Crews install decorations in the Plaza de la Constitucion in downtown St. Augustine ahead of the start of Nights of Lights this weekend. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 21, 2024 at 4:21 pm
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Nights of Lights, St. Augustine’s spectacular holiday celebration, will return this weekend.
Festive holiday lighting and other decorations will hang through most of January, but the city expects a tide of visitors to watch the lights kick on for the first time this weekend.
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It’s a tradition the city started 31 years ago, and the award-winning display brings people from all over to St. Augustine. Business owners love it, and some of the locals do, too.
“I like that it brings in a very festive, jolly, happy feeling,” St. Augustine resident Juliette Dennis told Jacksonville Today. “It’s a great event to kick off the holiday season.”
Dennis was born and raised in St. Augustine, and she recognizes some people like her avoid the first bit of the city’s Christmas festivities because of the effect it has on traffic. But having gone to the city’s Light Up! event that starts the celebration for years, she’s used to seeing all of her friends in the plaza that very first night.
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Not everyone is so keen on braving the busy roads, though.
Longtime St. Augustine resident Jean (who asked not to use her last name) says she went to see the lights turn on years ago, but nowadays she’d rather avoid the hustle and bustle.
“I have to plan it real carefully for the Nights of Lights,” she told Jacksonville Today. “I don’t go down because it’s just jam-packed.”
Brightening businesses
But all that extra traffic means more people are spending money at local businesses, even the ones that aren’t in the immediate vicinity of downtown St. Augustine.
Spinster Abbott’s Bodega and Taproom is up the street from the Plaza de la Constitucion where the lights are centered, but owners Sam and Liz Snyder still expect to see more business throughout the season thanks to the event.
The eclectic bar, coffee shop and general store opened last summer. By the time last year’s Nights of Lights rolled around, the Snyders say they were still finding their footing in the community. Still, they saw a bump in revenue.
This year, they plan holiday-themed programming all through December, including holiday karaoke and workshops for ornament-making and gift-wrapping.
It all serves to create a fun atmosphere for the regulars, Sam Snyder said, and he hopes the events will attract some of the people visiting town, too.
“Nights of Lights is a nice sustained period where people are coming to town constantly, and we want them to come hang out here and enjoy the holiday spirit with us,” he said. “That’s good for the community, but it’s also good for all of our businesses.”
A key driver of the added business revenue is visitors who come from out of town, said Susan Phillips, CEO of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Based on data the bureau collected last year, 77% of the people attending Nights of Lights — not just on the first night — come from out of town. The average traveler is 51 years old, Phillips said, and has enough income to spend at stores and restaurants.
On top of that, many of the people surveyed stayed right in the heart of the city’s downtown historic district.
Tourism was up across the state this year, but St. Augustine’s numbers were below what many in the area were hoping for, Phillips said. She knows local businesses are ready for what the Conventions and Visitors Bureau predicts will be a busy holiday season.
Things kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday with the city’s Light Up! event downtown in the Plaza de la Constitucion. Light Up! will include live performances leading up to the main event at 6:30 p.m. when the holiday lights are turned on throughout the city.
Cathedral Place will be closed to vehicle traffic from 5 to 8 p.m., and parking will be restricted between Cordova Street and Avenida Menendez. King Street will also shut down between Cordova Street and Avenida Menendez, and parking will be prohibited all day on the north side of the street.
Visitors should expect much more traffic than normal in downtown St. Augustine. City officials encourage people to be patient traveling around the city.
Nights of Lights shuttles
If you plan to visit during the Light Up! event, the city encourages parking further in a designated lot and taking one of the city’s free shuttles downtown.
Shuttles will start taking people downtown from the St. Johns County Health Department at 200 San Sebastian View and the Broudy’s Lot on the corner of U.S. 1 and West King Street at 1 p.m. The city will also offer a shuttle from Anastasia Baptist Church on Anastasia Island starting at 4 p.m. All shuttles are free and will run until 11 p.m. Saturday night.
Shuttle service from the health department location will be offered several other times throughout Nights of Lights, including Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30, Saturdays in December and the five days after Christmas.
For more information about the city’s shuttle service, go to the city of St. Augustine’s website.
The lights will remain up through Jan. 26, and free shuttle service will be offered on select days to help cut down on traffic congestion around town.
