Kick off the holiday season tonight at the Jacksonville Light Parade tonight on the downtown riverfront starting at 7 p.m.
About the parade
Each year, boats of every shape and size are imaginatively adorned with decorations that captivate senses and stimulate imaginations. Seafarers and landlubbers of all ages are sure to be dazzled by the area's largest lighted boat parade which was voted as Southeast Tourism Society's Top 20 events.
Holiday Fireworks Spectacular
Following the 2009 boat parade, fireworks will be shot from river barges in front of The Jacksonville Landing, Hyatt Regency Hotel and Metropolitan Park. The signature "waterfall" fireworks will be shot from both sides of the Main Street Bridge and the east side of the Acosta Bridge.
Viewing the parade
Each year, the parade can be seen from both the northbank and southbank of the downtown riverfront. Families are encouraged to bring their chairs, blankets and picnics to the riverfront for this magical evening!
Announcements of parading boats, themes and holiday messages will be broadcast along the northbank and southbank of the riverfront. For complete info including upcoming downtown holiday events happening next week, visit www.makeascenedowntown.com (http://www.makeascenedowntown.com)
C-Ya there! Great event and fun time!
These events attract a very rough crowd. If you plan on attending, please secure your vehicle and keep your guard up at all times. One of my employee's car window was broken out last night by rock throwing hooligans. The JSO officer who responded described the scene at the Landing as a being dangerous and "not like it used to be". I would not take my family there under any circumstances.
same thing with tonight's boat show...perfect for families (unless of course you're Jerry)!
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Quote from: Jerry Moran on November 28, 2009, 04:07:05 PM
These events attract a very rough crowd. If you plan on attending, please secure your vehicle and keep your guard up at all times. One of my employee's car window was broken out last night by rock throwing hooligans. The JSO officer who responded described the scene at the Landing as a being dangerous and "not like it used to be". I would not take my family there under any circumstances.
Hi Jerry,
The Jacksonville Light Parade is a very family-friendly event that brings thousands of people to the downtown riverfront to celebrate the holidays. You describe the incident as "last night." Do you mean that this happened during the tree lighting last night or tonight's Light Parade? I suggest you contact the Landing management about the incident if it happened on Landing property.
As for the Light Parade tonight, I hope you had a chance to enjoy the event as another free opportunity for families to enjoy the holiday downtown.
LIGHT PARADE WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The City of Jacksonville is proud to announce the following winners from the 25th annual Jacksonville Light Parade, held tonight, on the downtown riverfront. The Grand Overall Winner was Captain Steve DiPerna whose boat Escape included Santa Claus and all his reindeer choreographed to the popular song Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.
In the sailboat category, the first place winner was Captain Eric Lockwood, with his boat Quiet Flight which was decorated with a 15-foot toy soldier with a “boatload†of presents. The second place sailboat winner was Captain James Misora, with his boat Peppin, which was decorated with beautiful blue lights.
The 1st place winner in the 30’ and Over Powerboat category was Captain Bill Just, with his boat Just For Now, whose boat was decorated as a giant gingerbread house. Second place in the 30’ and Over category was captured by Captain Eric Nord aboard Island Girl decorated with lights in the shape of a large bicycle.
In the Under 30’ Powerboat category, first place went to Captain Eugene Yerkes, whose boat Calamity was decorated as a baby dragon. Second place in the Under 30’ Category went to Captain Jeff Streif, with his boat W.O.W.-Waiting on Wendy, whose boat featured lights representing a large heart, peace sign, and flower.
Captain Tommy Silverblatt took honors in the Corporate/Commercial category, with his crew on 4 Therapy sporting a sea theme with starfish, clam shell, mermaid and Santa. Topping the Organized Club category was Captain Rich Brew aboard K O A S decorated as a large dragon. Best New Entry honors went to Captain Chuck Fields with his boat Zaida, complete with an Angel of Hope decorated in lights with moving wings that made her look like she was in flight. The Holiday Spirit award went to Captain Fillipe Macedo aboard the CVS Caremark covered in holiday-themed lights and decorations.
Boats were judged based on lights and decorations, composition and originality. Judges for the 24th annual Jacksonville Light Parade were: Daniel James, owner of Daniel James Salon; Janice Dailey, Director of Sales and Marketing, Crown Plaza Hotel; and Joey Marchy, www.urbanjacksonville.info (http://www.urbanjacksonville.info)
The 2009 Jacksonville Light Parade was produced by the City of Jacksonville and sponsored by Lite 96.1 FM, 99.9 Gator Country WGNE, MOViN 100.7 WMUV. This event is part of the Make A Scene Downtown! event series.
Quote from: Lunican on November 28, 2009, 10:15:11 PM
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Thanks so much for posting these!
