Each winter after the sun sets, reflections of the season come alive.

Floating boat parades from Apollo Beach to Winter Haven continue to grow, and one in Tampa reflects the holidays at yachts cruise by on the Hillsborough River.

Yet the biggest boat parade in Florida takes place farther south.

Fort Lauderdale, with its iconic strip of State Road A1A, turns its attention inland to the Intracoastal Waterway for Winterfest.

 

Visit the Winterfest Boat Parade

  • Online: winterfestparade.com
  • Date: Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015
  • Parade Route: Along New River east to Intracoastal Waterway, then north to Lake Santa Barbara, Pompano Beach
  • Viewing: Park along the Intracoastal Waterway and watch the parade, or purchase Grandstand tickets
  • Grandstand Viewing: Birch State Park, north of Sunrise Blvd., at 7 p.m.
  • Grandstand Cost: BUY TICKETS
    • $25 per adult
    • $20 per child 10 and under
    • $22 per person for military, seniors 65 and up, or groups of 20 or more
  • Grandstand Parking: Galleria Mall, parking area on N.E. 9th St. at N.E. 26th Ave.
    • Parking is free, but bus service to Grandstand is $5 per person, chidren under 3 ride free.

 

Winterfest is the granddaddy of all Florida boat parades.

 

"You think of [the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade] on water — well, these are floats that really float," said Winterfest CEO Lisa Scott-Founds.

"You have small, private entries lit up with music and dancers and whatnot, all the way to the big, corporate charter boats," Mark Swenson, the parade's chairman, explained.

A lavish kickoff event in October at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in nearby Hollywood brought in stars like recording artist Flo Rida, who served as the parade's grand marshal in 2014. This year's grand marshal is actor Nick Cannon.

Flo Rida as Winterfest's 2014 grand marshal.

 

Besides big names, the Winterfest Boat Parade is big business for the area.

"$50 million piled back into the community," said Jim Dunn, chairman of the Winterfest Board. "So, it's all good. It's a win-win."

It's estimated on Dec. 12, nearly 800,000 people will behold boats big and small as they float along the New River, then north on the Intracoastal to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach.

In all, the parade spans 12 miles.

 

If you're planning on visiting Fort Lauderdale for the Winterfest Boat Parade, you're going to want to plan ahead. Traffic, with a million people, is going to get tight.

"Park yourself along the Intracoastal and you get a behind-the-scenes look as the boats come in," advised designer Doug Jones, president of Sixth Star Entertainment. "Then, as it starts to get dark, the energy just jolts up."

Building the light shows around million-dollar boats without scratching them is quite the challenge, according to Jones.

"Some of these things are quite intricate in their approach and take hours and hours of man-hours to complete," Jones explained.

The end result is stunning.

 

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