It's Punta Gorda's Annual Lighted Boat Parade on Charlotte Harbor - on December 14, 2014

It wouldn't be Christmas in Florida without lighted boat parades.  It's our makeup for no real snow or cold wintry feel? Seriously which do you prefer?  boats or sleds?  Punta Gorda has two main waterway illuminated boat events, the first is on the Peace River on the 14th.

The Annual Lighted Boat Parade sponsored by the Punta Gorda Chamber launches at dusk on December 14th (Sunday) from Edgewater Lake across the Harbor and meanders across the Peace River to Fishermen's Villages and down the Peace River under the bridges.

The best viewing spots are on Edgewater Lake in Charlotte Harbor, at Fishermen's Village, on the bridges of US41 North and Southbound (no chairs  permitted ) and Laishley Park Marina.  You can also catch glimpses of the parade from Gilchrist Park and Hurricane Charley's but the boats don't come in close here.   

If you are a boater and want to join the parade, to register and get more information on starting points call the Punta Gorda Chamber at  941 639 3720. Below is a map they provide of the parade route, approximate times, best viewing and parking information.

Images from the Punta Gorda Boat Parade

The Christmas Punta Gorda Boat Parade edged its way cheerfully through the Isles last night.  Hearkening the arrival was a beautiful angel trumpeting the descending night and the arrival of the lighted spectacular. The vessel that delivered this lovely creature was illuminated in colorful lights and also passengered some fellow spirits.

Closely following the cherub cruiser was one bedecked with the star of Bethelem.

Sailboats like the one above dazzled against the night sky.

And then there were hula dancers under palm trees,

while macarena dancers amusing onlookers.

Santa's sleigh glided by with its lighted reindeer delighting  the throngs along the canals.

For more highlights, check out the You Tube slide video below.  Enjoy:

The 2012 Punta Gorda Isles Lighted Boat Parade -- The Route & How to Best View

The appropriately named Saturday before Christmas Eve Lighted Boat Parade will assemble at Albatross and Bal Harbor in PGI and set sail at around 6 p.m. in the 12th annual event.   Spectators will gather along the canal fronts while others party in their  Punta Gorda Isles' homes to gaze, shout, ring bells, and blow horns  at the illuminated boats playing Christmas music as they float by.   Check out the parade route here.

The first year I lived in Punta Gorda, I rode on one of those boat along with lighted nodding reindeer, Santa and Punta Gorda Islanders dressed up as elks. It was great fun singing and yelling out to those along the shore. In the last few years, we've watched land side at various parties or vacant lots along the rim. Either way, the lighted floating spectacle is a Punta Gorda not-to-miss Christmas event.

One of the easiest-to-access viewing areaa is the vacant lots between the Bal Harbor Place condos and the Harbor Landing condos. They are located right past Albatross Drive on Bal Harbor Blvd. The parade should start passing  by this location at about 6:10 p.m.. Because the parade is so large, however,  it stretches  beyond this  viewing area so only part of it can be seen here.

The vacant lots on Casey Key are easy to get to and are a good spot for viewing. You can get to them by driving out BalHarbor past the condos and turning left on Casey Key Drive.  The lots are on the left.   According to the parade organizers, the lighted boats should start arriving here at about  6:15 p.m.

The vacant lots on LaCosta Island Lagoon provide an excellent place to watch the floating Christmas spectacale. The parade passes the length of the lagoon both ways providing two views of each boat. You can get to this location by continuing out Bal Harbor Drive past the golf course and turning right on Suzi Street which comes to a “T” intersection at LaCosta Island Court and turning right.   Watch for the boats to arrive  about 6:30 p.m.

There are vacant lots at the north end of Antigua Drive at Ponce Inlet.  This is a terrific area from which to see all of of the parade as it comes down the rim canal. From Aqui Esta, turn left on Socorro, then right on Via Veneto, right on San Mateo, left on St Thomas, and then right on Antigua to the  end. The first lights from the boats of the parade should appear about 6:50 p.m.

