The best things to do in Miami this December

The Miami Beach Holiday Festival of Lights returns to Ocean Drive with two weekends of live music, festive characters, immersive light displays and seasonal food and drinks. Presented by the Miami Beach Classical Music Festival and artistic director Michael Rossi, the free community shows transform a strip of Art Deco oceanfront into an enchanting open-air theater complete with a 20-foot Christmas Tree. Expect a full symphony orchestra, appearances by Santa, the Grinch and Elsa, plus mesmerizing animated light shows splashed onto the historic buildings' façades. Performances take place on December 14, 20 and 21 at 6:00 and 7:30pm, and on December 13 at 6:15 and 7:15pm outside The Betsy Hotel. On December 13, the City of Miami Beach presents a special Holiday Extravaganza featuring a grand drone show viewable from Lummus Park.

The Downtown Development Authority is bringing all the cozy seasonal vibes to our subtropical paradise for its annual Holiday Village on Flagler, running on December 7, 14 and 21. Downtown's charming historic thoroughfare will transform into a festive pop-up village complete with twinkling décor, local vendors and interactive stations where kids can craft ornaments, snap photos and enjoy sweet seasonal treats. To kick things off, there will be a magical 24-foot Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on November 14 from 6 to 10pm, which includes a free performance by the Miami Symphony Orchestra alongside students from the New World School of the Arts. Families can also frolic in a dedicated kids’ area with a bounce house, popcorn, cotton candy, face painting and an early visit from Santa. Other highlights include a menorah lighting on December 14, a toy giveaway on December 21 and a New Year's Day celebration from 3 to 8pm featuring live music, family fun and surprise guests, all free and open to the public.

Get your festive carnival fix at Tropical Park during Christmas Wonderland, a local holiday production that's grown into the largest of its kind in the U.S. Now in its third year, this 14-acre spectacle features six immersive holiday worlds, 50-plus rides, dazzling light shows and nightly entertainment like fireworks shows, acrobatic acts and even Santa as a human cannonball. Of course, the grounds are lined with photo-worthy moments, starting with the Wonder Portal, an LED archway that leads into Tinsel Trail, a half-mile of synchronized lighting displays, installations and whimsical backdrops. At the heart of the midway, the IG’loo 360-Dome surrounds guests in a 3D-mapped immersive visual experience. The midway is also where you'll find the fair's main food and drink offerings, including plenty of local food trucks and seasonal brews from Cervecería La Tropical.

In tandem with the holiday season, Jungle Island's enchanting festival of lights returns for a fourth year with a new production featuring more than 37 monumental, handcrafted silk lantern scenes created by a global team of artisans, graphic designers, seamstresses and more. This year, Luminosa takes visitors on a vibrant trail of themed vignettes representing different ecosystems, from the Amazon rainforest to African savannahs, complete with cutting-edge animatronics, holograms and interactive storytelling. The popular Holiday Village also makes a return this year (through January 4), featuring Christmas trees, holiday treats like churro donut holes and coquito, a seasonal bazaar and a 30-foot Christmas tree centerpiece.  When is Luminosa 2025? Luminosa runs from Friday, November 14 through March 7, 2026. The hours of operation are 5:30 to 9:30pm Sunday through Thursday and until 10:30pm on Friday and Saturday. The Holiday Village will also open on November 14 and run through January 4, 2026. This outdoor experience operates rain or shine, with covered areas available throughout the venue.  How much are tickets? Adult tickets range from $30.78 on weekdays to $46.88 on weekends. Child tickets (ages four to 12) range from $21.58 to $33.08. Family bundles and group rates are available, with discounts for seniors, students and military personnel.

Christmas gets a freaky twist at this holiday carnival in Hialeah. Expect all the usual rides, midway games and festive displays, plus entry to Ripley’s exhibition of strange and unusual oddities and artifacts. New sideshows roll out weekly, too, like contortionists, sword swallowers, foot archers and the Shortest Woman in the World. Other experiences include the shimmering Fairyland Journey pathway and Dinner at Santa's, a cozy sit-down meal at Santa’s North Pole home.

