Downtown's Holiday Season Runs Along the New River, and This Year the Riverfront Stays Open for Dinner

At 6:30 tonight the lights go on at Esplanade Park, 400 SW 2nd Street. Farther east along the Riverwalk, Sweetwaters will have been serving since 4 p.m. on a patio that looks out on the New River and Huizenga Park. It opened to the public on Oct. 12. The South Florida Sun Sentinel described it as the restaurant that caps Huizenga Park's three-year, $15 million redesign.

The two are connected. Downtown's holiday calendar has always run along the river. The lights launch at Esplanade Park, and the Winterfest Boat Parade lines up along the New River docks before it heads east. This is the first season since Huizenga Park reopened that the riverfront itself serves coffee in the morning and dinner at night. You can come for the lighting ceremony and stay on the water until close.

Tonight, Hour by Hour

Light Up Lauderdale is free and runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale and the City of Fort Lauderdale present it as "Get Lit," the start of an annual 10-week lights celebration along the banks of the New River. The city's flyer places the event at Esplanade Park "and along the downtown Riverwalk." Here is how the published schedule fits with the hours at Huizenga Park:

Sweetwaters' weekday happy hour ends at 6:30, the same minute the lights go on. On the restaurant's happy hour menu, beers are $5 and spirits $6. The city also promises holiday performances, crafts and Santa at the park.

What Huizenga Park Added in Its First Fall Back

The Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority reopened the park in 2026 after a full renovation. On its About page, the park lists a Riverwalk Terrace under a grove of palms and a New River Landing, a circular wooden deck with an elevated view of the river that connects the Riverwalk to the park. This fall the park filled in the hours around them with two food partners. Its October 5 update introduced both.

Ophelia is the morning shift. Husband-and-wife chefs Ana De Sa Martins and Juan Vieira first built a following in Coconut Grove with a vintage-inspired mobile concept, and Huizenga Park is their first Broward County location. They make the breads, pastries, syrups and cold foams in-house. The menu runs from a bacon, egg and cheese on a house English muffin to coffee-glazed cinnamon rolls and a brown sugar cinnamon latte with vanilla cold foam. Ophelia is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sweetwaters covers the evening. It comes from Specialty Restaurants Corporation, the family-owned group behind Miami's Rusty Pelican. The menu covers seafood, steaks, a raw bar, sushi and cocktails. The room has a double-height ceiling and an open kitchen, the patios face both the river and the park, and there is a pup menu for dogs. It has nearly 300 seats in a 10,000-square-foot dining room with a wraparound patio. It is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Put the hours together and the park now covers 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. Downtown's biggest holiday night, the boat parade, falls on a Saturday this year.

A 10-Week Calendar That Keeps Returning to the Water

The 10-week lights season starts tonight and runs past New Year's. Nearly every major downtown holiday date falls along the river or a short walk from it:

1. Sunday, Nov. 22, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Winterfest Family Fun Day at Esplanade Park. It's free, and Winterfest lists a new Highland Cows petting zoo this year. The Museum of Discovery & Science offers free admission from 3 to 5 p.m.
2. Nov. 27 to 29: Cirque Dreams Holidaze at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which sits on the river at the west end of the Riverwalk.
3. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 5 to 10 p.m.: Christmas on Las Olas along Las Olas Boulevard between SE 6th and SE 11th Avenues. The Las Olas Association advertises a free holiday marketplace, more than 30 local performers, Santa's Village, Snow Mountain, and free ice skating with rentals.
4. Dec. 4 to 5: Elf Jr. at the Broward Center. Then on Dec. 5, Handel's Messiah & Holiday Pops plays The Parker and A Merry Motown Christmas plays the Broward Center.
5. Dec. 12 to 27: Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Broward Center. Vienna Light Orchestra Christmas Tour is on Dec. 12, Kenny G: The Miracles Holiday and Hits Tour on Dec. 13, and The Nutcracker at The Parker Dec. 18 to 20.

The full lineup is on the Broward Center's site. The one big city holiday event away from downtown is the Menorah Lighting Celebration, on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at Las Olas Oceanside Park on the beach.

Each of these is an evening event. With Ophelia covering the hours before Family Fun Day and Sweetwaters covering the hours before and after a curtain, the stretch between the Broward Center and Las Olas is more than a place to walk from the garage to the door.

Dec. 12 Starts Downtown

The 55th annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade is on Saturday, Dec. 12. The boats line up on the New River downtown, along the docks from Stranahan House west to the Broward Center. A pre-show of non-motorized vessels begins at 5:30 p.m., and the parade starts at Stranahan House at 6. From there it travels east on the river to the Intracoastal Waterway and north to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach, 12 miles in all. Winterfest says the full parade takes about two and a half hours to pass any one spot.

That staging stretch is the same river frontage the Riverwalk follows, and its west end is the Broward Center. The same Saturday, the Broward Center has Vienna Light Orchestra Christmas Tour on its calendar, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opens its run. On Dec. 12, a downtown evening can mean a show and a river full of lit boats on the same block.

This year's Grand Marshal is LOCASH, and Charles Fazzino is the poster artist. The theme is "Party in the U.S.A.," marking America's 250th anniversary. On its Ways to Watch page, Winterfest lists bridges, The Riverside Hotel and other spots along the route as viewing locations.

If You're Heading to the Ticketed Viewing Area

Winterfest's official Parade Viewing Area is east of downtown, across the Intracoastal. Getting there means crossing a bridge that is under construction.

• Location and price: Las Olas Intracoastal Promenade Park, 80 Las Olas Circle. Gates open at 4 p.m., and the parade is expected there at about 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 for adults and $30 for children 12 and under, and children 3 and under get in free.
• What's new there: a 20-foot LED Soundwave truck, along with stage entertainment from 4 p.m., food, games and photos with Santa.
• Parking: Winterfest says parking near the venue is very limited. It names the Las Olas Parking Garage at 200 Las Olas Circle and advises arriving on the east side of the Las Olas Bridge by 6 p.m.
• The bridge: According to the city's September 17 traffic advisory, FDOT's rehabilitation of the East Las Olas Boulevard Bridge shifts traffic to the south side, with one lane each way and the north sidewalk closed through late 2026.

The ticketed park is several miles from where the boats line up, and the 4 p.m. gate time means leaving downtown in the late afternoon. For downtown households, the parade's first 30 minutes happen on their own stretch of river. The boats begin moving at 6 at Stranahan House and reach the Intracoastal promenade around 6:30.

If you're mapping out your own season along the river, whether that's a lighting ceremony, a show at the Broward Center, or the walk from a downtown condo to the water on Dec. 12, I'm happy to talk through the neighborhood with you. Kenny Silverman works with downtown Fort Lauderdale buyers and sellers year-round, and the holiday season is one of the best times to see how this part of the city works after dark. Let's Connect.