Add These 7 South Florida Holiday Traditions to Your Winter Calendar
Traditions. Not to go all Tevye on you, but they’re kind of a big deal.
That’s especially true during the holidays — the time of year when families come together to eat good food, exchange gifts and (mostly) avoid squabbling in the name of December goodwill.
A lot of those traditions happen under your roof. Decorating the tree. Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Baking cookies shaped like bells and angels.
Add to your home-y habits by visiting our list of annual holiday events and Yuletide spots in the South Florida area. You’ll have to hop into the car to get to some of them, but the wintertime spirit is well worth the mileage.
After all, we at Mullinax Ford might dare to say the time spent with family on the way to these Yuletide spots is as much a holiday tradition as the memories you’ll make upon arrival. (And if you pass by our dealership on your travels, be sure to stop by and visit our elves — sorry, friendly sales representatives.)
Blast some carols through the car speakers and find your family’s new favorite holiday tradition. There’s no time like the “present.”
Santa’s Enchanted Forest
The “World’s Largest Holiday Theme Park,” located in Miami, has been running for 40 years straight — so you know it’s skilled in the sensitive science of Santa soirées. Encapsulating over 40 acres of the heart of Miami-Dade, this family-friendly wonderland is open nightly from 5 pm to midnight from early November to early January.
A ticket includes admission to the park’s plethora of carnival rides, shows, lights and, most importantly, free general parking. If you want to experience the Forest festivities again and again during the holiday months, season passes are also available.
Rides are broken into three categories — kiddie, family and thrill — so while the kiddos can hop on the balloon swing or gondola, older Santa enthusiasts can scream their hearts out on 150-foot pendulum thrillers.
After everyone’s gotten in their carnival-ride fix, end your night by grouping up for a holiday experience like Christmas Karaoke or the Light Show Spectacular.
Ice skating at Boca Ice
Who said South Floridians can’t lace up some ice skates every once in a while? Boca Ice boasts 73,000 square feet of frosty fun you can visit year-round, but there’s no time like the holidays to make a trip to the rink a triple-axel tradition.
If skating isn’t your speed, challenge your competitive friends and family members to a showdown on the Ice Bumper Cars. Bonus points if you stop by on a Friday night, when Boca Ice hosts DJ Friday Nights, where bumper cars meet a laser show meet groovy beats.
Want to forget about the South Florida climate entirely? Rent a private or group session on the Alpine Ski and Snowboard Machine, where you’ll learn how to hit the slopes without the risks of crashing into trees. Plus, it’s a great core workout — just in time to pre-empt all that Christmas-cookie feasting.
Audubon Christmas Bird Count
We hope you’re holding onto your binoculars, because this Christmastime opportunity will shake you in your winter boots.
From mid-December to early January, bird lovers of all ages and birding experience levels across the country can try their hand as counters in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count.
In true season-of-giving spirit, participation is both easy and free. Just take a look at the site map to find bird-counting circles in your area — there are several in South Florida, including in Fort Lauderdale, Dade County and Naples. Then, reach out to your circle’s “compiler,” an expert birder who will train you in how to collect data and schedule you for a bird-watching day.
On your scheduled day, you’ll head out to your circle with binoculars and boots to wind a specific route through a 15-mile radius, counting all the birds you see or hear.
And the partridge on top of the Audubon pear tree? The data you collect could be used in wildlife publications and even government reports. We’ll flap to that.
Miami Rescue Mission and Broward Outreach Centers’ Great Christmas Outreach
There’s no time like the present to start a holiday tradition of giving back. Miami and Broward do-gooders can make the holidays a little brighter for the homeless and needy of their communities by donating to the annual Great Christmas Outreach drive.
Every year, Miami Rescue Mission and Broward Outreach Centers work with holiday helpers like you to gift more than 6,000 presents to those in need. To participate, buy items through the organization’s Amazon Smile Christmas Wish List and send them to the address listed on the charity website.
Looking for more hands-on generosity? Browse the site’s list of suggested gifts and then bring the whole family to Target, Walmart or the mall, in-person, to select the perfect holiday goodies. (You can even multitask by shopping for your own loved ones while you’re at it.)
After your shopping extravaganza, stop by to drop off your gifts at one of the Miami or Broward centers. A day of shopping and the satisfaction of doing a good deed? It’s the recipe for holiday happiness.
To get your coworkers and friends in on your Christmastime charity, fill out a registration form to host a toy drive at work, school or even your next holiday party.
South Florida Chanukah Festival
When Chabad of South Broward first launched the annual Chanukah Festival in 1980, it was the only event of its kind. Today, over 40 years later, the South Florida Jewish community looks forward every December to gathering together for a night of menorah-lighting, unity and, of course, incredible music.
Grab your tickets to the one-night event — hosted at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood in the middle of Chanukah — before they’re gone. Otherwise, you risk missing out on a night of jamming to Orthodox pop sensations like Mordechai Shapiro, Avraham Fried and Benny Friedman.
Every year, during the week of the event, the Chanukah Festival is the number 1 news story in Jewish media across the world. Add this event to your holiday tradition roster to find out why this celebration is — in festival leader Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus’ words — “unforgettable.”
Boca Raton Holiday Boat Parade
Sugar-plum-spice up your holidays by getting in your holiday parade fix, aquatic-style.
Boca Raton’s annual Christmas Boat Parade winds from C-15 Canal toward Hillsboro Boulevard Bridge. Grab a spot at one of the public viewing areas — Red Reef Park, Wildflower Park or Silver Palm Park — to watch a festive group of decked-out decks parade through the waterways.
The holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without a promise of presents, so the city offers $1,000 rewards to the winning boat in each of three size categories. For a shot at the big bucks, it’s completely free to enter your own boat in the parade.
So, if you have aspirations to be a seafaring Santa yourself, you don’t have to watch from the shorelines. (Of course, if you’d rather study the scenery than sail the seas, watching the parade is also free — and festive.)
Holiday Fantasy of Lights Drive-Thru Spectacular
South Florida’s “most popular drive-thru holiday attraction” demands a new spot on your winter traditions roster. Over 3 million people have driven through Holiday Fantasy of Lights in its almost-30 year history.
From late November to early January, assemble your family and friends for a drive to Coconut Creek, where you can drive through 3 miles of giant animated holiday displays and illuminations.
Over 65 larger-than-life displays, animation techniques and 3-D experiences will compete for your attention along the way.
While you’re cruising, be sure to pop in the Holiday Fantasy of Lights’ Spotify playlist, which provides hours of holiday classics from Mariah to The Grinch.