If you want to watch the parade from your boat,  anchor on the wide western end of the rim canal. From Ponce Inlet,  turn right on the broad canal on the right, the RimCanal. The parade website suggests anchoring  anywhere close along the mangroves that works.

  
(updated for 2012, originally published November, 2011)

Highlights of the Punta Gorda Lighted Boat Parade in PGI Last Night

It's dark, the middle of winter, the week before Christmas and in Punta Gorda the glimmering celebration of our life style here commenced with an array of illuminated vessels floating around the canals that make Punta Gorda a Venetian style wonder. This year's event was the 11th year for the "Saturday Night Before Christmas" Boat Parade, which featured 42 boats and thousands of lights. If you missed it, next year's parade will be December 22, 2012.

Here's just a small sample of photos taken last night in the annual Punta Gorda Isles Lighted Boat Parade that worked its way around the rim of PGI on a warm December night.  

And some video clips:



Photos  and video courtesy of S. Miskell.

And for a fuller version of the parade, check out this YouTube video:

Update on this year's Peace River Lighted Boat Parade Sunday, December 11

A new more private viewing spot has been added for this year's parade.  A viewing party with a smaller crowd will be held at Isles Yacht Club offering a great location to view the parade up close.   There is a $15 per person charge. Sodas and light snacks will be available as well as a cash bar. To reserve this location, contact the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce.  

There will be narration for the parade at three sights -- Fishermen's Village, Laishley Park and the Isles Yacht Club, describing the boats, their captain's information and their decorative theme. Note that due to height restrictions going under the US 41 bridges, some boats (mainly the sailboats) will be unable to make the final leg to Laishley Park. 

The parade, now in its 22nd year, has joined forces this year with Toys for Tots to act as a collection point for gifts for less fortunate children in our community. At the Isles Yacht Club, Fishermen's Village and Laishley Park Pier, there will be a collection bin and a team from Toys for Tots, who will collect your donations and then pass them over to the Sea Tow boat in the parade for delivery to Toys for Tots.  If you are attending any of these three locations, consider bringing an unwrapped new gift for ages 6-13 specifically, as this is where the local need is.

More information on the parade

Punta Gorda's Annual Christmas Floating Opera -- the Peace River Boat Parade Set for Sunday December 11

For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.  And when your home is in tropical Punta Gorda, it means palm trees aglow rather than snow and it also means lights on the water.  Lights rimming the canals and  decking the boats in colorful displays.  And on December 11 -- a Sunday this year -- our magnificent harbor will be illuminated  once again during  the first of Punta Gorda's  Christmas Boat parades -- the 22nd Annual Peace River Boat Parade sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce with support from Smugglers and Fishermen's Village.
   

We've already made our reservation to hop on a boat and be a part of the floating Christmas opera, which is perhaps one of the best ways to experience the parade.  To register a boat in the parade, here is the form. Other options include mooring out in your or better yet a friend's boat and watching from the harbor or selecting one of the many shore side viewing spots.

The best viewing spots are Edgewater Lake in Charlotte Harbor, Fishermen's Village, the bridges of US41 North and Southbound (no chairs permitted at this location) and Laishley Park Marina, the final stop of the parade. At Fishermen's and the Marina, there is usually an announcer who will tell you a bit about the boats passing by.

The chamber has announced a tentative schedule and map with times.  Click here to view.  

A new more private viewing spot has been added for this year's parade. A viewing party with a smaller crowd will be held at Isles Yacht Club offering a great location to view the parade up close. There is a $15 per person charge. Sodas and light snacks will be available as well as a cash bar. To reserve this location, contact the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce.


There will be narration for the parade at three sights -- Fishermen's Village, Laishley Park and the Isles Yacht Club, describing the boats, their captain's information and their decorative theme. Note that due to height restrictions going under the US 41 bridges, some boats (mainly the sailboats) will be unable to make the final leg to Laishley Park.


