Christmas Island Style Changes Hands This Year. Here's How Marco Island's Holiday Season Unfolds.

Christmas Island Style has a new chair in 2026. Wanda Burson stepped down this year, and Barb Dasti took over the group behind Marco Island's tree lighting, canine parade, street parade and boat parade. It is the first change at the top since 2021. The 2026 entry forms call both parades the 39th annual. The group calls itself "a 100% volunteer organization," and it raises the money for every event through fundraisers, sponsors and donations.

That shapes how you plan the next two months. The season is a community production, built by neighbors who sign up for it. The deadlines to take part come before the events, and the biggest December evenings sit on three Saturdays that each have a daytime event too.

Five Leaders Since 1987

The Christmas Island Style history traces the series to 1987. That year Dawn Norgren, owner of Island Title and a Chamber member, suggested a couple of events to help the island celebrate Christmas. The events grew under the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce until about 1999. Then Dave Rice, who had been chairing them, took the series private with the Chamber's help.

Rice handed off to Steve "Stef" Stefanides in 2004. Stefanides and his committee ran the series for 17 years, and the history notes that the events were free for everyone who took part. Burson followed in 2021, saying she wanted to keep standards high and to keep inviting committee members to suggest new things for children. Dasti is the latest in that line. She is also the contact listed for this year's street parade.

Every handoff kept the same model. Volunteers run the events, private money pays for them, and the public attends free. That model shapes the calendar below. It explains why the season leans on churches, parks, the Esplanade and the waterways, and why so many of its pieces depend on residents signing up.

The Season, Date by Date

The island's calendar begins filling well before Santa arrives. Here is the full stretch from early November through the boat parade, drawn from the 2026 Christmas Island Style schedule, the Marco Island Chamber's December calendar and the City of Marco Island.

Three December Saturdays each carry a daytime event and an evening event. On Dec. 5, the Friends of Tigertail Beach cleanup runs from 8 to 10 a.m., and the tree lighting at Veterans' Community Park starts at 6 p.m. On Dec. 12, Art in the Park opens at Veterans' Park, and the street parade steps off on San Marco Road at 6:30 p.m. On Dec. 19, Cookies & Milk with Santa fills Mackle Park in the morning, and the boat parade starts at 6 p.m.

Veterans' Community Park at 901 Park Ave. hosts the tree lighting, Art in the Park and the Farmers Market, which opens Nov. 18. The Esplanade hosts the chili cook-off in November and the canine parade in December.

The Dec. 8 canine parade is the easiest to join. It is free and needs no preregistration. Bring a well-behaved dog in a holiday costume. Pets line up by the fountain, then parade around Star Bar and the red carpet for judging.

The Deadlines Come Before the Parades

The two parades are the season's largest events, and both run on community entries. A street parade needs floats, and a boat parade needs captains. Each has its own application with its own rules. Both forms are posted on the Christmas Island Style site.

Street parade, Saturday, Dec. 12. The 2026 street parade application is due Dec. 1. The form spells out what organizers expect:

1. Organization and contact details, a description of the entry, its total length in feet, and whether it will play music.
2. Submission by email, or by mail to Christmas Island Style, P.O. Box 1212, Marco Island, FL 34146.
3. No Santa Claus on floats, no fundraising and no confetti.
4. A 2-A:10-B-C rated fire extinguisher on every float, within easy reach.
5. Lighted entries are encouraged, and organizations are invited to bring unwrapped toys, which go to local children in need.

The rule against Santa on floats makes sense once you see the whole calendar. Santa already has his own dates: his arrival on Nov. 27 and Cookies & Milk on Dec. 19.

Boat parade, Saturday, Dec. 19. The 2026 boat parade application is due Dec. 17, according to the boat parade page. The form asks for boat, captain and owner details, the vessel's length, and whether it is power or sail. Signatures are required. The form says the captains' meeting will be held the Thursday night before the parade, and captains will be told the time and place. This year, the Thursday before the parade is Dec. 17, the same day applications are due. Wave runners and jet skis can't enter, for safety reasons. Dave Richards, the boat parade chairman, is the contact listed on the form.

Watching the Boat Parade From Shore

The 2026 boat parade page gives the date and the 6 p.m. start but no route. Earlier years' coverage gives a good idea of the usual course. Coastal Breeze News described the route this way. The boats left Factory Bay toward the Judge Jolley Bridge and circled by Marco Island Yacht Club. They went west along the Marco River, then came back through Factory Bay past Rose Marina, Pier 81 and Snook Inn. From there they passed through Collier Creek, Collier Bay and Smokehouse Bay, going by the Esplanade, then returned to the Marco River and ran along the Hideaway Beach and Isle of Capri shorelines.

Coastal Breeze also named viewing spots along that course: Snook Inn, The Esplanade, the Anglers Cove Chickee Hut, Marco Island Yacht Club and Jane Hitler Park. The paper advised getting there early. That description reflects past parades, so check christmasislandstyle.com before choosing a spot for Dec. 19. If your own dock or lanai faces Collier Bay or the Marco River, the traditional route suggests you may have one of the island's best seats.

Around the Edges of the Calendar

A few other changes on the island affect the season.

Mackle Park, home of Cookies & Milk with Santa, has its spray park on the city's project list. A City of Marco Island project page describes a $177,000 replacement of the 15-year-old equipment and splash-pad surface at 1361 Andalusia Ter. The page lists the project as under construction but gives no completion date.

The dinner-and-a-movie routine has changed this season too. Marco Movies, the island's dine-in cinema, closed at the end of April after more than 30 years, according to Gulfshore Business. The same roundup reports that Summer Day Cafe moved from Marco Island to the Shoppes at Fiddlers Creek. On Bald Eagle Drive, Naples Press reported that Zaza Mexican Restaurant became a Mediterranean restaurant in early September. Its own site calls it Marazul and lists the address as 1095 Bald Eagle Dr., Unit 8.

The two beach cleanups follow the same volunteer model as the parades. The city's Beach & Coastal Resources Advisory Committee hosts the South Beach Boardwalk cleanup on Saturday, Nov. 21, with the Marco Island Women's Club as its partner. Friends of Tigertail Beach leads the Tigertail Beach Park cleanup on Saturday, Dec. 5, the same day as the tree lighting. Both run from 8 to 10 a.m.

Seasonal owners returning this fall will find the series run the way it always has been, by neighbors volunteering their time. If a December on Marco Island has you thinking about a home on the water along the boat parade's traditional route, Laurie Bellico can talk you through it discreetly, starting with an instant valuation of the home you own now.