In November 2018, a nor'easter came through Bergen County during the week Westfield Garden State Plaza planned to bring back a figure it had not shown in about 30 years. The lighting had been set for Thursday, November 15, and Patch reported that the storm forced it to move. It took place on November 20, and ABC7 reported that the Paramus High School marching band opened the delayed celebration and that Santa rode in on a Paramus fire truck. The Plaza's best-known holiday landmark stands outdoors and is lit outdoors, and it was built to be seen from the road.
That has been true from the beginning, and it explains why he left, why he came back and why the 2026 lighting will take place in a parking lot by Nordstrom.
A Santa sized for a sea of cars
NJ.com's 2018 history of the figure quotes mall spokeswoman Lisa Herrmann, who said Big Santa first appeared in 1957, the year the Plaza opened. At that time the mall was an outdoor shopping plaza, and Bamberger's department store was its focal point.
NJ.com described the original as 51 feet tall. He had one leg slung over a chimney painted with the mall's name and "Merry Christmas," his left arm was raised in a permanent wave, and he carried a full bag of toys. He "presided over a sea of cars," and for more than 20 years his arrival marked the start of holiday shopping. The same article compared his height to a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. It also said that long before families bought giant inflatables for their lawns, the mall's Santa could be seen for miles, "like a beacon of retail cheer."
He belonged to the open-air era. Shoppers at the outdoor Plaza were also met by a tall stack of oversized bells and miniature Santas. NJ.com's archive images include Big Santa under construction for the 1968 season and a photograph of him in November 1974. Paramus was not the only place with one. NJ.com notes that a similar giant Kris Kringle, his arm also raised in greeting, stood at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, shown in a 1965 photo.
When the Plaza moved indoors, he went with the old format
Big Santa left when the shopping center changed. NJ.com reports that in the 1980s, Big Santa, "along with his pipe and waving, mittened hand," said goodbye as Garden State Plaza followed the retail trend and became an indoor mall. Westfield bought the property from Macy's in 1986.
A 51-foot greeter in the parking lot made sense when the Plaza itself was outdoors and the walk between stores happened in the open air. Once the season moved inside, the figure lost its setting. In NJ.com's earlier report on the comeback plans, the mall said it did not know what became of the original.
People kept the memory going anyway. According to NJ.com, Bergen County residents had spent years sharing photos of lost local landmarks on social media, and the giant Santa on the chimney came up again and again. "Big Santa is something that our community members always talk about during the season," Herrmann told the outlet, adding, "It was something that we always wanted to do." The chance came when the mall began redoing its holiday decor.
The 2018 rebuild went straight back outside
The mall did not put the new figure in a center court or atrium. NJ.com reported that the replica would stand outside Nordstrom at Entrance 7, lit up and visible from Routes 4 and 17. The interior now belongs to the enclosed mall, but the landmark went back where the original stood, facing the traffic.
News 12 New Jersey, citing a mall press release, reported that the rebuild came from Fair Lawn-based Center Stage Productions, which spent 12 weeks recreating the figure with a mix of modern technology and traditional hand-carving and sculpting. The same report lists how he is built.
- 4-by-4-by-8-foot blocks of EPS foam, cut into 197 interlocking pieces
- A steel framework that holds the sections together
- More than 200 gallons of polyester hardcoat to protect it from the weather
- Hand airbrushing by artists to create the finished look
The figure was copied closely from the original, with one deliberate change.
| Detail | Original, 1957 to 1980s | Return, 2018 onward |
|---|---|---|
| Height as reported | 51 feet, per NJ.com | 45 feet, per NJ.com in 2018; 42 feet with chimney, per this year's mall materials |
| Boots | Oversized | "Size 90" |
| Pipe | Yes | Removed |
| Setting | Parking lot of the open-air Plaza | Parking lot outside Nordstrom, Entrance 7 |
Herrmann explained the missing pipe to NJ.com: "We took the pipe out because we are a smoke-free center." Then-Mayor Richard LaBarbiera, speaking in a Westfield promotional video that NJ.com quoted, called it "something that the community, all generations, can enjoy."
This year's lighting is staged in the lot too
Installation is set to begin on the evening of Sunday, November 15, and should be finished the next day, according to News 12. Anyone driving Route 4 or Route 17 that week may see him go up before the official lighting.
The lighting is on Sunday, November 22, with festivities starting at 4 p.m. near Entrance 7, in the parking lot by Nordstrom, according to Westfield's event page. Ryan Cabrera hosts. The lineup:
- All-4-One, the Grammy-winning R&B group behind "I Swear"
- TKA, the New York freestyle group known for "One Way Love" and "Maria"
- Spice Wannabe, a Spice Girls tribute act
- Just Your Type, or JYT, a dance-focused boy band
The pre-show includes stilt walkers, costumed characters, balloon artists, face painters and food trucks, and Westfield invites guests to wear their most festive or nostalgic holiday look. Santa arrives by fire truck, as he did in 2018. After the countdown lights the 42-foot figure, a new fireworks show set to holiday music closes the night. The event page asks guests to book a spot in advance.
The fire truck, the band-style lineup and the outdoor crowd all follow the pattern Big Santa set in the open-air era. The Plaza's biggest seasonal moment happens outside, under a figure meant to be seen from the road.
The rest of the Paramus calendar around it
For the weeks around the lighting, the dated stops in town line up like this:
- Friday, November 13 through December 24: Photos with Santa at Paramus Park, North Court near Chico's. Pet photo evenings run 4 to 7 p.m. on Mondays, November 23 and 30 and December 7.
- Saturday, November 14, noon to 7 p.m.: An Artisan Market with more than 25 vendors in Center Court near Kohl's at The Outlets at Bergen Town Center.
- Sunday, November 15, evening: Big Santa installation begins at Garden State Plaza.
- Friday, November 20: Bergen County's Winter Wonderland returns at 216 Forest Avenue.
- Sunday, November 22, from 4 p.m.: The Big Santa lighting near Entrance 7.
Big Santa is the only one of these that stands outdoors and can be seen from the highways, which is why he went away when the Plaza moved indoors and why the mall put him back outside.
Here at Christian Di Stasio Group, we follow the details that make Paramus feel like home, from a 1957 parking-lot landmark to the evening a 42-foot Santa lights up over Route 17. If the season has you thinking about your own place in town, we'd welcome the chance to talk. Schedule a white‑glove consultation.