The parade, now in its 22nd year, has joined forces this year with Toys for Tots to act as a collection point for gifts for less fortunate children in our community. At the Isles Yacht Club, Fishermen's Village and Laishley Park Pier, there will be a collection bin and a team from Toys for Tots, who will collect your donations and then pass them over to the Sea Tow boat in the parade for delivery to Toys for Tots. If you are attending any of these three locations, consider bringing an unwrapped new gift for ages 6-13 specifically, as this is where the local need is.

How Best to View the 10th Annual PGI Rim Canal Lighted Boat Parade in Punta Gorda

Saturday, December 18 marks the 10th time that lighted boats will awe spectators lining the canals and partying in their homes in Punta Gorda Isles.  The first year I lived in Punta Gorda, I rode on one of those big cruisers with Pop and Mom Santa Claus and nodding reindeer.  It was great fun singing and yelling out to those along the shore.  In the last few  years, we've watched land side at various parties or vacant lots along the rim.  Either way, the lighted floating opera is a Punta Gorda not-to-miss Christmas event.

The free holiday celebration features boats of all types and sizes, adorned for the  season with lights, decorated in holiday themes, and other festive trimmings.  Many of the boats have sound systems that echo popular Christmas tunes down the valleys of water.  The vessels  edge very close to the seawalls and docks giving cheering on-lookers the ability to gawk at all the creative, imaginative decorations and performers. “Past years have seen the Grinch, lighted pelicans, sea horses, manatees, gingerbread men, Santa’s sleigh, menorahs, and doves of peace," according to Parade Coordinator Tom Little. “We have trumpeters, dancing candy canes, gaily wrapped gifts, toy soldiers, carolers and even bagpipes. It’s an unforgettable magical night, a definite highlight of the holiday season.”  Little noted.

To watch the parade, either find a party in PGI to get invited to or a suitable vacant lot along the parade route.  Here's how the sailing Christmas festival will move through the canal system:  

Once the parade is assembled it will proceed to Sunset Lake where it joins the rim canal.  In this initial stretch  there are many viewing areas  starting with the Bal Harbor area.  The colorful spectacle then  moves from side to side along the rim canal to accommodate the largest crowds at those locations.

The route leaves the rim canal and enters the Key Largo Lagoon. This turn is marked with a Coast Guard Auxiliary Boat with amber flashing lights. The route turns right and then immediately left to enter the  Lagoon. This popular viewing area has vacant lots around the far end.  The boats will steer close to the seawalls to let the spectators get a good look at their decorating efforts.

The floating Christmas celebration then heads back onto the rim canal, the route turns right into LaCosta Island Lagoon, also marked with the amber lights of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. This broad canal has many vacant lots for viewing. The boats sail to the end of the lagoon and make a 180 degree turn and return to the rim canal.

Back on the rim canal, the lighted serpentine of boats turns towards Christmas Cove, which is also marked by the Coast Guard Auxiliary.  It then  returns to the rim canal and follows the stream all the way to the Ponce Inlet connection, where it turns right.

Finally the parade enters Yellowfish Lagoon and proceeds counter clockwise.  It leaves the lagoon and proceeds to the Dolphin Club Condo lagoon. It does not go to the end of this lagoon but turns back  to Yellowfish Lagoon, continuing  counterclockwise to Ponce Inlet canal.

The best streets for viewing the parade are along Bal Harbor, La Costa Island , Key Largo and Antiqua (in my opinion the best because the canal here is narrow and you get a very good view of all boats coming up the rim and going by towards the Ponce Inlet entrance.  There are large vacant lots right near the Ponce Inlet entrance at the end of Antiqua.)

Here is a complete map of the route.  And to find out more about participating in the boat parade, go to http://www.puntagordaboatparade.com/.

Punta Gorda's 2010 Lighted Boat Parade Will Light Up Charlotte Harbor December 4

Christmas in waterfront communities takes on a unique character.  Sure in our tropical town there is no snow--at least not the real kind.  Believe me having just been in snow country -- it's pretty -- but given the choice I'll take the fake variety that the Punta Gorda Chamber distributes come the first week in December.  

