On Saturday, December 5, the 32nd Annual Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade leaves North Palm Beach at 6 p.m. and heads north up the Intracoastal behind a Zambelli traveling fireworks display. It should reach Jupiter around 8 p.m. and finish at the Jupiter Lighthouse. Eight days later, on Sunday, December 13, the 50th Annual Jupiter-Tequesta Christmas Parade steps off at 1 p.m. and heads north on Central Boulevard toward Abacoa Community Park.
The boat parade runs on bridge openings and a moving federal zone on the water. The Christmas parade runs on a road shutdown that starts at 12:45 p.m. Either way, the schedule tells you when to leave the house, which crossing to avoid and where you'll actually see something. Jupiter sits at the far end of one route and hosts the other, so it gets both the latest part of the boat parade's night and the whole of the Christmas parade's afternoon.
The Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County runs the boat parade and posts estimated bridge openings based on past years. It warns that weather, wind, tides and currents keep anyone from predicting exact times. Its permits allow each bridge to open for one hour. These are the organizer's posted estimates:
The two Jupiter crossings come last. The parade won't reach Jupiter's shoreline until well after the 6 p.m. start in North Palm Beach, so you can get to a viewing spot by 7:15 p.m. and still have time. The Indiantown Road and Jupiter Federal openings are about 15 minutes apart and each permit covers up to an hour. If you need to cross the Intracoastal in Jupiter between roughly 7:30 and 8:45 p.m., expect to wait at the drawbridge. Getting across before 7:30 is the simplest plan.
The parade goes on rain or shine. If you'd rather follow it from home, the organizer links a real-time tracker, and WPBF carries a live stream on its app and Facebook page.
From the shore, the parade looks like a string of lit boats. On the water, it's a federally regulated event. The Coast Guard's standing rule for Captain of the Port Miami events, 33 CFR 100.702, lists the Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade with an approximate window of 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. on one December weekend day. Its regulated area is a moving zone. The zone starts at Lake Worth Daymarker 28 in North Palm Beach and ends at Loxahatchee River Daymarker 7, east of the Glynn Mayo Highway Bridge in Jupiter. It extends 50 yards ahead of the lead boat, 50 yards behind the last one and 50 yards on each side. The exact enforcement dates and times are published separately in Coast Guard notices.
Only participants designated by the event sponsor and official patrol vessels may enter the zone. Spectators can ask the Coast Guard's designated representative for permission. When the Coast Guard assigns an event patrol, the patrol can be reached on VHF Channel 16.
The organizer adds its own spectator guidance. Anchoring is prohibited in the areas marked red on its parade map. Spectator boats may not anchor, idle or drift through the parade channel before or during the event. A designated spectator anchoring area, marked green, extends north into Jupiter. Boaters who aren't in the parade are pointed to Ski Beach or anywhere between Donald Ross Road and Indiantown Road where they stay clear of the route. Law enforcement will ask boats anchored in front of North Palm Beach Marina or North Palm Beach Country Club to move.
For a Jupiter boater, the useful stretch of water is south of town and the parade comes to you. If you leave a Jupiter dock for the green area, you'll be heading back toward your own drawbridges just as they're about to open.
Apart from private gatherings at waterfront homes, the organizer lists public viewing sites from North Palm Beach to Jupiter. These are on the Jupiter end of the route:
These spots follow the parade's last stretch. Waterway Park and Sawfish Bay Park are along the Intracoastal, where boats pass before the turn toward the Lighthouse. Riverwalk, Harbourside Place, Love Street, Jetty's and Square Grouper are around the inlet and Lighthouse, where the parade finishes. The finale sites will be the most crowded and also the ones where you see the whole fleet arrive.
At least one venue is selling a ticketed version of the evening. Lucky Shuck at Love Street lists a parade watch party on December 5 from 6 to 11 p.m., priced at $150 per adult and $50 per child 14 or under, plus tax and gratuity. The party starts about two hours before the boats are expected in Jupiter and continues for roughly three hours after they arrive.
