St. Augustine Nights of Lights 2026: Dates, Light-Up! Night Schedule, Free Parking and Every Big Holiday Event

St. Augustine's 33rd Nights of Lights begins Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, and runs every night through Monday, Jan. 18, 2027.

More than 3 million small white lights cover the historic district: the Plaza de la Constitución, St. George Street, the bayfront, the Bridge of Lions and the old buildings around them. Walking around to see them is free.

It's the biggest event of the year in the Oldest City, and it gets crowded. Here's what you need to know before you go, from Jacksonville or anywhere else.

The dates

• Light-Up! Night: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, 4 to 7:30 p.m.
• Lights on nightly: Nov. 21, 2026, through Jan. 18, 2027
• Hours: The lights come on at dusk each day and stay on until the early morning hours.
• Cost to see the lights: Free

Light-Up! Night schedule, Saturday, Nov. 21

Opening night is free and draws the biggest crowd of the season. Here's the schedule from Visit St. Augustine:

• 4 p.m.: Showtime USA, a song-and-dance group, performs holiday music in front of City Hall at 75 King St. (the old Alcazar Hotel building, home of the Lightner Museum)
• 5:30 p.m.: The All-Star Orchestra plays big-band holiday music from the gazebo in the Plaza de la Constitución
• 6:30 p.m.: The countdown. Someone on the gazebo stage flips the switch, and the lights come on across the city.
• Until 7:30 p.m.: The orchestra keeps playing holiday songs

ASL interpreters will be at the gazebo from 5 to 7 p.m.

Street closures on Light-Up! Night:

• Cathedral Place: no parking all day, and no cars from 5 to 8 p.m.
• King Street between Cordova Street and Avenida Menendez: no parking all day on the north (plaza) side

Coming from St. Augustine Beach or Anastasia Island? Two extra free shuttle lots run from 4 to 11 p.m. that night only:

• R.B. Hunt School, 125 Magnolia Drive
• Anastasia Baptist Church, 1650 A1A South

Parking: the free shuttle is the way to go

Downtown St. Augustine has narrow streets and very little parking. On busy nights, traffic backs up on U.S. 1, San Marco Avenue and the Bridge of Lions.

The city runs a free park-and-ride shuttle on its busiest days. You park for free at a lot outside downtown, and a shuttle takes you to the Visitor Information Center at 10 S. Castillo Drive. When you're done, you catch a shuttle back to your car from the same spot.

The three free lots (last season):

• Broudy's Lot, 198 W. King St., off U.S. 1
• North San Marco Lot, 301 San Marco Ave.
• St. Johns County Health Department, 200 San Sebastian View, off U.S. 1

When the shuttles ran last season: from 1 to 11 p.m. on 33 days, covering:

• Light-Up! Night
• Thanksgiving weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
• every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in December
• every day from the week of Christmas through New Year's Day
• the first two weekends of January

On Christmas Parade day, the shuttle ran from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Important: The city and Visit St. Augustine haven't posted the exact 2026-27 shuttle dates yet. Both say they'll update their sites when they're set. Expect a similar schedule, built around the same busy weekends, but check before you go.

The garage costs more on shuttle days. On days the free shuttle runs, parking at the city's Historic Downtown Parking Garage is $40, according to Visit St. Augustine. St. Johns County residents who register with ParkStAug don't pay that rate. You can register online or at the parking office on Bridge Street.

Shuttle rules:

• Shuttles are ADA compliant, but not every bus has a wheelchair lift during the busy season, so you may need to wait for one.
• Only trained service animals are allowed, no pets.

From St. Augustine Beach: the STAR Beach Shuttle

During Nights of Lights, the city's free STAR bus runs an evening route on Anastasia Island, from 5 p.m. to midnight last season. It drops riders at 201 Gerado St., on the east side of the Bridge of Lions, so you walk over the bridge into town.

Last season's stops included:

• the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, 999 Anastasia Blvd.
• St. Augustine Beach City Hall, 2200 A1A South
• A Street and A1A Beach Boulevard
• St. Johns County Ocean Pier Park, 350 A1A Beach Blvd.
• many beach hotels

The STAR bus didn't run to downtown on New Year's Eve last season, because of the fireworks at the beach.

Getting around downtown

Nights of Lights is a walking event. The best way to see it is on foot, starting at the Plaza and walking St. George Street, Aviles Street and the bayfront.

