We track 2 displays in St. Petersburg. Every one of them is free to visit.
Displays here switch on around sunset. In St. Petersburg that means about 5:35 PM in early December and 5:38 PM by mid-month — the earliest sunsets of the year fall right in the middle of lights season. It is properly dark by about 6:03 PM, which is when the displays look their best. December nights in St. Petersburg typically drop to around 56°F.
| Date | Sunset | Fully dark |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1 | 5:35 PM | 6:00 PM |
| Dec 15 | 5:38 PM | 6:03 PM |
| Dec 25 | 5:42 PM | 6:08 PM |
Residential displays have no facilities of their own — no parking, no toilets, nowhere to warm up — so it is worth knowing what is around. Within about three miles of the St. Petersburg cluster, OpenStreetMap maps 5 public car parks and 21 public toilets. There is no shortage of cafés and takeaways for a hot drink on the way round.
Freeattractionlights spanning multiple waterfront parksgiant greeting card displayDecember events including Santa photos, Snowfest, and S'Mores with Santa
St. Petersburg strings lights across its downtown waterfront parks from the end of November through New Year's Day, anchored by a giant greeting card display. Special events like Santa photos, Snowfest, and S'Mores with Santa run throughout December.
✓ Last confirmed for the 2025 season
Freeresidential500,000 lights18-train HO-scale model railroadrunning for over 45 yearsfeatured on HGTV and NBC's Today Show
St. Petersburg's nationally recognized Oakdale display has run for more than four decades, growing to roughly 500,000 lights plus an 18-train HO-scale model railroad. Its fame has earned features on HGTV and NBC's Today Show.
✓ Last confirmed for the 2025 season
Know a display we're missing in St. Petersburg?Add it to the guide.