The 55th Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade starts at 6 p.m. sharp on Saturday, December 12. A non-motorized preshow begins at 5:30 p.m. The boats line up on the New River between Stranahan House and the Broward Center. From there they run east, turn north up the Intracoastal, and finish 12 miles later at Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach. This year's theme is "Party in the U.S.A.," marking America's 250th anniversary.
If you live in Fort Lauderdale, the page to bookmark is Winterfest's bridge closure schedule, updated in late October. Each drawbridge on the route closes to cars as the fleet gets close, so the schedule doubles as a timetable. It tells you roughly when the boats reach your part of the water, when your usual drive across the Intracoastal gets cut off, and when your own boat has to be tied up.
The schedule, read stretch by stretch
Winterfest calls all of these times approximate. Arranged by part of town, they look like this:
| Stretch | Waterway closes to non-parade boats | Bridge closes to cars | Bridge reopens |
|---|---|---|---|
| New River, downtown | 2:30 p.m. | Andrews Ave. and Third Ave.: 5:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. |
| Las Olas | 4:50 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. |
| Sunrise | 4:50 p.m. | 7:00 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. |
| Oakland Park | 4:50 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. |
| Commercial | 5:50 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 11:00 p.m. |
The 7th Avenue bridge over the New River runs on demand. The FEC railroad bridge is down from about 5:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. On the Intracoastal, each closure starts half an hour after the one to its south. That steady 30-minute step is the fleet moving north, and it's the best guide you have to when the boats will pass your spot.
The half hour when all four crossings are closed
Lay the four Intracoastal closures over one another and they overlap. Las Olas closes at 6:30 p.m. and Sunrise at 7:00. Oakland Park closes at 7:30, before Las Olas reopens. Commercial closes at 8:00, while the other three are still down. From 8:00 to 8:30 p.m., Las Olas, Sunrise, Oakland Park and Commercial are all closed to cars at once.
If you live east of the Intracoastal, that window decides your evening more than any viewing spot. A dinner reservation on the mainland, a grocery run, or picking up guests who flew in for the weekend all go better before 6:30 p.m. or after the crossings start reopening at 8:30. Commercial Boulevard is the exception. It stays closed until 11:00 p.m., three hours in all, which is longer than any other bridge on the schedule. Every time on the page is approximate, so check it again that afternoon.
The water closes earlier than the roads. The New River closes to non-parade vessels at 2:30 p.m., from the fork near Little Florida west of Cooley's Landing east to Marker 9. The Intracoastal from Port Everglades to just south of the Oakland Park bridge closes at 4:50 p.m. North of Oakland Park, up to Lake Santa Barbara, it closes at 5:50 p.m. If you keep a boat behind your house, the parade starts for you in the early afternoon.
Downtown sees the boats first
The fleet lines up on the New River, so downtown sees it before anywhere else, beginning with the 5:30 p.m. preshow. Winterfest's ways to watch page names bridges, the Riverside Hotel at 620 E. Las Olas Blvd., and other spots along the route as places to watch live. The city's event agreement for the parade lists Tunnel Top Park, Laura Ward Plaza, and the Riverwalk from Salt 7 east to the Riverside Hotel as event sites.
Here are the downtown city parks closest to the river, with the hours the city lists for each:
- Riverwalk Linear Park has a waterfront walkway and closes only from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.
- Laura Ward Plaza, 420 SE 6th Ave., is a waterfront park open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Huizenga Park, 32 E. Las Olas Blvd., is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Huizenga Park is the one that's changed since last December. It reopened on January 24, 2026, after a full redesign. According to the Sun Sentinel, the new park added a dog run, shade trees and landscaped hills you can climb. It also has a new restaurant. Sweetwaters opened October 12 at 58 E. Las Olas Blvd. inside the park. It seats 291, the menu leans toward seafood, and the patio faces the river and the park. An early dinner there puts you within walking distance of the boats that start the parade.
Downtown also has one bridge timing that's easy to miss. Andrews Avenue and Third Avenue close to cars at 5:30 p.m. and stay closed until 8:00 p.m. That's two and a half hours, the longest closure on the schedule after Commercial, and it covers the whole stretch of the evening when the fleet is lining up and leaving the New River.
At Las Olas, the ticket buys a seat for the 6:30 pass
Las Olas is the first Intracoastal bridge the parade reaches, and Winterfest puts its ticketed viewing area there, at Las Olas Intracoastal Promenade Park, 80 Las Olas Circle. Gates open at 4 p.m., and the parade is expected to pass about 6:30 p.m., the same time the Las Olas bridge closes. The 2026 tiers are:
- $40 general admission, with a folding chair
- $60 reserved area, with priority seating
- $80 assigned bleacher seat
- $50 tour group
- Free general admission for children 3 and under
Tickets cover the festival before the boats arrive, with games, live entertainment, vendors, food and drink, and photos with Santa and the mascots. Pets aren't allowed. Winterfest recommends rideshare because parking is limited. If you live nearby, the setup starts well before the gates do. The city's application for the viewing area closes Las Olas Circle from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on December 12 and affects metered parking there from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
To eat on Las Olas before you walk east, NAIA opened October 22 at 904 E. Las Olas Blvd. It seats 225 and serves Mediterranean and Asian food, with mezze, sushi and robata grilling, plus a large indoor-outdoor bar, as the Sun Sentinel reported.
North of Sunrise, follow the bridges
North of Las Olas, the bridge schedule is the best guide to timing. Winterfest itself names the bridges as places to watch. Sunrise closes at 7:00 p.m., Oakland Park at 7:30, and Commercial at 8:00. If you're near Oakland Park or Commercial, you get more time to settle in before the full lineup reaches you.
That lineup includes country duo LOCASH as 2026 grand marshal, riding the Fifth Third Bank Showboat. Winterfest's November newsletter also promises Polynesian fire dancers, Santa arriving on the Amazon-sponsored showboat, and a Visit Lauderdale "Extreme Holiday" finale with motorcycles riding inside a cage. If you'd rather stay off the bridges, WSVN 7 airs a Winterfest television special. If you're coming by train, Winterfest posts the Brightline schedule for December 12 on its website.
The lead-up starts tonight
The parade is the last of a string of city holiday events, each in a different part of town:
- Thursday, November 19: Light Up the Beach, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Las Olas Oceanside Park. The city promises more than 50,000 lights and the return of "Olas," the 20-foot snowman at A1A and Las Olas Boulevard.
- Sunday, November 22: Winterfest Family Fun Day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., free at Esplanade Park, 400 SW 2nd St. It has Santa photos, inflatables, Water Taxi rides and a petting zoo with Highland cows, and the Museum of Discovery and Science is free from 3 to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 1: Christmas on Las Olas, 5 to 10 p.m., between SE 6th and SE 11th avenues, with a holiday market, performances, Snow Mountain and free ice skating.
- Friday, December 4: Light Up Sistrunk, 5 to 8 p.m. on Sistrunk Boulevard between NW 9th and 11th avenues.
- Sunday, December 6: the Menorah Lighting Celebration, 6 p.m. at Las Olas Oceanside Park.
- Friday, December 11: Light Up Carter Park, 5 to 8 p.m.
The parade runs the next night, at 6 p.m. on the New River. From there the boats head north to Lake Santa Barbara, and the bridges close to cars about half an hour apart along the way.
If December 12 has you weighing which stretch of the water you'd most like to live beside, from a downtown riverfront to a quieter spot near the Commercial Boulevard bridge, Maxim Properties can talk it through with you, including what the views and bridge access are like on a parade night. Schedule a Consultation.
