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The author and her family wearing red noses, antlers, and santa hats on green grass
My family has gotten used to celebrating Christmas in Florida.

Terri Peters

  • My family is celebrating another holiday season in Florida after moving down here in 2016.
  • It's warm and sunny during the winter here, so it was hard to feel festive when we first moved.
  • We've learned to celebrate with boat parades, theme-park holiday events, and beach bonfires.

My family's celebrating our eighth Christmas season in Florida this year, but I still remember how strange our first was when we moved here from Maryland in 2016.

Instead of bundling up for winter activities, we slipped on flip-flops. The only snow we saw was the fake stuff at Disney World.

But we've gotten used to the unique ways Floridians celebrate the winter holidays on sunny days that are over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

And these warm-weather ways of celebrating get me into the holiday spirit as much as anything else.

We've embraced soap as our new form of winter precipitation.
Fake snow falling in Disney World above a street lamp an mickey-mouse-head-shaped wreath
Disney World has fake snow during the holiday season.

Terri Peters

We quickly learned that if we wanted to see any kind of snow in December, we had to head to a Central Florida theme park, where the faux soap snow (aka "snoap") falls in full force.

Those places use machines that turn liquid soap into "snowflakes" to mimic snow sans the freezing temperatures.

We've since seen snoap everywhere, from Disney World to local events in my small Florida beach town.

It feels just like the real thing to me now, only much less cold.

The theme parks in Florida make the holiday season pretty incredible.
Holiday parade at Universal Orlando; individuals in red vests holding a bear in a stocking float above their heads
Universal Orlando has some great holiday events.

Terri Peters

Florida, especially Central Florida where I live, is the land of theme parks.

The parks in our area go above and beyond to create events that get my family into the festive spirit, even if it's too hot to wear our ugly Christmas sweaters to them.

Places like Disney World and Universal Orlando throw holiday parties and host ticketed seasonal events all winter long.

Some years, it truly doesn't feel like Christmas until I've watched Universal's holiday parade while sweating with a crowd of people.

Our Santas ride surfboards instead of sleighs.
Man in santa swimshirt posing with people in elf-patterned morphsuits in front of surfboards on beach
In Florida, the Santas don't sleigh — they surf.

Courtesy of Eric Hill

I live about 30 minutes from Cocoa Beach, Florida, home of famed surfer Kelly Slater and the historic Cocoa Beach Pier.

Since 2009, Cocoa Beach has held a Surfing Santas event on Christmas Eve, where surfers come in costume and entertain onlookers by catching waves.

Other towns in the area also do similar events, including my own small beach town.

Instead of bundling up to walk in parades, we watch them from boats.
Boat with inflatable polar bear decoration on top and light-up reindeer in the front
A lot of people in Florida decorate their boats for the holiday season.

Terri Peters

One of our favorite holiday traditions is going out on our friends' boat to watch our town's annual lighted boat parade.

These parades happen all over Florida and boat owners deck their vessels out in everything from Christmas lights to Santa inflatables while blasting holiday music.

The state's warm weather allows us to be on the water together, enjoying the views up close.

We flex on our friends up north with beachy Christmas cards.
The author and her husband, daughter, and son, wearing Christmas pajamas on a beach
Our Christmas cards don't look like they did when we lived in Maryland.

Courtesy of Terri Peters

We've taken many of our holiday-card photos on the beach in the past few years. Usually, we throw on Christmas pajamas and ugly sweaters, too.

Are we bragging to our friends back home about our sunny winters? Just a little bit — but it's one of the ways Floridians celebrate the season.

Our home-decor stores sell tons of beachy Christmas merchandise.
Santa Claus figurine with blue hat and coat holding shells, star fish and coral and a nutcracker with a pineapple hat holding a starfish
The home-decor stores in Florida are full of holiday merchandise with a beachy twist.

Terri Peters

From T.J. Maxx to HomeGoods, home-decor stores here sell a wide array of distinctly Floridian Christmas decor with a beachy twist.

Here, we decorate our homes with mermaids wearing holly wreaths around their necks and Santas who prefer flip-flops over boots.

There are so many outdoor holiday displays to walk through, no coat required.
Picture of a botanical garden of palm trees in Florida with Christmas lights wrapped around some of the trunks of the trees
We get to enjoy more of our light displays on foot instead of from heated cars.

Terri Peters

Because the weather is warm and balmy in Florida in December, there are many beautiful outdoor displays to walk through.

We often visit botanical gardens in our area, including the McKee Botanical Garden, which decorates its grounds beautifully with holiday figurines and stunning lights.

It's surreal to walk through tropical gardens wearing sandals — among palm trees adorned with colorful lights — instead of layering up in coats and scarves to go outside in the winter.

We host holiday beach bonfires.
Hole on the beach's sand with a fire built inside, people holding marshmallows on metal poles above it
The beaches are still comfortable in Florida in December.

Terri Peters

Since it's a little cooler by the water, one of our favorite ways to celebrate the holidays is by hosting a beach bonfire for our friends.

It'd be too cold for bonfires on beaches up north, but the weather is just perfect for them in Florida.

We usually put on holiday sweaters and sip hot cocoa, make s'mores, and listen to Christmas music.

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I moved my family to Florida years ago. Celebrating Christmas in the sunny stat…