Awesome event last night! Crowds were large and well behaved... clearly the children and families had fun... great boats and the fireworks were spectacular!
Bridgetroll....don't forget..NO WIND!! ;D
Can we expect a MetroJacksonville.com boat next year? Say yes!
I can see it now ... Ocklawaha piloting an old trolley car with pontoons ... :D
QuoteCan we expect a MetroJacksonville.com boat next year? Say yes!
Great idea! I would volunteer to help put one together!
My wife and sister-in-law went with two kids and said it was great (and family friendly). No bad experiences. I was under the weather with a sinus infection and couldn't be there. Anything that highlights the downtown waterfront and brings in crowds is a positive in my opinion.
QuoteThese events attract a very rough crowd. If you plan on attending, please secure your vehicle and keep your guard up at all times. One of my employee's car window was broken out last night by rock throwing hooligans. The JSO officer who responded described the scene at the Landing as a being dangerous and "not like it used to be". I would not take my family there under any circumstances.
I am merely repeating what a JSO officer had to say about the demeanor of the crowd at the Tree Lighting. The officer stated that a relative had told him earlier in the week that she planned to take her family to the Tree Lighting. He was not in favor of the idea, due to his past experience with downtown special events. He did not know if they went or not, but telephoned her in a panic right after a "huge fight" broke out at the Landing, to find out if she was safe.
As for my restaurant on Laura St, downtown special events hurt my business. Convenient parking is not available. The streets are filled with intimidating looking people who discourage my guests from leaving the safety of their vehicles, if they can first find parking. There is a constant stream of hooting, shouting thugs that pass by and bang on my window, pull my front door open, and heavily contribute to the miasma that is Downtown Jacksonville. There is no police presence in sight, apparently because City Hall would rather throw a party than protect the City's citizens and preserve the peace by adequately funding the JSO. How can City Hall in good conscience underfund the JSO in favor of special events that are of questionable value to the community? And, why is the COJ involved in entertainment, period?
During the boat parade, the bridges were closed, and many of my upscale, high dollar spending customers called to say they could not make their dinner reservation because "They can't get downtown". Many of my regular customers tell me they will not venture down town at all when a special event is in progress, due to previous bad experiences. Downtown special events discourage the very people City Hall claims it wants to attract. I never received any notice from City Hall that the bridges would be closed. What these poorly planned, inadequately policed events do is attract a rabble of miscreants to downtown, and they bring their bad attitudes and behaviors with them. The result is, well, rocks being thrown at automobile windows:
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Wow...
Jerry....maybe you should think abaout marketing to a different crowd during special events.
Of course the Main St and Acosta Brodges were closed....during the boat parade, the main St. Bridge was raised....and then both were closed for fireworks following.
If your customers really wanted to come, all they had to do was take I-95 around to the Forsyth St. exit and come in that way...I doubt the extra 3 minute drive time would have been a deterrent.
I agree... judging by the numbers of Yachts and large cabin cruisers parked for the event there were hundreds of "high paying" potential customers downtown for the event.
I went down with my wife, 16 m/o, and in-laws in tow for the tree lighting.
Parking was super-simple if one was willing to pay for it. Don't know about the supposed "high-paying" folks, but my convenience and peace-of-mind is well worth 5 bucks. The one-block walk was fine.
We didn't feel "unsafe" at all 'til we reached The Landing. Crowd control and ingress/egress were definitely an issue for The Landing. There were maybe two/three tense moments in the bustle, but just typical in-crowd claustrophobic/agoraphobic freakouts. We ended up leaving by 7:30, however, due to people pushing/shoving by and through us to get in and out (keep in mind we were virtually backed into a corner, trying to stay out of the way of most foot traffic) and our apparent inability to work our way around to a more open spot.
In hindsight, we should have walked around to one of the open-air sides or to the riverwalk for courtyard access, instead of going through the building. Still, there needed to be someone at the doors to the courtyard controlling and directing traffic flow. I got the feeling they were unprepared for the number of folks who were coming. After 20-some-odd years of putting this on, that should not happen.
Sadly, I don't think I'll go back. It's not because I don't want to, but because I won't be able to convince my wife to go again. Maybe if the city sells the land underneath, allowing The Landing to go forward with the plans to open the courtyard to the street, I can swing it. ::) So, yeah; never again.
I was hoping to make this a family tradition. :-[
Quote from: Charles Hunter on November 29, 2009, 02:15:45 PM
I can see it now ... Ocklawaha piloting an old trolley car with pontoons ... :D
Find that old trolley Charles, your a daisy if you do! I'm ready with the barge when you are.OCKLAWAHA
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/TRAVEL%20COLOMBIA%20and%20Latin%20America/ColombiaCOP.jpg)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/TRAVEL%20COLOMBIA%20and%20Latin%20America/ColombiaPolicia.jpg)
Be careful, VERY CAREFUL, what you ask for boys and girls... NONE OF YOU have ever seen "urban violence," believe me, I survived it! Jacksonville's downtown at it's worst, NEVER approaches the level that this did. Today both are tranquil, Medellin is actually safer then Jax according to the FBI, but be thankful for what we have. Lead on "Make a Scene...Jacksonville."
