{"id":1230,"date":"2023-10-13T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2023-10-12T16:55:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T16:55:31","slug":"top-florida-holiday-winter-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ever spent the holidays in Florida? It’s never too early to start planning! There’s plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state, from the Emerald Coast down to the Keys.<\/p>\n

We listed some our favorites around the Sunshine State below. Start planning your next trip and visits to these events ASAP!<\/p>\n

8 Best Winter Events in Florida<\/h2>\n

Originally Published: November 13, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pensacola Winterfest<\/a><\/h2>\n

Every December, Downtown Pensacola is transformed into a winter wonderland through the magic of Pensacola Winterfest. Their historic streets are transformed into Christmas Town, complete with thousands of twinkling holiday lights, and you can see it all by taking a tour on the Polar Express Trolley.<\/p>\n

Brevard Zoo (Jolly Days)<\/a><\/h2>\n

Strap on your jingle bells and head to the Zoo for a flurry of festive fun! Join them this December to enjoy animal encounters, games, crafts and a DJ! Best of all, their zoo keepers will be presenting some of the animals with holiday \u201cgifts\u201d and other seasonal enrichment items.<\/p>\n

OMA’s Festival<\/a><\/h2>\n

The Festival of Trees now in its thirty-first year, transforms the Orlando Museum of Art into a glittering wonderland filled with sparkling trees, vignettes and stunning d\u00e9cor for visitors of all ages.<\/p>\n

Santa’s Enchanted Forest<\/a><\/h2>\n

Santa\u2019s Enchanted Forest is the World\u2019s Largest Holiday Theme Park with over 100 rides, shows, games and attractions. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come every year to experience the magic of South Florida\u2019s tallest Christmas tree light show, millions of dazzling lights, hundreds of themed displays, festive Christmas music and so much more!<\/p>\n

Holiday Lights in the Gardens<\/a><\/h2>\n

Make sure to check out this holiday tradition where the Gardens light up with over 1 million brilliant LED lights. This event will wow you!<\/p>\n

Surfing Santas<\/a><\/h2>\n

Surfing Santas Cocoa Beach is an annual Cocoa Beach tradition that brings hundreds of surfers of all ages dressed up as Santa. Watch them ride in on the waves and kick off your holiday beachside at this free event that benefits local, charitable causes.<\/p>\n

Now Snowing<\/a><\/h2>\n

Join Celebration Town Center as they kick off their Annual Now Snowing event with a Tree Lighting Ceremony. This special tree lighting event will feature live music, a special entrance by Santa Claus himself, and family fun for everyone. <\/span>Now Snowing, is a month long event offering a snowfall program, an ice rink and a schedule filled with surprises.<\/p>\n

Dickens on Centre<\/a><\/h2>\n

Travel back in time during the annual Dickens on Center festival in Historic Downtown Fernandina Beach. Free to the public, this Victorian inspired holiday festival is as fun as the dickens for the entire family. Enjoy costumed characters, themed entertainment and performances, visits from Saint Nick, and a variety of vendors selling seasonal gifts and wares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever spent the holidays in Florida? It’s never too early to start planning! There’s plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state, from the Emerald Coast down to the Keys. We listed some our favorites around the Sunshine State below. Start planning your next trip and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida-favorites"},"yoast_head":"\nTop 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida Rentals Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670-800x534.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Buonopane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Buonopane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul Buonopane\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5\"},\"headline\":\"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Florida Favorites\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\",\"name\":\"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5\"},\"description\":\"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg\",\"width\":2119,\"height\":1414,\"caption\":\"Orlando, Florida, USA downtown skyline at Eola Lake.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Rentals Blog\",\"description\":\"The #1 Florida vacation rentals website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5\",\"name\":\"Paul Buonopane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-5.49.26-PM-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-5.49.26-PM-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Paul Buonopane\"},\"description\":\"Hi, I'm Paul, I'm a travel writer and I love everything about the salt life. I grew up in the northeast, but we visited family in Florida often ... and I was hooked! I've been writing about the Sunshine State for two decades. I enjoy helping travelers find the best places to stay, to eat, and to play in Florida.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/author\/paulb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog","description":"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog","og_description":"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys","og_url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/","og_site_name":"Florida Rentals Blog","article_published_time":"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670-800x534.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Buonopane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Buonopane","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/"},"author":{"name":"Paul Buonopane","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5"},"headline":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida","datePublished":"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/"},"wordCount":468,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg","articleSection":["Florida Favorites"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/","url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/","name":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida - Florida Rentals Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-13T09:00:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5"},"description":"There's plenty to see and do in Florida around the holidays. Winter events are held throughout the state Emerald coast down to the keys","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-697221670.jpg","width":2119,"height":1414,"caption":"Orlando, Florida, USA downtown skyline at Eola Lake."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/top-florida-holiday-winter-events\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top 8 Winter Holiday Events in Florida"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/","name":"Florida Rentals Blog","description":"The #1 Florida vacation rentals website","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44c65cbac02a42c2cb7d44cd432f11d5","name":"Paul Buonopane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-5.49.26-PM-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-5.49.26-PM-150x150.png","caption":"Paul Buonopane"},"description":"Hi, I'm Paul, I'm a travel writer and I love everything about the salt life. I grew up in the northeast, but we visited family in Florida often ... and I was hooked! I've been writing about the Sunshine State for two decades. I enjoy helping travelers find the best places to stay, to eat, and to play in Florida.","url":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/author\/paulb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6672,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions\/6672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarentals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}