The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season concluded Nov. 30, and Mother Nature showed mercy on the Sunshine State and Pinellas County with no named storms making landfall this year.

The mood in the area is decidedly more festive than a year ago, when back-to-back category 3 hurricanes, along with several other severe storms, decimated the Tampa Bay region in the fall 2024, leaving destruction but little holiday cheer in their wake.

Clear skies, and scant rainfall in recent months have allowed the return of several special events, including Oktoberfest and Hallowfest in Indian Rocks Beach and the Belleair Bluffs Wine Walk, which saw record turnout in October, according to organizers.

With the weather-related concerns behind them and community cleanups either complete or underway, the local holiday calendar is full of familiar favorites, including tree lightings, boat and street parades.

Indian Rocks Beach

The barrier island was battered by hurricanes last fall, a devastating blow the tight-knit beach community is still recovering from.

But recent reopenings of the Indian Rocks Beach post office and city hall, plus the return of Oktoberfest on the Beach, have helped the resilient islanders’ return to normalcy. The upcoming IRB Christmas tree lighting, street and boat parades should further buoy their spirits.

The Christmas tree lighting will take place Friday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. at 12th Avenue Park, located at 12th Avenue Beach Access and Gulf Boulevard.

On Sunday, Dec. 7, the IRB Christmas Street Parade will wind down Gulf Boulevard and through the finger neighborhoods beginning at 1 p.m. While held last year, it was a shell of its former self with so many homes and properties vacant, damaged or destroyed.

According to a moderator on the Indian Rocks Beach Life community Facebook page, the Christmas Street Parade “is always so cool with the floats and golf carts, classic cars and bikes.” If anything restore joy to the barrier island community, it’s this colorful event that cuts right to the heart of IRB’s beachy fun atmosphere.

On Saturday, Dec. 20, the city’s annual Christmas Boat Parade is scheduled to depart from outside the Holiday Inn Harbourside bar starting at 7 p.m.

The illuminated waterfront event always provides memorable visuals, and this year promises to be no different, as participation is expected to be high again following the city’s recovery efforts.

For more information or to register for IRB’s street or boat parade, visit indianrocksbeach.com, or call city hall at 727-595-2517.

Belleair Bluffs

Although the 2024 special events were not affected by the storms due to the city’s size, location and elevation, this year the Bluffs’ holiday schedule has been tweaked to provide a more streamlined experience for organizers and for revelers.

The annual Bluffs Christmas tree lighting is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5, from 6-8 p.m., while Christmas at the Plaza, a shop-and-sip event designed to spur holiday shopping and dining at the adjacent Belleair Bluffs Plaza, moved to Thursday evening from 6-8 pm to ease area congestion, according to officials.

“The Plaza event is now on Dec. 4,” City Administrator Debra Sullivan said during the Nov. 17 city commission meeting. “We used to do it together, but they were both so well-attended that it became unsafe with traffic. It was too congested. So, visit them on December 4 and us on December 5.”

Sullivan also noted that the snow slide, a major cause of congestion in the past, has been replaced with a hayride.

“We’re having tractor-driven hayrides that will seat 20 people,” Sullivan said, calling the snow slide a vendor-driven nightmare for event organizers.

City Clerk Alexis Silcox said the sign-up for Santa to deliver gifts to kids’ homes on Dec. 23 is underway at city hall through Monday, Dec. 15.

“If you would like to have Santa come deliver gifts to your children at their residence starting at around 4 p.m., come and sign up and bring your gits to city hall,” Silcox said, noting to “make sure your gifts are properly labeled” to include the delivery address, phone number, and child’s name and age on the package.

“The Largo Fire Department does that for us,” Sullivan said. “It’s one of the many wonderful things they do.”

Largo

Largo’s Old Fashioned Christmas Parade is such an ingrained tradition that the 20-year-old event sponsored by the local Rotary Club has its own Facebook page with more than 1,500 followers.

While the long-running procession has experienced hiccups in recent years, including its first-ever cancellation due to inclement weather in 2023, this year’s parade, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20, starting at noon in the West Bay Drive downtown district, promises to be another crowd-pleaser.

“Mark your calendars and check out our sponsors!” read a Nov. 12 post on the event’s popular Facebook page. “We are excited to announce that we are at capacity for the 2025 Old Fashioned Christmas Parade!”

Largo’s Old Fashioned Christmas Parade is special because it combines community pride with colorful pageantry, featuring high school athletes and local dance troupes, city officials and business owners riding in monster trucks, classic cars and modified Jeeps. Sometimes Mayor Woody Brown even rides a bicycle.

“This is such a great event for our community, seeing all the smiles on everyone’s faces,” Brown said in December 2022 as he took a break from patrolling the parade route on his bike.“It’s what Largo is all about.”

For more information on Largo’s Old Fashioned Christmas Parade, visit the event’s Facebook page or largo.com.