A few things the city does to manage crowds:

• Rideshare (Uber and Lyft): Last season, pickups and drop-offs in the historic district from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays were sent to four set spots, including Avenida Menendez near the carriage loading area and Charlotte Street near the Plaza.
• Crossing barricades: On busy days, police direct pedestrians to cross at marked intersections along Cathedral Place and Avenida Menendez.
• Road closures last season:
• Hypolita Street, from 6 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays
• Treasury Street, closed for the whole season
• Restrooms: about 70 portable toilets placed around the historic district.

Tours: by land and by water

You don't need a tour to see the lights, but they're a popular way to do it, especially with kids or anyone who can't walk far.

On land: Old Town Trolley, Ripley's Red Train, horse-drawn carriages and electric carts all run special Nights of Lights tours.

On the water: Several companies run evening cruises on Matanzas Bay, where you can see the lights reflected off the water:

• Red Boat Tours
• St. Augustine Eco Tours
• Scenic Cruise Tours (Victory II)
• Florida Water Tours
• St. Augustine Sailing
• St. Augustine Boat Tours
• the Black Raven Pirate Ship

Prices vary by company and night. Book ahead for weekends, especially in December.

The big holiday events, 2026

These are the signature events Florida's Historic Coast lists for this season. All dates are 2026 unless noted.

Saturday, Nov. 21: Light-Up! Night. Free. See the schedule above.

Nov. 21 to Dec. 24: The Christmas Market St. Augustine, at the Colonial Quarter, 33 St. George St.

Saturday, Dec. 5: St. Augustine Christmas Parade. The 69th annual parade steps off at 9 a.m. downtown. Last year's parade started at the Mission Nombre de Dios on San Marco Avenue.

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5: Colonial Night Watch. Reenactors set up a colonial-era camp on the grounds of the Oldest House Museum, 14 St. Francis St. The torch-lit parade starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Visitor Information Center. It goes through the City Gate and down St. George Street to the Governor's House at the Plaza, where soldiers fire a "Volley of Joy" and sing carols. Free, and the public can follow along. (The starting point moved this year because of seawall construction around the Castillo de San Marcos.)

Saturday, Dec. 12: Regatta of Lights. The St. Augustine Yacht Club's boat parade, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the bayfront. Sailboats, trawlers, yachts and shrimp boats covered in colored lights compete for best theme, most colorful, best in class and best overall. Free to watch. The best views are along the seawall between the Bridge of Lions and the Castillo, or from the bridge itself. Passenger spots on the Black Raven, Florida Water Tours and Victory II sell out fast.

Thursday, Dec. 31: Light Up the NIGHT! New Year's Eve Fireworks at St. Johns County Ocean Pier Park, 350 A1A Beach Blvd., St. Augustine Beach.

More holiday events around St. Johns County

Holiday tours of historic places:

• Holiday Evenings at Villa Zorayda Museum, 83 King St.: starting Nov. 28, every Saturday through Jan. 2
• Luminary Night at the St. Augustine Lighthouse: Dec. 2
• St. Augustine Historic Inns B&B Holiday Tour: Dec. 6
• Garden Club of St. Augustine Holiday Tour of Homes: Dec. 13
• Holiday décor exhibition at Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, 20 Aviles St.: Nov. 21 through Jan. 9, 2027

Holiday shows:

• Christmas Fantastique: Dec. 5 and 6, Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College
• "A Christmas Carol — The Musical": Dec. 10 to 20, Limelight Theatre
• EMMA Concert Series Holiday Pops: Dec. 15, Lewis Auditorium
• Saint Augustine Ballet's "Nutcracker": Dec. 18 to 20, Lewis Auditorium
• St. Augustine Community Chorus Messiah Sing-In: Dec. 13, Memorial Lutheran Church

Community celebrations:

• Palm Valley Boat Parade: Dec. 5, at the Palm Valley Bridge in Ponte Vedra Beach
• Jingle Bell Croc Holiday Night Market: Dec. 11, St. Augustine Alligator Farm
• Santa Suits on the Loose 5K: Dec. 12, Ocean Pier Park
• Hastings Hometown Christmas Parade: Dec. 12, North Main Street in Hastings

Tips from the people who run it

• Go on a weeknight. The city recommends visiting Monday through Thursday, when there's less traffic, shorter restaurant waits and more parking.
• Give yourself extra time. Weekend traffic in December can add a lot of time to the drive from Jacksonville.
• Download the free app. The "Nights of Lights" app from the visitors bureau has shuttle and parking updates, restroom locations, live music, dining and live cameras.
• Wear good walking shoes. Many of the best streets are brick or uneven.