The Palm Beaches, month by month

01How to use this calendar

The Palm Beaches run on a season. From November to April the weather is at its best and the region fills with residents who live here for the winter, and the calendar fills with them: art fairs, the boat show, the horse shows in Wellington, the tour golf stop, the food festivals. From May to October the crowds thin, the water warms, the sea turtles come ashore below the residence, and the events are smaller and more local.

Everything below is annual and well established, but organisers move dates by a week or two from year to year and occasionally more. Treat the months as reliable and the specific weekends as something to confirm on the organiser's own site before you book the residence around them.

02January to March

January

• The South Florida Fair in West Palm Beach, a large county fair with rides, livestock and concerts that runs for about two weeks in the middle of the month.
• The Winter Equestrian Festival begins in Wellington, about forty-five minutes inland, and runs for twelve weeks of show jumping and dressage with free general admission on many days.
• Manatee season at Manatee Lagoon in Riviera Beach, when cold snaps bring the animals into the warm-water outflow; the Manatee Lagoon guide explains when to go.

February

• The winter art fairs at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, drawing galleries from around the world.
• The Street Painting Festival in Lake Worth Beach, where artists chalk the closed streets over a weekend.
• Spring training begins late in the month at the ballparks in West Palm Beach and Jupiter.

March

• The PGA Tour stop at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, at the turn of February into March.
• The Palm Beach International Boat Show on the West Palm Beach waterfront, one of the largest in the country, late in the month.
• Sea turtle nesting begins on the beach below the residence, with leatherbacks first; the sea turtles guide covers the season and the rules.

03April to June

April

• The Delray Affair, a large arts and crafts street festival on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, about forty-five minutes south.
• The last of the season: the equestrian festival closes, the winter residents leave, and prices and crowds ease by the end of the month.

May

• SunFest, the waterfront music festival in West Palm Beach, early in the month, with several days of concerts along the Intracoastal.
• Turtle season builds, with loggerheads and green turtles nesting through the summer.

June

• Guided turtle walks begin at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, by reservation and usually sold out early.
• Hurricane season opens on the first of the month; the early weeks are usually quiet.

04July to September

July

• Fourth of July fireworks over the West Palm Beach waterfront, with a day of events on Flagler Drive.
• Hatchling season begins as the first nests below the residence open at night; lights stay off on the balcony after dark.

August

• The spiny lobster season opens in early August, and the charters across the bridge fill with divers; the diving guide explains the rules.
• The quiet begins. Schools go back and the beaches empty; the residence's summer rates run through the autumn.

September

• The quietest month on the coast, and the statistical peak of hurricane season around the tenth. Watch the forecast, and read the cancellation policy on the listing before you book.
• The last hatchlings leave the beach by the end of October.

05October to December

October

• The dry season arrives around the middle of the month, and with it the first cool nights.
• The West Palm Beach GreenMarket returns to the waterfront on Saturday mornings and runs through April.

November

• The season opens. Restaurants reopen their patios, the winter residents return, and the first sailfish of the year follow the cold fronts offshore; the boating and fishing guide covers the winter fishing.
• Thanksgiving week is the first full week of the winter calendar; book the residence early.

December

• The Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade on the Intracoastal from North Palm Beach to Jupiter, a few miles north of the residence, early in the month.
• The Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival, several days of dinners and tastings in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach in the middle of the month.
• The sand tree on the West Palm Beach waterfront, a holiday tree sculpted from hundreds of tons of sand and lit each evening.

06Every week of the year

• Clematis by Night, the free Thursday-evening concert on the West Palm Beach waterfront.
• The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, open for climbs most days, about thirty minutes north; see day trips.
• The museums: the Norton in West Palm Beach and the Flagler in Palm Beach; the arts and culture guide has hours and the smaller houses.
• The Kravis Center in West Palm Beach for touring theatre, concerts and the ballet through the season.
• The spa below the residence, open every day, at preferred rates for residence guests and booked with the resort.

For what the weather is doing in each of these months, the when to visit guide is the companion to this page.