Tag: Holidays

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New Smyrna Beach 2025 Christmas Season Events

2025 New Smyrna Beach Great Homemade Christmas Cookie Challenge

The Christmas season in New Smyrna Beach, Florida is truly a special time, with time honored and new events for everyone. So get out and enjoy the 2025 Christmas season as only New Smyrna Beach and the surrounding area can do it.

METHODOLOGY

So what I have done is scour the internet for events I feel are relevant to this post. I am including events from approximately, Thanksgiving, through the end of 2025. I am sure I am missing some things and that is where you the reader come in.

If you know of events or celebrations that I have not included please drop me a line and let me know. Please include as much information as possible; event name, date, time, address, website, phone number, cost, etc. If the event is appropriate, I will get it added ASAP. If you would like a more in-depth post about your individual event, please contact me so we can discuss.

As with any calendar of this nature, please confirm dates, times, and locations on your own. Events are always subject to change.

So without further Ado, let’s get to celebrating the 2025 Christmas and holiday season, New Smyrna Beach style!

 

NOVEMBER 2025

November 15

November 20

  • Canal Street Nights
  • 5:O00p-8:30p
  • Canal Street
  • Vendors, food trucks, extended shopping hours, entertainment

November 21 and 22 New Smyrna Beach Festival of Trees

  • Festival of Trees
  • 10:00a-4:00p on the 21st and 9:00a-1:00p on the 22nd
  • 2000 Turnbull Bay Road
  • Decorated trees, silent auction, gift baskets, bakeshop, floral arrangements

November 22

  • Flagler Avenue Slider Challenge
  • 1:00p-5:00p
  • Flagler Avenue
  • Passports are $20 in advance or day of event. Day of event sales are on a first come, first serve basis and are cash only. This event traditionally sells out.

November 27

November 28 through December 1

  • Canal Street Window Decorating Contest
  • Begins on November 28, voting through December 1
  • Canal Street businesses
  • Canal Street merchants decorate their hearts out, seeking your vote, in this fun, yet competitive contest

November 28 New Smyrna Beach 2025 Spark the Spirit Christmas event

  • Spark the Spirit
  • 5:00p-7:30p
  • Canal Street will be closed to vehicular traffic
  • The biggest annual event featuring tree lighting, live entertainment, shopping, and the arrival of Santa Claus. This is a great event to really kick off the holiday season.

November 28  through 30

  • Joy to the Arts
  • Hours vary by day, click the link for details
  • The HUB on Canal and Jane’s Art Center, 132 Canal Street
  • Celebrate the season by shopping small, with local artists, kids crafting, gift card specials, drink specials, and more. Stop in while attending the Coastal Christmas Market or other events

November 29

  • Coastal Christmas Market
  • 9:00a-5:00p
  • Canal Street will be closed to vehicular traffic
  • Shop with local artisans and Canal Street merchants in one of the largest “shop local” events of the season

November 29

  • Flagler Avenue Wine Walk
  • Starts at noon
  • Flagler Avenue
  • $30 for 20 tasting tickets. Purchase online or beginning at noon on the day of the event. In person tickets are available on a cash only basis.
  • Click the link for full event details including where to purchase tickets and to pick up tasting glasses

November 29

  • Edgefest Light Up the Night
  • 6:00p-10:00p
  • Hawks Park, 1108 S. Ridgewood Avenue
  • Christmas lights, train rides, weather forecasts are predicting snow, Santa Claus, more

November 29

DECEMBER 2025

December 4

  • Girls Night Out
  • 5:00p-8:30p
  • Canal Street
  • You and your friends are invited to a fun filled evening in Downtown New Smyrna Beach for wonderful shopping, delicious food, live music, photo ops, and more. Your favorite downtown shops, restaurants, and bars will be open for extended hours during Girls’ Night Out

December 4 – 14 Select Dates

  • Miracle on 34th Street
  • Select Dates and Times
  • Little Theatre of New Smyrna Beach, 726 E. 3rd Avenue, 386-423-1246
  • $22 plus service charges
  •  When a department store hires a man, Kris Kringle, to play Santa for the Thanksgiving Day parade, he quickly becomes a hit and is hired to play Santa at the store’s main location.  When he claims to be the real Santa Claus and his sanity is questioned, he must prove his authenticity in court

December 5

  • Light Up Flagler
  • 5:00p-8:30p
  • Flagler Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic
  • Merchants open house, pictures with Santa, tree lighting, trackless train rides, kids craft station, Santa Paws Pooch Parade, Crazy Golf Cart Christmas Parade, more

December 5 2025 New Smyrna Beach Great Homemade Christmas Cookie Challenge

  • Great Homemade Christmas Cookie Challenge
  • 4:00p-8:00p
  • Flagler Avenue
  • $15 online in advance, limited availability the day of, on a cash only basis.
  • Sample different cookies, receive a recipe card for each cookie, a holiday cookie box, a map of host locations, voting for your favorites at the end!

December 6

  • New Smyrna Beach Christmas Parade
  • Begins at 3:00p
  • Flagler Avenue, over the bridge, and west on Canal Street
  • See the incredible floats businesses and organizations create, listen to local school bands, and be sure to wave to Santa Claus

December 6

December 7

December 11 – 14

  • Drive Through Bethlehem
  • 6:00p-8:00p
  • Daytona Beach Drive-In Christian Church, 3140 S. Atlantic Avenue
  • Journey back in time to the village of Bethlehem—right from your vehicle! As you drive through, you’ll witness the nativity where Jesus was born, see animals grazing in the Shepherd’s field, and explore the bustling marketplace. Don’t forget to stop by the baker’s stall for a sweet treat!
  • Free. Donations gratefully accepted.

