Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade board of directors to announce next theme early 2025 – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – It was a wave of holiday cheer in Fort Lauderdale as “The Greatest Show on H20” sailed down the intracoastal waterway, Saturday night. Hundreds of excited sightseers came out to celebrate the season and watch the annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade.
The South Florida staple brightening up the intercoastal with more than 100 decked out vessels.
Bad weather cancelled the event last year but the festive comeback certainly did not disappoint.
It was a big night of festive fun for the whole family and Lisa Scott-Founds couldn’t be prouder of 53 years of the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade.
Despite the winds it was so amazing that the boaters outdid themselves,” said Scott-Founds.
From pirates.
“You see these 12 cannons, six on each side, we can fire water cannons 20 feet away from this boat,” said a boater.
To palm trees, the playa vibe and a performance of Visit Lauderdale’s destination anthem.
“Ay yo, la de da dee ay yo la de day o,” sang Alexander Star, Local Emmy-nominated songwriter and performer.
“We love it! I’m more the parade person,” said an attendee.
From the spectacular boats, to the bands and other performances, it was clear that losing 2023’s parade due to the dangerous weather conditions, got the people pumped.
“The energy was incredibly high, especially because we weren’t able to do the boat parade last year, so bringing this to our community we had more people out on our shores than I’ve ever seen, over a million,” said Scott-Founds.
But if there’s a party this time of the year, you know who is the star of the show even on H20.
“The Santa Claus showboat that was sponsored by Amazon was our grand finale and the beautiful thing about that is it also featured all of the nominees from junior captain program that we’ve done with Two Men and a Truck and Florida Power and Light for many, many years ,” said Founds. “So it’s such a special entry and the junior captain boat.”
Scott-Founds praised the 21 years of partnering with Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and the other major sponsors for making each year bigger than the last.
The theme this year was “From Sawgrass to Seagrass: Waves of Holiday Cheer.”
Already the 50 member Winterfest board of directors is urging everyone to make their plans for 2025.
“Next year is certainly going to be overwhelming. We already have our theme, so we’re going to be able to announce that early in 2025 which we’ve never been able to do before,” said Scott-Founds.
Organizers said the best seats in the grandstand viewing area sold out quickly this year, so you might want to think about making your Winterfest plans early.
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