championships | NJSIAA High School Football Championships |
| Dec. 5–6 | Open | Giants vs. 49ers, 1 p.m. |
| Dec. 12–13 | Army-Navy, 3 p.m. kickoff | Jets vs. Broncos |
| Dec. 19–20 | Open | Giants vs. Browns, 1 p.m. |
| Dec. 26–27 | Open | Jets vs. Patriots |
The Giants' kickoff times come from the team's 2026 schedule announcement, published in May. The Jets' home dates against Buffalo and New England are confirmed in the team's own 2026 schedule release. The run doesn't end after Christmas week either. Jets vs. Vikings follows on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027.
Five of these seven Saturdays have nothing at the stadium. Each Sunday has something.
Thanksgiving Weekend and Army-Navy Take Both Days
Two weekends have stadium events on both days, and both fall at a busy point in the holiday season.
The first is Thanksgiving weekend. The NJSIAA High School Football Championships are listed at MetLife for Nov. 28 and 29. That's the Saturday and Sunday right after the holiday, when out-of-town family is often still around.
The second is Dec. 12 and 13. The Army-Navy Game is set for Saturday, Dec. 12 at MetLife, with a 3 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS. Fan Fest opens on the stadium plaza at 11 a.m., and the game's official FAQ says stadium tailgating is allowed. With Fan Fest opening four hours before kickoff, Army-Navy fills most of the day. The next day, the Jets host the Broncos. Of the seven weekends, this is the one where both days are built around crowds coming to the Meadowlands.
So if you have a holiday party, a family photo session or a big shopping trip to schedule in Carlstadt, the Saturdays without stadium events are Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 5, Dec. 19 and Dec. 26.
What a Stadium Day Looks Like on Washington Avenue
On the Carlstadt side of the stadium, the busiest spot on game days is Redd's at 317 Washington Avenue. The restaurant says it's less than a mile from MetLife. On a normal day it's a casual restaurant and bar with an outdoor Biergarten, communal tables, local and imported beer, and more than 35 TVs. On event days it also runs a paid Park & Ride lot, and it has listings for every NFL game in the table above and for Army-Navy.
Redd's lists these terms:
- The lot opens five hours before each event.
- Shuttles to the stadium run every 5 to 10 minutes, and the last one leaves two hours after the event ends.
- December NFL Park & Ride tickets are $55, and the listings say a shuttle for the driver is included.
- Army-Navy parking is $60, and that listing says shuttle rides are not included in the price.
- Tailgating isn't allowed in the lot. Instead, Redd's invites game-day crowds into its bar and restaurant.
That last point matters if you live nearby. On the dates in the table, a neighborhood bar a few minutes from home also serves as a pregame room for people heading to the stadium. With the lot opening five hours early, an Army-Navy Saturday at Redd's can start in the late morning and keep going well into the evening.
The stadium's general parking rules ban illegal parking outside the Sports Complex on area roads, medians, grass malls and breakdown lanes, and warn that violators may be ticketed or towed. For the biggest events, MetLife says NJ TRANSIT runs Meadowlands rail service from Secaucus Junction when crowds of more than 50,000 are expected.
Carlstadt has rules of its own. The Carlstadt Police Department requires a residential parking permit to park on Borough streets from 2 to 9 a.m. The borough's traffic code also lets the police chief or ranking officer put up emergency no-parking signs when celebrations or similar events create hazards or block traffic, and vehicles parked in violation can be removed. If you're expecting overnight guests on a game weekend, check the permit rules on the police department's page before they arrive.
Broad Street Keeps the Borough's Own Season
Carlstadt's own holiday traditions happen around Broad Street and the Village Green, and they mostly avoid the stadium dates.
At its Oct. 7 meeting, the Borough Council approved a request from the Woman's Club of Carlstadt to make ornaments for the Holiday Tree at the Village Green and decorate it. The club has done this before. In 2023, the council approved its request to decorate the tree and make it a wishing tree.
The Carlstadt Turnverein at 500 Broad Street has two events left in 2026. The Afternoon of Music runs Sunday, Nov. 15, from 2 to 6 p.m., the same afternoon the Jets host the Bills. Its New Year's Celebration is Thursday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 8 p.m., a night with no stadium event.
Broad Street will look a little different this season too. The Oct. 7 council minutes list two Broad Street contracts as under construction:
- Broad Street Concrete Improvements, funded by a Community Development Block Grant and built by Cifelli & Son General Contracting. The council approved the first payment of $227,531.50 and a change order that raised the contract by $9,560, or 4.14%.
- Broad Street Drainage and Roadway Improvements, built by D.S. Meyer Enterprises, also with its first payment approved at that meeting.
At the same meeting, the council gave final approval to a $1.4 million bond ordinance for "various improvements to Zimmermann Park," to be paid for partly with money from the municipal open space trust fund. That project is next year's story. The Broad Street work affects this holiday season.
The Library Fills the Weekdays
The Carlstadt Library events calendar has holiday programs in December, almost all of them on weekdays, when the stadium is quiet:
- Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.: cupcake-bouquet workshop with poinsettia styling
- Thursday, Dec. 10, 3:30 p.m.: a screening of The Grinch
- Friday, Dec. 11, 3:30 p.m.: Winter Wonderland slime workshop
- Monday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m.: holiday cookie decorating
- Tuesday, Dec. 15, 10:30 a.m.: holiday dance class for young children
- Wednesday, Dec. 16, 7 p.m.: cookbook group holiday potluck
- Saturday, Dec. 19, 10:30 a.m.: holiday pillow sewing workshop
- Wednesday, Dec. 23, 3:30 p.m.: holiday wreath craft for ages 7 to 17
The one Saturday program, the pillow workshop on Dec. 19, falls on one of the open Saturdays. The next day, the Giants host the Browns at 1 p.m.
The library also has holiday hours. It closes early, at 5 p.m., on Wednesday, Nov. 25. It's closed Nov. 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 24 through 26 for Christmas, and Dec. 31 for New Year's Eve. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the library is closed Thursday and Friday, and the stadium is booked Saturday and Sunday.
New Year's Eve Belongs to Broad Street
After the Jets play the Patriots on Sunday, Dec. 27, the stadium has nothing listed until the Jets play the Vikings on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027. The Turnverein's New Year's Celebration falls in that gap, from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31, at 500 Broad Street. MetLife has nothing scheduled that night.
The stadium calendar also matters when you're timing a listing photo shoot or an open house. If you're planning a sale in Carlstadt this winter, Ask Agent Alexa can help you build your marketing calendar around the open Saturdays. Schedule your free market consultation.