What we can brag about is the lights.  The lights that are strung from the canal front homes, the lights that adorn the boats on the harbor and canals making the vessels stand out like stars in the night sky, the lights in the Village and Downtown.   But best of all are the lighted boat parades... the boats decorated with colored and white lights spectacularly lighting the night sky...the boats with Santas, and nodding reindeer, and music and all that stuff that gets you excited about Christmas   And the first of those parades  is coming, coming  very fast...fast enough that you have to start thinking about your plans for viewing it now, if you haven't already decided on that. 

This Christmas season, the 21st Annual Parade launches on Saturday December 4th around 6pm.  As usual it is expected that the parade will attract throngs of people from all over to Charlotte Harbor. 

There are many ways to view the parade -- from restaurants like Harpoon Harry's in Fishermen's Village or Laishley Crab House -- near the last stop on the route.  You can also, if not too late, get a hop on one of the boats that participates in the parade, which is a terrific way to experience the parade as you pass all the parties taking place in canal front homes along the route. Better yet get invited to one of those parties.

Or take out your own boat and anchor east of Edgewater Lake.  The best viewing land spots to watch the "floating opera"  from are Edgewater Lake in Charlotte Harbor, Fishermen's Village, the bridges of US41 North and Southbound (no chairs will be permitted at this location) and Laishley Park Marina as the final stop. 

The chamber has released the tentative  route map providing estimated times of arrival of the parade at each stop. For further details, call the Punta Gorda Chamber at 941 639 3720.

Punta Gorda Lights Up the Harbor and Downtown to Celebrate the Holiday Season

From childhood Christmas was always about lights, multicolored lights that decked doorways and eaves, lined driveways, and dangled from trees. As the year gets its darkest, with daylight hours shriveling day by day, it's these lights that bring back joy. And there is no more spectacular a light show than in our home town, Punta Gorda Florida. That light show, which began with the downtown decorations and the festival of lights at the Village, turns up a full notch this weekend as the harbor and canals are set a blaze with a parade of bedazzled boats against a backdrop of canal side decorations lighting the way.

Next Saturday, December 5, will be the twentieth Harbor Parade for Punta Gorda -- my seventh. We will be on one of the King Fisher's Boats, so wave and cheer if you are standing along the harbor, or at Harpoon Harry's or at one of the many canal home parties. The parade starts out on Edgewater Lake on the Port Charlotte side of the harbor at about 6 PM. If you can, this is a good spot to see all the boats lining up at twilight before the parade into the harbor. You can watch as the first images begin to sparkle against the sunset until dusk when the lights have sufficient contrast against the sky to reach full intensity and the various boat lighting designs become apparent.

From Edgewater the parade floats directly across the Harbor and enters the PGI canal system between Palm Tree and Jamaica Way, then winds down the canal between Gulfview and Jamaica Way past the edges of Maria and Donna Courts starting to arrive at the Isles Yacht Club basin at about 6:45 PM. The boats then turn back and move along the harbor to Fishermen's Village (first boat arriving at around 7:15 PM) passing by Harpoon Harry's and the Captain's Table where crowds chant Christmas Greetings and cheer when a boat they know

passes by.

Against the night sky the parade of boats reenters the Peace River and makes its way through the harbor crowded with spectator boats celebrating the holidays. At this point viewers can see the spectacle from a distance at Gilchrist Park , Benedettos or on the other side of the River from Portofinos. The boats then go under the bridges and glide into Laishley Marina's basin, where John Wright, President of the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce announces the various boats as they float by and the parade comes to an end.

The weekend holiday festivities will be kicked off by another celebration of light -- the lighting of the Punta Gorda Downtown Christmas Tree Friday, December 4. The first lighting will take place around 6 o'clock with a full ceremony at 7:30 at Olympia and Taylor. Local choirs, pipers and more plus entertainment and festivities provided by downtown merchants will add to the festivities --- and don't forget there will be snow, even in the tropics.

Complete Boat Parade Route and Parking Information