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Florida State & Cultural Observances Calendar

 

Florida State & Cultural Observances Calendar

Month-by-Month Florida Holidays & Observances Guide 

🌴 Florida State & Cultural Observances Calendar

January

  • Florida Arbor Day – 3rd Friday in January (earliest in the U.S. due to climate)

  • Law Enforcement Appreciation Day – January 9

  • Zora Neale Hurston Festival – late January, Eatonville (celebrating the iconic author and Florida’s African American heritage)

February

  • Black History Month (national, but strongly celebrated in Florida with student contests and events)

  • Marjory Stoneman Douglas Remembrance – February 14 (Parkland shooting anniversary, increasingly honored in Florida)

March

  • Florida Statehood Day – March 3 (admitted as the 27th state in 1845)

  • Florida Heritage Month – March 15 to April 15 (celebrates arts, history, and culture)

  • Everglades Day – April 7 (falls partly into this observance)

April

  • Viva Florida 500 Day – April 2 (commemorates Ponce de León’s 1513 landing)

  • Everglades Day – April 7 (honoring Florida’s ecosystem)

May

  • Hernando de Soto Day – May 30 (explorer’s landing in Florida in 1539, marked with festivals in some areas)

  • Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park Reenactment – February or early May (biggest Civil War reenactment in Florida, often shifted by year)

June

  • Juneteenth Day – June 19 (federal holiday, also widely observed in Florida with parades and festivals)

July

  • Panhandle Watermelon Festival – around July 4 (Chipley, FL – one of the state’s oldest traditions, since 1956)

  • Apollo 11 Moon Landing Day – July 20 (Florida significance: Kennedy Space Center launch site)

August

  • Founders Day (Miami Springs, Ocoee, and others) – celebrated in various towns marking local history

  • Back-to-School Tax-Free Holiday (dates vary, Florida-specific shopping holiday)

September

  • Hispanic Heritage Month – September 15 to October 15 (Florida holds major essay/art contests statewide)

  • Labor Day Weekend Festivals – Various locations, including Key West and Miami

October

  • Fantasy Fest (Key West) – late October (not an official state holiday, but one of Florida’s biggest cultural events)

  • Gasparilla Season Kickoff – late fall in Tampa, leading into January parades

November

  • Florida Arbor Week (some counties) – tied to planting season

  • Veterans Day Parades – especially big in Pensacola, Tampa, and Jacksonville (due to military bases)

December

  • Orange Bowl Festival – late December in Miami (college football + parades, a long-running Florida tradition)

  • Holiday Boat Parades – December, statewide coastal towns

âš“ Florida also has county-specific days and festivals (like Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Calle Ocho Festival in Miami).

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