Winterfest Inc — Local services in Fort Lauderdale

The tradition of a parade of holiday parade of decorated boats began in 1971. In 1983 the parade became official when community leaders decided to jump on the popularity of boat parades and created one with the theme, A Tropical Fantasy. The first parade grand marshal was Willard Scott in 1984. In 1988 the non profit Winterfest Inc. was created with the goal of helping the community. The parade has now become the largest live audience event in Florida with more than 1,000,000 spectators on the 12 mile parade route. Whether you are riding the route on a boat or watching it from shore, this annual event has become a not to miss holiday experience that is uniquely Florida.

The theme for this years parade was Lights, Camera, Action...Movies on Parade. The grand marshal was rocker Bret Michaels, lead singer of Poison. Although other towns have smaller boat parades this is by far the largest and grandest. For two hours we watched every kind of watercraft, from small personal boats to mega yachts sail past us decorated in their holiday best. There were at least 50 vessels in the parade. We grabbed a picnic dinner from an area restaurant and settled in for the greatest show on H2O. As you can imagine a popular event like this attracts a huge crowd but there is miles of shoreline on which to view it. You can purchase tickets for the grandstand at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for $35 or try to find a spot at one of Ft. Lauderdales parks. The key to getting a good spot is to come early, at least two hours before the parade starts. The effort is...

Love being a part of Winterfest and representing our community in the 9th largest parade in the US and the #1 parade on the H2O. There are more than 70 individual community partners that serve on the board of Winterfest, who all have a stake in our South Florida business community, with a commitment to make our city the Best city it can be for both young and old. And although the boat parade is just one night out of the year, We all have a "pay it forward" attitude and recently formed the Winterfest Foundation, where every member contributes money to help others less fortunate and to make a difference within the city we all love. Celebrate our 50th anniversary with us this year and join in all the fun festivities we have year round. Fort Lauderdale... The Venice of America ! And the Greatest city to Live..Work...Play & Invest in. #Winterfest....

WOW... Living in SFL without the snow and seasons change can be tough to get into the Christmas spirit but thanks to Winterfest and the Boat parade it is a whole lot easier. 35 years of watching and participating in the parade makes the holiday season come alive and it is an event that is not to be missed and yes... it is also a FREE event that can be seen anywhere on the river and ICWW. If you want a PERFECT seat then some bars, restaurants do offer premier seating but standing on the riverwalk or a bridge can also be amazing. This year is the 50th anniversary so I expect the parade to be...