RECENT AWARDS:

• International Festival & Events Association - 2009 winner of Pinnacle Awards 
• Florida Festival and Events Association - 2009 winner of Sunsational Awards
• Southeast Tourism Society - "Top 20 Event in the Southeast"
• "READER'S DIGEST - 100 BEST" - May 2004 ... America's Best Connections - Best Parade:  Let's face it, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is in a class by itself. But if you like your holidays a tiny bit twisted, Fort Lauderdale's Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade has floats that really float.  - Founded in 1922, the Readers Digest has the widest circulation of any magazine in the world, reaching 100 million monthly readers worldwide.

BRIEF HISTORY AND OVERVIEW OF WINTERFEST

WINTERFEST'S MISSION:  To enhance the community's image by producing wholesome, unique, internationally recognized events that reflect the diversity and culture of South Florida.

The Winterfest Celebration embraces the dual goals of providing a means for the community to come together and enjoy spectacular and unique events as well as attract positive national attention to the Greater Fort Lauderdale area as a tourist destination and as a great place to live and work.

Winterfest is best known for it’s one of a kind Boat Parade celebrating 39 years.  The scope of the festival has expanded to include a full complement of events.  The festivities include the Golf Tournament; the dazzling Moet & Chandon Champange Winterfest Black Tie Ball in association with Two Oceans, Patron and Southern Wine & Spirits, the Shoreline Decorating Extravaganza, an exciting Grand Marshal Reception by Edify, Winterfest White Party, Family Fun Days, and culminates with the fabulous Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade. Winterfest is a multi-cultural event, which encourages and promotes diversity and is proud to have representation from a variety of races and religions.

The Winterfest organization is comprised of a huge contingency of volunteers, supporters, sponsors and Board of Directors.  Winterfest, Inc. is entirely dependent upon sponsorship from local and national corporate sponsors.  As most of the events are free to the public, we are particularly dependent upon our sponsors to assure the continued success and future growth of the Winterfest Celebration.

Many aspects of the Winterfest Celebration embrace the cultural arts. Our annual poster has been created by the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Local artist Guy Harvey honored the parade with his poster creation in 1998.  These images have also been used as promotional pieces on advertising bus panels. In 2004 and 2005, renowned marine wildlife artist, Carey Chen, joined the Winterfest family with the creation of our poster depicting the beauty of the decorated boats in conjunction with the unique surroundings South Florida hosts above and below the waterway. In 2006, 3-D Pop Artist Charles Fazzino added his colorful touch to Winterfest poster. Lighthouse Point artist Pat Anderson designed the poster in 2007,  2008 poster creation is by Jules Burt and in 2009 up and coming artist - Yanny Issac .

The Parade is an exhibit of local talented artists that spend hundreds of hours from conception to inception transforming boats into canvases of color and lights depicting the parade’s theme. Parade entries have hosted live entertainment from the Miami City Ballet, Performing Arts Center, Polynesian Fire Dancers, Chinese Dragon Boats, Floating Circus, Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre, Broadway Productions as well as other local entertainers and celebrities. The Grandstand viewing area, which is the largest location open to the public to see the parade, hosts the Seminole Outpost and is inside Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. This ‘festival within the festival’ hosts a stage with live entertainment featuring The Fabulons and Native American Indian, arts and crafts from local artists, LandShark Culinary Courtyard and activities complete this area. Winterfest offers complimentary space to many charities so they may promote public awareness and host fundraising opportunities. This area is guaranteed to entertain people of all ages.

In 2002 and 2003, Winterfest sanctioned Paradise City, a large indoor show of juried, museum-quality craft and fine art in Southeast Florida. The show hosted a series of seminars, lectures and benefits with its cultural partner, the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.

Also in 2003, Winterfest brought the parade into the classroom with the first annual cover contest with BellSouth Real Yellow Pages. The contest targeted 3-5 grade school children in Broward County. Winterfest promoted the contest in 2004 with the cooperation of the Young at Art Children’s Museum to public, private and home-schooled youngsters. Artwork chosen will be prominently displayed on the cover of four directories distributed in over 600,000 homes in April 2005.

In 2004, Winterfest celebrated with grand Marshal—Shaquille O’Neal with the parade new title sponsor Seminole Hard Rock Hotel.  Winterfest sanctioned the Inaugural Gala aboard the Queen Mary 2 benefiting the Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony. This event raised over 1.5 million dollars for the two charities and promoted Fort Lauderdale internationally as the winter sanctuary of this majestic ocean liner.

In 2005, “Jewel of the Nile” is the theme of the parade.   The event reached new heights as it is partnered up with the internationally famous King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (a National Geographic Exhibition) at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.

In 2006, Winterfest added a new event “Taste of Paradise” to the Celebration’s calendar. Along with poster artist Charles Fazzino, Winterfest worked with ArtServe and another national artist Jules Burt during the two-day art show at Seminole Paradise.

In 2007, “Magical Movie Moments” theme brought Winterfest into a “New Beginning” with the parade’s staging area moving to Downtown Fort Lauderdale on the New River. This traditional holiday event remained faithful to its original route as it continues north to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach. This expansion of the parade, opened the doors to Winterfest events expanding to the downtown area. The 2nd Annual Winterfest White Party finds a cultural home at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale featuring the Radio City Rockettes. The parade also added a new dimension with many of its events streamed live on the internet.

In 2008, "Rockin' The Night Aweigh" brings Winterfest back on the New River with Grand Marshal Jim Belushi.

In 2009, "That's Entertainment " hosts and earlier parade starting time of 6 p.m. and new radio partners - Clear Channel Radio. Grand Marshals Kim Kardashian and Alonzo Mourning waved to the crowds. Parade theme: "That's Entertainment."

In 2010, The parade will be the kick-off celebration for the city of Fort Lauderdale with the theme "Dancing thru the Decades."  Parade date is December 11, 2010.

Our television partners, WSVN Channel 7 (Fox, network affiliate) in conjunction with Comcast Communications (cable affiliate) produce a 1-hour television special that is run throughout the holiday season, both locally and in Boston (via WHDH-NBC). It is also made available throughout various COMCAST Systems around the country as well as in the state of Florida on Fox SportsNet and our reach continues to grow.

The Winterfest Celebration is very pleased to have the commitment of our corporate citizens to help expand the quality of the Boat Parade and the Celebration as a whole. More than 1,000,000 cheering spectators along the 12 mile route have transformed the Winterfest Boat Parade into not only the largest, one-day, live audience of any event in Florida, but also the seventh largest one-day spectator event in the country! The International Festival and Events Association has named Winterfest one of the top 20th Parades in the World; with over 50,000 parades in the United States alone, this is a huge international honor which places Winterfest in the prestigious company of the Macy’s, Mardi gras, Rose Bowl and Disney Parades. In addition, Winterfest was just named by Readers Digest as “100 Best in America” which lists the top events in the United States.

Winterfest is Trademarked with the State of Florida Service Marks, Registration No. T09936. Winterfest is registered with the Division of Consumer Services.(#CH84) Registration does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by the State. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling 1-800-HELP-FLA within the State. Winterfest is a not-for-profit organization, and as such contributions are not tax deductible.