ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A proposed city resolution that would permanently shorten the schedule for St. Augustine’s annual Nights of Lights display is on the City Commission agenda for its March 23 meeting.
In 2025, the city commissioners voted to shorten the event from 65 days to 57 after residents expressed concerns about large crowds and traffic.
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Resolution 2026-07 would set the city’s traditional display window from the second Saturday before Thanksgiving through the second Sunday of January each year. The measure, if adopted, would fix those dates without requiring the commission to revisit them annually.
Under the city sign code, commercial and institutional properties in the historic districts currently may display clear, colorless or white seasonal lights from the first Saturday in November through the first Sunday in February. The resolution would narrow that period and notes that lights must be removed or turned off within 30 days after the display ends or face code-enforcement action.
The resolution cites recent shifts in the event’s timing caused by natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic and increased tourism as reasons for establishing consistent dates to aid planning. It also references broader changes in seasonal-decorating practices and the civic observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in mid-January.