Both parades collect toys, and both send them to the same charity.
The boat parade asks spectators at the Lighthouse finale to bring a new, unwrapped toy, and its drive benefits Toys for Tots and Little Smiles. The organizer's 2025 performance report counts 16,000 toys collected at the December 6, 2025 parade, up from 14,000 in 2024, and 96,923 toys since 2018. That works out to about 2,000 more toys in one year.
At the Christmas parade, the toy is the entry fee. Each float or group pays with a new, unwrapped toy for the Little Smiles Holiday Toy Drive. Large groups are asked for one toy per 10 participants, and the toys are collected in the staging area before step-off. Little Smiles benefits from both parades, so a household that brings a toy to the Lighthouse on December 5 and enters a float on December 13 gives to the same charity twice.
The boat parade has prize money too. Boats registered by November 19 have the $50 refundable deposit waived and are entered in a drawing for $500 and PBIBS Winward VIP passes. Every registered boat is entered in a separate $250 drawing. Judges score lights, enthusiasm and themed decor. Best of Parade wins $500 cash, plus another $500 if the owner is an MIAPBC Boater Member. Fan Favorite wins $500, and first-year entrants compete for the $250 Rookie of the Year award. The 2025 first-place winners included Nauti Kitty for Best of Parade, Pink Pony Pontoon for Fan Favorite, and Whiz Whit for both Rookie of the Year and the Over 35 Feet category. This year Safe Harbor is the presenting sponsor.
The Jupiter Tequesta Athletic Association sponsors the 50th parade, which a volunteer committee plans year-round. The theme for the 50th is "50 Years of Christmas Magic: Honoring our Past, Celebrating our Present, Inspiring our Future."
This schedule is fixed in advance. The JTAA parade page and registration form give the times.
| Sunday, Dec. 13 | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 a.m. | Float staging opens for groups needing extra setup time | UF Scripps parking lot, 120 Scripps Way |
| 12:00 p.m. | Floats being judged must be in place | Staging lot |
| 12:45 p.m. | Parade route begins closing to all traffic | Central Blvd and Frederick Small Rd |
| 1:00 p.m. | Step-off, heading north in the southbound lane of Central Blvd | Past Main St and University Blvd |
| Finish | Turn onto Frederick Small Rd, end at the skate park | Abacoa Community Park, 1501 W. Frederick Small Rd |
The parade uses the southbound lane of Central Boulevard, and JTAA also opens that lane west of Promenade Way for extra parking. If you need to drive through Abacoa that afternoon, get past Central Boulevard before 12:45.
JTAA lists free parking in the two Downtown Abacoa garages and the Abacoa garage by the Marriott, plus street parking on Main Street and University Boulevard. Accessible parking is marked on Main and University. The association specifically warns against parking in resident spaces, because those cars are towed at the owner's expense. If you're coming from Military Trail, JTAA's directions are to go west on Frederick Small Road to Central Boulevard South at the traffic circle. You can park on either side of Central Boulevard South and on both sides of Frederick Small Road between the skate park and the circle.
The judging stand is on the north side of Frederick Small Road, just before the park entrance. Floats are judged at the end of the route, so the last stretch of Frederick Small Road is where entries put on their best show. Prizes are awarded for Compliance with Theme, Originality and Best Overall Decoration.
If you want to be in a parade rather than watch it, both registration deadlines fall within the next week.
The Christmas parade deadline is tomorrow, Friday, and applications that arrive earlier are considered first for lineup positions. The registration form and FAQ are on jtaa.org, and the boat entry application is linked from the MIAPBC parade page.
On the evening of December 5, Jupiter's Indiantown Road Bridge and Jupiter Federal Bridge are the last two openings on the route. A home on the Intracoastal in Jupiter gets the parade's final stretch, and the drawbridge timing decides how that evening goes. If you're considering waterfront property along the route and want to understand the bridges, docks and stretches of water that come with it, Malloy Home Team is glad to walk the shoreline with you. Schedule a Consultation whenever you're ready.
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