PEACE!
OCKLAWAHA
(http://ecolombia.com.my/Imagenes/Iconos/Colombia.jpg)
QuoteI was hoping to make this a family tradition.
I personally think the boat parade and fireworks are a much better event. The crowds are spread over large areas on both banks of the river... I think this fireworks display rivals July 4, and New years.
With increasing frequency the local boating community steers clear of the Landing.
'North' Riverside,103rd.street,Cassatt Ave,Arlington..........my,the list of "Do not enter" is increasing.
The backdrop to this: Surrounding county's subtle yet militant anti Duval theme.
Guess that explains why there were over 80 boats in the parade this year, right?
There also had to be about 40 boats tied up along the riverwalk from CSX to the Hyatt... sometimes 4 deep.
Went to the boat parade Saturday night, I didnt see any bad elements. As far as crowds at the Landing, that's why we go to the front of the Hyatt, a much more enjoyous occasion. Ate pizza at Northstar, not too bad, eventhough we were the only ones in there. Fireworks were great as always! Now if only the city would put up some freaking Christmas decorations downtown. It looks so dark and uninviting for Christmas time. What happend to all the decorations the city used to put on the light poles????
Whew! Where do I begin? :)
Let me start with a few things Jerry said. Special events are absolutely necessary to the future of downtown Jacksonville and the City of Jacksonville. They allow us to actually enjoy the city in which we live. They add culture to our community and simply put, give us something fun to do. We can't all just work a 40+ hour work week, go home, go to bed, get up and do it all over again. What fun would that be and why would that make us have ownership in our city? I think it's especially nice that almost 98% of these events are free!!
Obviously, all special events are beneficial to every business downtown. But it is the hope that having these special events downtown keep this area in the minds of the consumer. They may not frequent your business that specific evening, but the chance they will think of your business the next time they are looking for a place to eat or to purchase a product you sell is definitely higher than if there wasn't a special event drawing traffic to your area. And finally, as much as you may or may not agree, downtown Jacksonville is absolutely statistically proved to be the safest Zone in this city. We may have nuisance activity (and that is not something any of us enjoy), but this is a downtown atmosphere. The more special events that take place downtown, the less nuisance activity there will be. "They" don't like crowds, trust me.
Tree Lighting: After 23 years, it has grown to be very popular. This is why we partner with a TV station to also air the program live on television. Because of the size of the crowd, we took some steps this year to try and add additional viewing space. 1. We did not allow the crowd to bring chairs into the Courtyard. Obviously this angered many people, so let me explain why we had to do this. Last year, people came as early as noon and set their chair in the Courtyard. They left and then came back hours later. Then they insisted that no other chair could be any closer to their chair unless it was two feet away. Even after repeated announcements/requests into the microphone asking the people to be considerate of others and scoot their chairs closer together so everyone would have the same viewing opportunity, they rudely refused. So many people were unable to see the Tree Lighting and it was sad to look down from the 2nd floor to see all the wasted space in between the chairs. So after much thought, we decided to not allow chairs. We thought that having standing-room only would allow more people the opportunity to view the event (it's only an hour-long event anyway). We were wrong. Instead people brought blankets and spread them out all over the Courtyard taking up even more room than a chair. I was seriously heart broken. I don't understand why people can't just be nice to each other and considerate of others; especially at a free, non-ticketed event. AND we set up a handicap area to accommodate those with disabilities.
Realizing that many may come to this event and not have a clear line of site, we also tuned the TVs in the Food Court to the live TV show and aired the show on the Courtyard Jumbotron.
Again, this is a free , non-ticketed event. We put a lot of time, money, planning and effort into making this a successful night. I just wish that more people could be considerate of others and act as good neighbors.
One last thing about Tree Lighting, I am not aware of any fight on the property. If there was such an incident, I would like to learn more. My email is rnudge@sleiman.com.
I hope I clarified some issues.
JaxLanding. Great post. I just want to say the Landing is the only festive looking place Downtown, especially at Christmas. I am grateful Tony decorates and makes it look inviting, especially at Christmas! Keep up the good work. By the way I never feel unsafe at the Landing, even on FL/GA Weekend.
Jerry merely questioned, "And, why is the COJ involved in entertainment, period?"
This event is not free it is yet another tab picked up by the taxpayer! Many such events do include advance notification of bridge and street closings but the City dropped the ball this time, again!
COJ is involved in entertainment/festivals because that's what cities do....its called Quality of Life!