December 12

  • Norwood’s Holiday Wine Festival
  • 6:00p-9:30p
  • Norwood’s, 402 E. 2nd Avenue, New Smyrna Beach
  • General Admission tickets are $99 per person
  • Over 150 wines will be available for sample, food, live entertainment

December 13 Edgewater, Florida 2025 Christmas Parade Saturday, December 13 beginning at 10a

  • Edgewater Christmas Parade
  • 10:00a
  • 30th Street from Hibiscus Drive to Silver Palm Drive
  • This is a residential neighborhood. Do not park in peoples yards and driveways. You might be towed.

 

December 13

December 13

  • Oak Hill Christmas Parade
  • 2:00p
  • Contact the City of Oak Hill at 386-345-3522 option 2 for details

December 13

  • Classic Cars on Canal
  • 3:00p-6:00p
  • Canal Street will be closed to vehicular traffic
  • Classic cars, live music,  local restaurants

December 13

  • Christmas Under the Palms
  • 9:00a-3:00p
  • United Methodist Church, 211 N. Ridgewood, Edgewater
  • 50+ vendors with crafts, art, seasonal decor, food, and more

December 13

  • A Taste of the Holidays
  • 3:00p-5:00p
  • Crimson House, 219 N. Orange St.
  • $64.48 per person
  • Sample 60 wines, seltzers, and a sangria bar, appetizers, live music

December 14

  • Santa Claus
  • 2:00p-4:00p
  • Frosty King, 1020 S. Ridgewood, Edgewater
  • Meet Santa Claus, take photos, and enjoy delicious ice cream with the family

December 16Christmas Concert at the Pacetti Hotel Ponce Inlet December 2025 New Smyrna Beach Holiday events 2025

December 18

December 20

  • Breakfast with Santa
  • 9:00a-11:00a
  • Babe James Center, 201 N. Myrtle Avenue

December 24

  • Christmas Eve services
  • Contact your preferred church for information

December 26 – January 1

  • Kwanzaa
  • Please contact the Mary S. Harrell Black Heritage Museum at the link above for details.

December 28Flagler Avenue Grilled Cheese Challenge New Smyrna Beach

  • Grilled Cheese Challenge
  • 1:00p-5:00p
  • Flagler Avenue
  • $20 tasting passport. It is recommended to purchase online, in advance.

 

 

 

Buy Me A Coffee donation link
Click the image above to support this site through Buy Me A Coffee. Your helps pay for website fees and maintenance, research fees for blog and book writing, photo usage and rights fees, and other associated costs. It might go to buying a bag of coffee, keeping me focused on the research topic at hand.

 

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. Affiliate programs or sponsors providing products do not influence  my views and opinions.

 

Retro Stage "Holiday Honey" clothing line.

Retro Stage revives the glamour of vintage fashion from the 1920s to the 1980s with accessories like vintage hats, retro headbands, classic glasses, gloves, and bags. Each piece reflects the retro style of these iconic decades.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Abraham Lincoln Proclamations for Thanksgiving Day

Portrait photo of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Proclamations for Thanksgiving Day

Abraham Lincoln issued proclamations for Thanksgiving Day in both 1863 and 1864. He called for this as a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Lord to occur on the last Thursday in November.”

Proclamation—Thanksgiving Day, 1863

Sarah Josepha Hale Image courtesy Library of Congress
Sarah Josepha Hale Image courtesy Library of Congress

On October 3, 1863, at the urging of Sarah Josepha Hale, President Abraham Lincoln issue the proclamation below calling for a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

Please read the full 1863 proclamation below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

1863 Proclamation of Thanksgiving--Courtesy Gilder Lehman
1863 Proclamation of Thanksgiving–Courtesy Gilder Lehman

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plow, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Thanksgiving 1861 drawing by Alfred R. Waud--Image courtesy Library of Congress President Abraham Lincoln issued a Proclamation calling for a day of Thanksgiving in both 1863 and 1864.
Thanksgiving 1861 drawing by Alfred R. Waud–Image courtesy Library of Congress

 

 

 

Interior of Ford's Theatre, Washington D.C. Click for information on a tour of Lincoln Assassination sites.
Take a guided tour of Abraham Lincoln Assassination related sites. CLICK HERE or the image above for more details and to purchase tickets.

 

Proclamation 118—Thanksgiving Day, 1864

On October 20, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that the last Thursday of November would be set aside “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”

This 1864 proclamation follows the similar, October 3, 1863, document above that is believed to have been penned by William H. Seward.

Please read the full 1864 proclamation below.

By the President of the United States.
A Proclamation.

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with His guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while He has opened to us new sources of wealth and has crowned the labor of our workingmen in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of October, A.D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By the President:

William H. Seward
Secretary of State

 

English_728*90

 

Portrait photo of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln issued Proclamations calling for a day of Thanksgiving in 1863 and 1864.Sources

Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 6. Pages 496-497.

Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 8. Pages 55-56.

Are you interested in learning more about United States presidents and where they are buried? You can visit these amazing sites. CLICK HERE to read my blog posts on the final resting sites of United States Presidents.

 

Buy Me A Coffee donation link
Click the image or THIS LINK to support this site through Buy Me A Coffee. Your support pays for web services, research trips, photocopies, and photo usage fees.

 

This post may contain affiliate links including Amazon links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. All views and opinions provided are my own and are never influenced by affiliate programs or sponsors providing products.