A much-anticipated precursor to the holiday season in Miami, NightGarden returns in November for its seventh season at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, promising even more psychedelic scenery, family-friendly activities and interactive artwork than ever before. Running from November 7 through January 11, NightGarden invites guests to frolic around a neon-lit wonderland of tropical trails lined with holographic sculptures, secret sunken ponds and hidden fairy worlds. Expect several enticing new activations this year, including the Tree of Life, a monumental centerpiece with lights and projections activated by guest touch. You'll also find new immersive domes with themed photo backdrops, a Secret Garden Laser Light Show, movie nights and more. How much are tickets? Tickets start at $28 and vary based on date and time, with discounts for Fairchild members and seniors. Children three and under are free.

If you’ve ever wanted to live inside a Mariah Carey Christmas special, this is your moment. For the first time ever, Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar is landing in Miami Beach, promising a “Mariahfied cocktail experience” that’s part pop-up, part wonderland and entirely extra (in the best possible way). Launching on November 20 at Ray’s Hometown Bar, expect wall-to-wall holiday décor dripping with glitter and nostalgia, festive photo ops (including a new “Queen of Christmas” homage and Santa’s Sleigh setup) and recreated backdrops from her most iconic album covers. Every 30 minutes, the unmistakable opening notes of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” will cue the room into collective holiday euphoria. The menu keeps the theme alive with festive small bites and seasonal cocktails made with Carey’s own Black Irish cream liqueur. For fans who want to take the experience home, there’s exclusive merch, vinyl copies of her holiday albums and even her newest LP, Here For It All. You can even write to the star herself at the “Letters to Mariah” station. Tickets will be available exclusively through Bucket Listers, and Miami fans can join the waitlist now for early access once reservations open. 

If it doesn’t feel like Christmas where you live, just wait until you step foot inside Pinecrest Gardens. The botanical gardens transform into a winter wonderland draped in a blanket of sparkling lights. Every night brings new forms of fun like movie nights, mariachis, character experiences and even concerts at the sunken Banyan Bowl stage. For families, there are sit-downs with Santa, storytime, carolers and more. Watch out for the Seuss-themed nights, which are sure to be great fodder for this year's Christmas cards. 

Our favorite buzzy supper club in Wynwood is doing its part to spread the holiday cheer this season. Though its dramatic arched ceiling, sunken dining room and cabaret performers lend Sparrow Italia a festive ambiance year-round, the Italian steakhouse has gone the extra mile to ensure diners soak in all the cozy feels from now through December 31. The luxe wintertime transformation includes a stunning ceiling installation by Floratorium, a nature-driven studio known for its sculptural, biophilic designs. At Sparrow, they've ensconced the dining room in hundreds of metallic gold ornaments that float overhead, draped in white pine and cedar that subtly scent the space. The pop-up also features two limited specials: a warm, caramel-drizzled Panettone Bread Pudding with vanilla ice cream, and an Italian Coquito that riffs on the classic with rum, Braulio, nocino, coconut cream and holiday spices.

South Florida doesn’t do winter. At least, not the frosty, scarf-necessary, hot-cocoa-as-survival-fuel kind. Which is why the return of real-ice skating to downtown West Palm Beach feels like a minor miracle powered by equal parts holiday spirit and serious refrigeration tech. Winter Wonderland is back at The Ben Hotel starting November 1, transforming the waterfront lawn into a glittering holiday playground with twinkling trees, Aspen-style chalets and, of course, a 50-by-66-foot rink made of the real stuff. Yes, ice. In Palm Beach. Again. Last year’s debut drew more than 30,000 skaters, proving locals are more than ready to trade sand for snowflakes, at least in theory. Around the rink, expect plenty of festive distractions: chalet vendors slinging gifts and sweets; a holiday bar for hot chocolate, s’mores, grown-up toddies and the debut of a Holiday Tree Forest created in partnership with local nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. There will also be themed events like Live Music Saturdays and Santa Sundays, ornament-making workshops and an opening-day curling exhibition (yes, Palm Beach now has curling athletes and, no, the tropics do not care about your winter stereotypes). When is Winter Wonderland at The Ben Hotel? Skating runs daily from November 1 through January 4 from 10am to 9pm. How much are tickets? Entry is free unless you’re lacing up, in which case tickets start at $25 for adults and $10 for kids 11...