Plan Your Visit · St. Augustine, Florida
Festivals, Events & When to Visit
A city with 460 years of history has had time to build some traditions — torchlit processions, battle reenactments, and the most famous holiday lights display in America. Here's the year in the Oldest City.
Nights of Lights — Mid-November Through Mid-January
For two months each winter, more than three million white lights blanket every corner of the historic district — every oak in the plaza, every balcony, every bridge and bayfront rooftop. Recognized by National Geographic as one of the best holiday light displays in the world, Nights of Lights begins with the Light-Up! Night countdown at the Plaza de la Constitución and glows nightly into January. It is entirely free to experience.
Planning notes: this is a walking event, not a drive-through. Downtown parking all but vanishes on peak nights — use the free Park & Ride satellite lots and shuttles, book your room months ahead, and expect every restaurant and tour to run at capacity. It is also, hands down, the most magical time of year to walk the old city after dark.
September – Early November
Fall
The sweet spot: summer's heat and crowds fade, the ocean is still warm, and the colonial lanes turn atmospheric as the evenings cool. October is spooky season in one of America's most haunted cities — and the calm before the Nights of Lights storm. Hurricane season runs through November, but major storms are rare.
Mid-November – January
The Holidays — Dazzling & Packed
Nights of Lights season transforms the city into a glowing wonderland — and draws crowds to match, especially on weekends. Magical beyond description, but plan like it: rooms book months out, parking requires strategy, and weeknights beat weekends. January after the holidays is the hidden gem: lights still up, crowds gone.
February – May
Spring — Mild & Lively
Gorgeous weather, blooming gardens, and a steady drumbeat of festivals from the Celtic celebration in March through the music festivals of May. Easter week brings one of the city's oldest traditions, the parade honoring its Spanish royal heritage. Book ahead for March and Easter weekends.
June – August
Summer — Hot, Humid & Coastal
Florida summer is no joke — but St. Augustine has an advantage Savannah doesn't: the beach is ten minutes away. Mornings in the old city, afternoons on Anastasia or Vilano, evenings on the bayfront with a sea breeze. Pack sunscreen, hydrate constantly, and expect brief afternoon thunderstorms.
The annual events worth planning a trip around — including living-history reenactments you simply won't find anywhere else in America. Dates shift year to year, so confirm on each event's official calendar before booking.
January
Cathedral Festival Chowder Cook-Off
Local restaurants compete with their best chowders — Minorcan, naturally, among them — on the grounds of the Mission Nombre de Dios, with beer, live music, and family fun.
February
St. Augustine Greek Festival
Food, music, and dance celebrating the city's Greek heritage — fitting in the home of the St. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine, honoring the Minorcan and Greek colonists of 1768.
March
Celtic Music & Heritage Festival
A full weekend of Celtic bands, Highland games, and whiskey — anchored by the St. Patrick's Day parade in the city that recorded the first St. Patrick's celebration in the New World, back in 1601.
March
Lions Seafood Festival
A beloved charity seafood festival with local catch, live music, artisans, and family activities — a springtime tradition for generations of locals.
March
Searle's Sack of St. Augustine
Living history at its darkest: reenactors recreate the 1668 pirate raid that burned the city and convinced Spain to build the Castillo. Torchlight, musket fire, and pirates in the colonial quarter.
Free to WatchEaster Week
Easter Parade & Promenade
One of the city's oldest traditions — a festive parade of horses, carriages, and the ceremonial Royal Family honoring St. Augustine's Spanish heritage, held Easter weekend.
FreeMay
Gamble Rogers Music Festival
A folk and Americana festival honoring Florida's legendary troubadour, with songwriters and string bands filling downtown venues for a weekend.
May
Romanza Festivale of the Arts
Two weeks of music, theater, dance, art, and history events across the city — a citywide celebration of St. Augustine's creative and historic spirit.
June
Drake's Raid Reenactment
Hundreds of reenactors recreate Sir Francis Drake's 1586 burning of the city in a torchlit evening march through the colonial quarter — one of the most dramatic living-history events in the country.
Free to WatchJuly 4
Fireworks Over the Matanzas
One of Florida's largest Independence Day shows, launched over Matanzas Bay after a free evening concert in the plaza. Watch from the bayfront, the Bridge of Lions, or a boat on the water.
FreeSeptember 8
Founder's Day
The city's birthday: a reenactment of Pedro Menéndez's 1565 landing at the Mission Nombre de Dios, with period encampments and ceremony on the very ground where Spanish Florida began.
FreeSeptember
Sing Out Loud Festival
A massive free music festival spread across venues citywide, bringing national headliners and regional acts to the Oldest City for multiple weekends each September.
FreeOctober
Datil Pepper Festival
A celebration of the city's signature pepper — cook-offs, sauces, plants, and all things datil. The most St. Augustine event imaginable for food lovers.
November
Lincolnville Porchfest
The porches of historic Lincolnville become stages for a free neighborhood music festival — strolling from band to band beneath the Victorian gables is pure St. Augustine.
FreeDecember
Christmas Parade & Regatta of Lights
The historic downtown Christmas parade by morning and a glittering parade of decorated boats on Matanzas Bay by night — two beloved traditions inside the Nights of Lights season.
FreeDecember
British Night Watch
A torchlit colonial procession through the old city commemorating the British era, with fife and drum, period dress, and a grand illumination — history you can walk beside.
Free to WatchOctober in the Oldest — and One of the Most Haunted — Cities
Four and a half centuries of massacre, siege, plague, and imprisonment make October feel right at home in St. Augustine. The weather turns perfect, the colonial lanes grow long shadows under the gaslamps, and the city's haunted reputation takes center stage through Halloween night.
Fair warning: October evenings in the Oldest City book out fast — and Nights of Lights crowds arrive right behind them in November. If a ghost tour is on your list, and in this city it absolutely should be, reserve your spot well before you arrive.