ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – On Monday, St. Augustine city commissioners voted 3 to 2 on a resolution that would permanently shorten Nights of Lights for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.
Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline and Vice Mayor Barbara Blonder were the two no votes.
After community push back, commissioners amended the resolution to start Nights of Lights the Saturday before Thanksgiving and end on Martin Luther King Day.
Originally commissioners considered starting the popular event on the second Saturday before Thanksgiving and ending it on the second Sunday of January.
Some people argued that cutting dates from January hurt business owners who rely on the event to get them through a slower time frame. Other argued that Nights of Lights had run its course. Additionally some residents were okay with keeping the event length at eight weeks if the city found ways to improve their experience.
Scott York, a St. Augustine resident and business owner, was in favor of finding a compromise.
“If the business community wants Nights of Lights longer and wants to get more out of it, they have to get the residents to embrace Nights of Lights again,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about for me, is getting the residents to embrace nights of lights and enjoy it again. Because I enjoy it every single night.”
Aaron Jockers is also a St. Augustine resident and business owner. He was one of several residents asking for a longer event.
“We’d like to go back to our 10-week schedule, if possible. And I know that’s not necessarily popular, but people think that by shortening Nights of Lights, it’s going to make people go away,” he shared. “People aren’t going to go away, they’re just going to keep coming back, and they should, we hope they do. We just wanna manage it effectively.”
The measure also permanently fixes those dates without requiring the commission to revisit them annually.
This year’s Nights of Lights will start on November 21 and end on January 18.
In 2025, city commissioners voted to shorten the event from 65 days to 57 after residents expressed concerns about large crowds and traffic.
For last year’s event, St. Johns County invested an additional $850,000 to help manage the crowds, mitigate traffic and ensure safety.
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