The holiday lights on the New River go on tonight at 6:30 at Esplanade Park, 400 SW 2nd St. 350 Las Olas Place sits at 350 SE 2nd St, on the same street. Over the next eight weeks, the Day of the Dead festival, a museum exhibit, a run of holiday shows at the Broward Center, the Winterfest Boat Parade lineup and the city's New Year's Eve anchor drop are all on this street or within a block of its west end. Downtown's 2026 season runs west from the lobby door. The calendar is easier to plan once you treat 2nd Street as the route, with the stops along it.

Tonight's lighting is a walk down your own street

Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale hosts its "Get Lit" event at Esplanade Park this evening, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Riverwalk lists admission as free. According to the City of Fort Lauderdale's Light Up the Holidays page, the Kids Zone runs the full three hours, the lighting ceremony is at 6:30 p.m., and the Belles of Harmony perform from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Santa and kids' crafts are on the program too.

The ceremony starts something longer than one evening. The city calls Light Up Lauderdale an annual 10-week celebration of holiday lights along the banks of the New River. That means the riverbank at the end of 2nd Street will be lit well into January. The city has not posted a date for the last night of the display, so plan your later walks without counting on a specific end date.

Two days later, the same lawn hosts something different

On Saturday, November 7, from 3 to 8 p.m., Esplanade Park hosts Riverwalk's second annual Downtown Day of the Dead, with food, mariachi, cultural activities and a Costume Stroll. It uses the same park and the same walk as tonight. That puts two free evenings on one lawn within three days, both reached by heading west on 2nd Street.

Across the street from the park

The Museum of Discovery and Science faces Esplanade Park at 401 SW 2nd St. Its current exhibit, "I AM WILD: A Charley Harper Exhibit," runs through January 11, 2027. Riverwalk's listing describes it as a family exhibit where visitors explore six habitats hands-on. The exhibit outlasts nearly every other date on this calendar, so it also works as a daytime plan when out-of-town guests arrive in late December.

A stop on the way

Emily's Garden, at 327 SW 2nd St, sits on the walk between the building and the park. It keeps daily hours, and its garden has a coffee counter called On The Run Coffee Bar. On the nights the lawn is busy, it's an easy place to stop before the lighting or after the Costume Stroll.

December shifts to the Broward Center end

Once the season reaches December, the programming moves a few blocks further west, to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts at 201 SW 5th Ave. The Broward Center's event calendar lists these shows for December:

• Dec. 2: Gold Coast Jazz presents The Hot Sardines, "Holiday Stomp"
• Dec. 3: Trisha Paytas, "Trishmas LIVE!"
• Dec. 4 to 5: "Elf Jr.," plus a sensory-inclusive performance on Dec. 5
• Dec. 5: Symphony of the Americas with Dionne Warwick and Myles Frost, "A Merry Motown Christmas"
• Dec. 12: Vienna Light Orchestra Christmas Tour 2026
• Dec. 12 to 27: Slow Burn Theatre Co's "Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
• Dec. 13: Kenny G, "The Miracles Holiday and Hits Tour"

Look at December 12. A concert and an opening night are both at the Broward Center that evening, and the boats for the busiest night on the New River all season line up along the river as far west as the same building.

December 12: the parade lines up at the end of your street

The 55th Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade starts at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 12, after a 5:30 p.m. pre-show of non-motorized vessels. Winterfest says the boats will stage on the New River along the docks from west of Stranahan House to the Broward Center. The parade then starts at Stranahan House, heads east along the river to the Intracoastal Waterway, and turns north to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach, 12 miles in all. Organizers say it takes about two and a half hours to watch from any one spot.

For someone living at 350 Las Olas Place, the lit boats are lining up a short walk south and west, along the same downtown riverbank Light Up Lauderdale decorates tonight. Winterfest's ticketed Parade Viewing Area is out at Las Olas Intracoastal Promenade Park. Its guide also points to bridges, the Riverside Hotel and other spots along the route. The city's event listing lists the parade itself as free. Individual adult tickets for the official viewing area are $40.

What matters most for a downtown resident is the bridges. The city's event agreement lists closures from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. that night at the FEC Railroad, Andrews, Third, Las Olas, Sunrise, Oakland and Commercial bridges, with actual times varying along the route. The Third Avenue and Andrews bridges are the downtown crossings closest to the building. If you have dinner plans south of the river or tickets for that night's Vienna Light Orchestra show, walking will get you there more reliably than a car.

December 30 and 31: the street becomes the venue

The Fort Lauderdale Orange Bowl Downtown Countdown is a free street festival at SW 2nd Street and SW 5th Avenue on Thursday, December 31, from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. It has kids' activities early in the evening, live music later, and a lighted anchor that drops at midnight. On New Year's Eve, part of 2nd Street is the venue, and the city's traffic advisory lays out how it closes in stages:

1. Wednesday, Dec. 30, 7 a.m.: SW 2nd Street closes from SW 5th Avenue east to SW 4th Avenue.
2. Thursday, Dec. 31, 7 a.m.: The closure extends east to SW 1st Avenue and lasts until 9 a.m. on January 1. The westbound lane of SW 2nd Street from SW 7th Avenue to SW 5th Avenue also closes, and Broward Center traffic uses the eastbound lane.
3. Also on Dec. 31: SW 2nd Avenue south of Broward Boulevard and SW 4th Avenue south of SW 2nd Street close. Access to SW 2nd, 3rd and 4th Avenues south of Broward Boulevard is restricted to residents who live in the area and employees of businesses on those streets.
4. Friday, Jan. 1, 9 a.m.: All roads reopen.

All of the closures are on the SW blocks, west of 350 Las Olas Place. The building's stretch of SE 2nd Street stays open, so the walk west still works on New Year's Eve. Driving west along the street does not.

The one big night that runs east

One major event points the other way. Christmas on Las Olas runs Tuesday, December 1, from 5 to 10 p.m., on Las Olas Boulevard between SE 6th and SE 11th Avenues. The Las Olas Association's page lists a holiday marketplace, more than 30 performances by local schools and community groups, Santa's Village and snow activities.

Huizenga Park, at 32 E. Las Olas Blvd., gives the river end of the boulevard its own smaller weekend schedule. Its Community Market sets up on the Civic Lawn from noon to 4 p.m. on November 8 and again on November 22, with local artisans, small businesses, food sellers and makers. Sweetwaters opened to the public in the park at 58 E. Las Olas Blvd. on October 12, as the Sun Sentinel reported. Ophelia, a bakery-café serving coffee, pastries and light lunch, was already open there by early October. Those are good stops for a Sunday market morning. The season's biggest crowds, though, gather tonight, on December 12 and on New Year's Eve, at the west end of 2nd Street.

If you own at 350 Las Olas Place and expect to list in the new year, it helps to have a pricing conversation before the river lights come down. D'Angelo Realty Group works out of Las Olas and tracks resales at 350 Las Olas Place building by building. We're available around the clock during the holidays and can meet when your calendar allows. Request a Free Condo Market Valuation and start January with a number you can act on.