What's on in Fort Lauderdale, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Cruise turnaround days, Winter high season

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Cruise turnaround days (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Peak crowds — Spring break, Cruise turnaround days

• Festival

  Fort Lauderdale Film Festival

  18–28 Feb · usually

  Ten days of premieres and documentaries across Broward, anchored on the restored Savor Cinema in Flagler Village. The festival has moved between autumn and late winter, so check the dates before planning around it. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Spring break

  25 Feb – 5 Apr · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  Tamed a long way from the 1980s version, but March still fills A1A and the beach bars. Las Olas and the strip run at capacity through the middle three weekends. Source ↗

Still on: Cruise turnaround days (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Peak crowds — Spring break, Cruise turnaround days

• Nature

  Sea turtle nesting

  1 Mar – 31 Oct

  Leatherbacks from March, loggerheads from April and greens from May, with the peak in early summer. Beachfront lighting is restricted for the whole season and the nests are staked out. Source ↗

Still on: Spring break (25 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Cruise turnaround days (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Peak crowds — Spring break, Tortuga Music Festival

• Festival

  Tortuga Music Festival

  3–15 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Three days of country music on the sand at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park in early April, with a conservation angle built into it. The beach road closes and the hotels sell out. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Sargassum season

  15 Apr – 30 Sep · usually

  The Atlantic seaweed belt pushes ashore from late spring, worst between May and August, and it smells as it rots. Which beach is clear changes week to week and with the wind. Source ↗

• Festival

  Fort Lauderdale Air Show

  25 Apr – 12 May · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A weekend of military and civilian display flying straight off the beach, free from the sand between Las Olas and Sunrise. A1A closes for it and the oceanfront hotels sell their balconies separately. Source ↗

Still on: Spring break (25 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Cruise turnaround days (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Busy — Fort Lauderdale Air Show

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Sargassum season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Fort Lauderdale Air Show (25 Apr – 12 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Stonewall Pride, Wilton Manors, Summer break in United States

• Hazard

  Atlantic hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Statistically the risk sits in August, September and October. Most weeks pass with nothing but afternoon storms, which is why late summer is also the cheapest time to be here. Source ↗

• Festival

  Stonewall Pride, Wilton Manors

  14–24 Jun · usuallyCrowded

  One of the few Pride parades in the country that steps off after dark, down Wilton Drive five miles inland from the beach. Around fifty thousand people, and the Drive is shut to traffic from the afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Sargassum season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Lobster mini-season, Summer break in United States

• Opening

  Lobster mini-season

  25–31 Jul · usuallyForaging seasonCrowded

  The last Wednesday and Thursday of July, when sport divers get the spiny lobster two days before the commercial season opens. Every ramp and dive charter on the coast is booked out and the size limits are policed hard. Source ↗

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Sargassum season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Sargassum season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Sargassum season (15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

• Festival

  Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

  25 Oct – 5 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The largest in-water boat show in the world, five days across seven marinas at the turn of October into November. Hotel rates spike and the bridges over the Intracoastal are up constantly. Source ↗

Still on: Sea turtle nesting (1 Mar – 31 Oct), Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, Cruise turnaround days

• Season

  Cruise turnaround days

  1 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyCruise seasonCrowded

  Port Everglades runs several ships turning round on the same weekend morning through the winter. The airport queues, the 17th Street bridge goes up constantly and taxis to the beach disappear until midday. Source ↗

Still on: Atlantic hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Fort Lauderdale Boat Show (25 Oct – 5 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise turnaround days, Winterfest Boat Parade

• Festival

  Winterfest Boat Parade

  8–16 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  A hundred lit boats down twelve miles of the Intracoastal on a Saturday evening in mid-December. Every waterfront bar and back garden on the route is a grandstand. Source ↗

• Season

  Winter high season

  15 Dec – 15 AprDry seasonCrowdedBook early

  Dry, warm and rain-free, which is why the whole northeast is here and the rates double. Everything about this coast is priced around these four months.

Still on: Cruise turnaround days (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))