Night Watch for Visitors

Colonial Night Watch is a two-day event held in St. Augustine the first weekend in December each year. There is plenty to do and see. In St. Augustine, you will find our town all prepared for the holiday season. Lights decorate the Plaza de la Constitucion, shops and restaurants are open evenings with many providing live entertainment.

Many visitors do not realize that the Castillo de San Marcos, built by the Spanish in the late 1600’s still flies under the Spanish flag. Construction on the Castillo de San Marcos began in 1672 and was completed in 1695, making it the oldest masonry fort in the Continental United States.

Our annual Christmas Parade begins Saturday at 9:00 am with floats, marching bands, antique cars, horses and carriages. The parade closes its procession with Santa. Our parade is the largest in Northeast Florida. You can follow the parade anywhere from the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at the Mission of Nombre de Dios on Ocean Ave. to behind the visitor’s center on West Castillo Drive.

In Town, the Colonial Quarter museum is open to the public free of charge. There you will find a military encampment representing British, Spanish and East Florida Ranger troops. Many accoutrements of the period are on display along with musket firings in the Colonial Quarter throughout the day. Colonial Quarter Stage hosts performances of living historians in period clothing. There will be demonstrations by Native Americans, Sword Fighters and other participants portraying a “living history.” Please join us in peace on this commencement of the Holiday Season. A torchlight parade will start at the Castillo at 7 PM, and march to 

the City Gates where the Public will be invited to follow along St. George St. to the Government house where there speeches to welcome those assembled. After the troops have fired three Volleys of Joy from their muskets, all in attendance are invited to sing along in some old tyme Christmas Carols. St. Augustine’s famous Nights of Lights will be in full swing and the Torchlight Parade makes the ambiance something to remember.

Other Local History to Visit While You Are Here

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Things to Do

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