Maintaining Tradition and Spreading Holiday Cheer Winterfest Style

By Dawn Read Diehl

Like the rest of the world, Winterfest is adapting our 2020 season to fit the narrative of what “can” be done instead of focusing on what we cannot do. We all watched and waited in early March to see how this unprecedented time would unfold and when we would go back to “normal” with business as usual. We paused, we listened and we spoke to those who support us doing “well checks” along the way. We kept thinking… ‘So glad we are in December and we have the benefit of time’ as those in other parts of the country were rescheduling events for late summer… then having to cancel when that date drew near as it became evident Covid-19 was sticking around a while.

Fast forward to August, 2020. We knew our normal schedule of events wasn’t going to happen but we weren’t speaking about it publicly. We really thought we could pull off our Parade in December and give everyone what they so desperately needed at the end of the year - the tradition of the 49th Annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade! After all, people are boating, right? After conversations with our Title Sponsor (Seminole Hard Rock) and our Television Partner (WSVN), they were thinking things out from a different perspective. The (Hard Rock) had 1700 people out of work with no end in sight, it didn’t feel like the right time to have their name in lights, or to celebrate as usual. The parties that happen along our 12-mile parade route and people “gathering” eating and drinking with no masks was concerning. What would those optics look like and how would that be perceived?

It was still August. We couldn’t possibly predict what would be in place for December. Would social distancing still be a thing? We know masks will be here for a while and hand sanitizer is our new best friend! So, maybe (hopefully) we could gather by December? But nobody had that crystal ball. It felt so sad to make the announcement that the parade would not happen this year as planned. People didn’t understand why.

People are boating already, why would we make this decision so soon? Some events are happening now that were anticipated to also take the year off and regroup for 2021. Why can they happen and not the Parade, we are continually asked. Every article in the news about events that are happening in our area mentions the Parade being cancelled. While in usual years, all news is good news as long as they are talking about you, right? We do need to get the word out that we are, in fact, sitting 2020 out for the Boat Parade and our usual calendar of live events. HOWEVER, we are in NO WAY sitting out 2020!

This is the year of being creative… and boy have we seen great things imagined these last few months. Kudos to our industry for doing what we do best, rolling with the punches. While we had no plans of being part of the virtual world, we have arrived and are excited to be here.

While Santa usually gets a free ride with his sleigh on top of the World-Famous Jungle Queen as the grand finale of the Parade each year, this year’s ride has tires and we are ready to show him off, South Florida Style! His new ride has horsepower instead of reindeer, it’s a shiny white Ford Mustang Convertible (can you figure out who the sponsor is?). Santa will be taking a mini vacation in Fort Lauderdale before his big day and we are keeping his itinerary full for the North Pole. We will be tracking him around town starting in November (our Santa Tracker will be active on our Winterfest APP). We’re not going to give away any secrets as to Santa’s whereabouts. Nor can we confirm or deny rumors that Santa may be at certain locations like the Hard Rock Guitar Hotel lounging at the new Bora Bora poolside; the Historic Stranahan House on Las Olas Boulevard or Hoffman’s Chocolates for some delicious Hot Cocoa and chocolate covered Oreos! Everyone will just have to wait and see!

This campaign is being sponsored by a few of our partners. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors bureau loved it so much they are producing a video for it! Twas the Night Before Christmas is Santa’s favorite book, if you didn’t know and he is set to read this amazing story via Zoom, on December 5th. It will be streamed live so it can be aired thru out the holiday season. For the first 100 registered Zoomers, they will be mailed the same beautiful hard cover FAO Schwartz book that Santa will be reading. Free of charge of course, as we have sponsors for this program as well.

I mentioned earlier that there will be no parade this year, but we figured it out - we are going to decorate a single Water Taxi and have it cruising for the month of December promoting our theme “Home for the Holidays” as it spreads holiday greetings and joy to the people on the shoreline. This boat will also be doing holiday lights cruises during the month. Santa will be on board on one evening wishing everyone Merry Christmas and a good night to all. We have created a “Home for the Holidays” poster and will still produce a brochure and newsletter as usual, to let everyone know just what we have in store for them. A new page on our website will be a Holiday tab that will include holiday recipes, DIY ornaments and a variety of things related to staying home and having fun along the way.

Another “adapting moment” we are working on is our 1-hour television special that is produced by WSVN (our television partner for 40 years) (and also airs on Fox Sports Sun) as a retrospective taking us on a trip down memory lane as we take a look inside how we got to where we are today and looking forward to our 50th Anniversary in 2021. We even got an opportunity for the first time (and only time, I am told) to sell our own tv commercials in our show, giving us even more leverage for sponsors to sink their teeth into.

New this year, we have also integrated holiday “contests” photo submission contests to be voted on in a variety of categories to keep it all going strong as we end the year with Winterfest.

We have many great prizes and partners standing strong with us. We are known for our Silent/Live Auction annually and that is going on NOW! It’s a 2-month virtual auction that would typically end the night of our Black-Tie Ball with 1000 guests and over 200 items. I am happy to report that 3 weeks in, we are trending a month ahead of 2019 in every way! Donations, bidders, and $$ in the bank already!

We all have been forced to think outside of the box more so than ever before. We are up for that challenge regularly, but this year has been more rewarding for that effort. Our partners are saying yes, commending us on our creativity and still offering great ROI. The season is just beginning for us and we are ready to bring it all on for our community. This is where healthy and solid partner relationships come in to play and the trust that our brand is worthy of aligning with, no matter what.

So, the lemonade is tasting pretty sweet right now! As a not for profit organization, we are humbled and grateful in every way.

Dawn Read Diehl is the Event Director at Winterfest, Inc. and the Immediate Past Chair for the Florida Festival & Events Association Board of Directors. She is a Fort Lauderdale Native and has been a part of the Winterfest Team for 27 years. She takes great pride in her community and being a part of different charity efforts and boards. She enjoys the collaboration Winterfest has with others in the community and being able to help so many others connect and grow.

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