This year’s Queen’s Harbour Yacht Club trip to the St Augustine Nights of Lights November 17th – 19th.
“The 24th Annual Nights of Lights dazzles the city as some three million lights adorn every corner of the historic district for two months.
This award-winning holiday lights display runs from November 18, 2017, to January 31, 2018, in historic St. Augustine. During Nights of Lights, businesses downtown stay open later, letting you dine in view of the lights and shop amongst the lit buildings. The trains and trolleys offer special seasonal tours that take you through the best areas of Nights of Lights, and there are also a variety of specialty tours — everything from walking to horse-and-carriage tours, and even tours to see the lights from the water and from the air.
For a complete list of Nights of Lights tours and all the other holidays events happening in St. Augustine, visit here.
There are plenty of photo opportunities throughout the downtown area, from the dazzling lights along the bayfront, to the Christmas tree placed in the center of the Plaza de la Constitución with holiday gifts surrounding it. From dusk until dawn, the lights bring holiday cheer to vacationers and locals in St. Augustine.”
“The Nights of Lights Lighting Ceremony, also known as Light Up! Night, takes place on Saturday, November 18, 2017. Locals and vacationers from all over join together to watch the City of St. Augustine flip the switch on three million white lights decorating the Plaza and buildings all over historic downtown.
Leading up to the occasion is a free concert and a countdown, and the ceremony is followed by more live music. This has been a popular annual tradition in St. Augustine for over 20 years, and is all the more festive now that the Nights of Lights has garnered worldwide attention as a top destination to see holiday lights.
Details on the live entertainment for this event are still to be announced. In past years, the event opened with a live performance at 4:30 p.m. outside the Lightner Museum, followed by a rousing concert at the city’s Plaza de la Constitución at 5:30 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., the countdown for the lighting begins. After the lighting, the band will play again until 8:00 p.m. The large Christmas tree in the Plaza will also be turned on so visitors can get photos for their holiday Christmas cards.” (VisitStAugustine.com)
Yacht Club Trip Details
The trip captain for this event is our Commodore Gary Bone. This trip is open to both boaters and to land yachters.
Gary has worked with the St Augustine City Marina to hold a number of slips. While the marina did have damage from hurricane Irma, they are working feverishly to get everything back up and running. Commodore Gary will continue to stay in touch with the marina and keep members updated.
The tentative itineary for this trip is as follows:
- Friday, Boats arrive and check in at the city marina by 5:00pm. [Sunset that day is at 5:28pm]
- Docktail with Pizza on the docks will begin at 6:00pm.
- Saturday during the day on your own.
- Saturday we will gather at n.nnpm to walk into town for the Lighting Ceremony. Due to the crowds that are expected and our ever changing number of attendees, please plan on arranging dinner for yourself, or as a group.
- Sunday boaters leave at your leisure to return to Queen’s Harbour
Land Yachters are welcome to join any or all of these events. Please indicate your preferences by using the Registration Form.
Once we know who is attending we will set up an event WhatsApp. Prepare by downloading the WattsApp App onto your smart phone!
Nights Of Lights Registration Form. Please print this out, complete it and deliver to Gary Bone with your check. The yacht club also accept Venmo payments. Click here to find out more about Venmo.