At 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, a Zambelli traveling fireworks display will start north up the Intracoastal Waterway from North Palm Beach with the parade boats behind it. For most of the next two hours the parade will be somewhere other than Jupiter. It is expected to arrive in town around 8 p.m., and the 32nd Annual Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade ends with its grand finale at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.
The Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County runs the event, and this year Safe Harbor is the presenting sponsor. The association's page lists estimated bridge openings along the route. If you're watching from Jupiter, those five times tell you when to leave the house, when to expect traffic at the waterway crossings and when to start looking south.
The bridges are the clock
The organizer bases its estimates on past parades and says weather, wind, tides and currents can move them. It also notes that its permits allow each bridge a one-hour opening.
| Bridge | Estimated opening | Time since the 6 p.m. start |
|---|---|---|
| Parker Bridge | about 6:00 p.m. | 0 minutes |
| PGA Bridge | about 6:15 p.m. | 15 minutes |
| Donald Ross Bridge | about 7:00 p.m. | 60 minutes |
| Indiantown Road Bridge | about 7:30 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| Jupiter Federal Bridge | about 7:45 p.m. | 105 minutes |
| Arrival in Jupiter | about 8:00 p.m. | 120 minutes |
The longest gap in the table is the 45 minutes between PGA and Donald Ross. The Jupiter openings come close together at the end: Indiantown Road around 7:30 and Jupiter Federal about 15 minutes later. Nearly all of the Jupiter portion of the parade happens in the evening's last half hour or so, just before the Lighthouse finale.
That matters if you're driving as well as watching. With Indiantown Road and the Jupiter Federal Bridge opening one right after the other, and each permitted to stay up as long as an hour, anyone who needs to cross the waterway in Jupiter that evening has a reason to cross before 7:30 or plan around the openings. If you'd rather not plan around the bridges at all, WPBF carries the parade live on its app.
Where Jupiter watches the last hour
The association lists public viewing sites along the whole route, from North Palm Beach Country Club and Waterway Cafe on PGA Boulevard to Bert Winters Park and Juno Park. In Jupiter, its list includes:
- Parks: Sawfish Bay Park, Lighthouse Park, Waterway Park and the Jupiter Riverwalk
- Waterfront dining and gathering spots: Harbourside Place, Charlie and Joe's at Love Street, Square Grouper Tiki Bar, U-Tiki and Jetty's
Since the boats reach Jupiter close to 8 p.m., a dinner reservation or a spot along the water can start well after the parade leaves North Palm Beach. Love Street has turned that timing into a ticketed evening. Lucky Shuck's Annual Holiday Boat Parade Watch Party runs from 6 to 11 p.m. on December 5. Tickets are $150 per person, which covers an all-you-can-eat buffet and two drink tickets, and $50 for children 14 and under with the buffet included. Tax and gratuity are added to both.
The party runs five hours and the parade is expected in Jupiter around 8 p.m. That leaves about two hours at the buffet before the boats arrive and about three after they pass.
If you're watching from your own boat
The last stretch of the route is also where the organizer asks spectator boats to go. The association passes along restrictions from the U.S. Coast Guard:
"Anchoring is strictly prohibited in all red highlighted areas on the map. Spectator boats are not permitted to anchor, idle, or drift through the parade channel before or during the event."
Boaters who want to anchor are directed to the green-highlighted spectator anchoring area, which extends north into Jupiter. Boaters who aren't in the parade but still want to watch from the water are pointed to Ski Beach, or anywhere between Donald Ross Road and Indiantown Road that stays out of the parade's way. Boats anchored in front of North Palm Beach Marina or North Palm Beach Country Club will be asked by law enforcement to move.
The stretch between Donald Ross and Indiantown Road lines up with the 7:00 and 7:30 bridge estimates in the table above. A spectator boat anchored there would see the parade pass during that window, before the boats continue to the Lighthouse. This is general information about the event, not legal advice. Boaters should check the organizer's current map and Coast Guard restrictions before heading out.
The toys come to the dock
The parade doubles as a toy drive for the U.S. Marine Reserves Toys for Tots program and Little Smiles of South Florida. In 2025 the parade collected 16,000 toys for Palm Beach County children, according to the association's 2025 performance report.
On a waterfront street, giving can be as easy as standing at your own dock. The association describes a "toy fleet" of boats from Tow Boat, Sea Tow and other volunteers that follows the route and makes dockside pickups during the parade. When a boat with a flashing amber beacon or Toys for Tots signage comes by, wave a flashlight, and uniformed Marines and volunteers will pull up to collect a new, unwrapped gift.
The fleet reaches Jupiter docks late in the evening, along with the rest of the parade, so a flashlight and a new, unwrapped gift by the back door around 7:30 is a reasonable plan. Away from the water, Little Smiles boxes go up at businesses in the weeks before and after the parade. The association's page lists drop-off locations by city, Jupiter included, along with a donation link and an Amazon wish list.
For reference, WPBF's 2025 list of Jupiter-area boxes included Jupiter Town Hall, Harbourside Place, MarineMax, Jetty's Waterfront Restaurant, U-Tiki Beach and FAU's Jupiter campus, among others. That was last year's list. The city selector on the organizer's page has this season's locations.
The boats to look for
Judges score on three things: lights, enthusiasm and themed decor. The prize pool is more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. Best of Parade wins $500, plus another $500 if the owner is an association Boater Member. Fan Favorite wins $500, and Rookie of the Year wins $250.
Last December, Florida Weekly reported that Nauti Kitty, a 53-foot catamaran decorated as a circus with a striped Big Top tent, won Best of Parade for the third year in a row. Newcomer Pink Pony Pontoon won Fan Favorite, and its owners donated their cash prizes to Little Smiles and Toys for Tots. Whiz Whit, a 53-foot yacht with a snowy rooftop and Santa with his reindeer, won both Rookie of the Year and the Over 35 Feet category. The other first-place finishers were Palm Beach Peter Boat in Under 25 Feet, Nailed It in 25 Feet to 35 Feet and Party Up in Corporate.
Entry is free. Boaters who register by November 19 are entered to win $500 and PBIBS Winward VIP passes, and their refundable $50 deposit is waived. Every registered boat is entered in a $250 cash drawing. With this post going up on November 12, a Jupiter boat owner still has a week to make that deadline through the 2026 Boat Entry Application.
The Lighthouse stays lit after the parade
The parade ends at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, and the Lighthouse calendar runs on both sides of that night. The weeks around December 5 look like this:
- Saturday, November 14, 6 to 9 p.m.: Rendezvous at the Light at 500 Captain Armours Way, with culinary tastings, a silent auction and live entertainment.
- Saturday, December 5, about 8 p.m.: the boat parade's grand finale at the Lighthouse. Bring a new, unwrapped toy.
- Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12, 6 to 9 p.m.: the first weekend of Luminary Nights, which the Lighthouse calls a new holiday tradition. The program includes local artisans, live entertainment, family activities, a lit Banyan tree and a tunnel of lights leading toward the Lighthouse.
- Sunday, December 13, 1 p.m.: the 50th Annual JTAA Christmas Parade, listed by Abacoa for Jupiter and Tequesta.
- Friday and Saturday, December 18 and 19, 6 to 9 p.m.: the second weekend of Luminary Nights.
At Luminary Nights, Lighthouse climbs are first come, first served, and children must be 48 inches tall to climb. Registration is open through the Lighthouse calendar.
Robert Floyd works with waterfront buyers and sellers in Jupiter along the same stretch of the Intracoastal the parade follows. If you're curious which Jupiter waterfront streets put the parade at your own dock, Robert Floyd Realty is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
