Hobe Sound's Holiday Season Comes Down to One December Weekend

At Hobe Sound Farms, west of I-95 on Bridge Road, Christmas started on November 13 and keeps going until December 23. In the village core it lasts four days. The Singing Christmas Tree runs Thursday, December 3, through Sunday, December 6. The 40th Annual Hobe Sound Christmas Parade comes through the village core on Saturday, December 5, at 1 p.m.

So the long season and the short one both run on December 5. The farm has its full weekend lineup going that morning, the parade steps off after lunch, and the Singing Tree starts its third night at 7. You can fit all three into one Saturday if you know the order.

Four Nights on Gomez Avenue

Hobe Sound Ministries presents its 29th Annual Singing Christmas Tree from Thursday, December 3, through Sunday, December 6, at 11295 Gomez Ave., home of Hobe Sound Bible College and Church. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the program starts at 7 p.m. every night.

The ministry describes a big production: 75 singers in a tree lit with thousands of lights, a 25-piece orchestra, a children's choir and a drama cast of 50. The staging also includes flying angels, kings and shepherds. The organizers say more than 5,000 people attend each year.

Admission is free. Groups of 25 or more can call 772-546-5696 to reserve seats. The show draws thousands over four nights and the doors open an hour early, so the 6 p.m. opening matters if you want to sit with your whole group.

Saturday Afternoon on Dixie Highway

The Hobe Sound Chamber of Commerce lists the 40th Annual Hobe Sound Christmas Parade for December 5, 2026, at 1 p.m., and its 2026 entry application is already posted.

Last year's route gives a rough idea of where things happen. In 2025, according to a participant notice from The Pine School, entries lined up on Dixie Highway between noon and 12:30 p.m. The parade ran from just south of Sophia's near Venus Street to Zeus Park at Hercules Avenue. The same notice warned that parking could be tricky and told families to leave extra time. The Chamber's parade page is the place to check this year's details as the date gets closer.

The Chamber's list of 2025 winners shows what kind of parade this is. Most entries come from local businesses, dance studios, a school band and neighbors:

• Best Overall: Preston Contemporary Dance Theater & Merritt Chiropractic
• Judges Choice: Jenkins Landscape & Just Dance
• Most Humorous: Hobe Sound Bunco
• Best Marching: South Fork High School Band
• Most Original: 3 Natives Hobe Sound
• Best Hobe Sound History: Apollo School

The parade even gives a prize for Best Hobe Sound History.

December 5, Hour by Hour

On the first Saturday in December, all three events are open, and their hours barely leave room to get from one to the next. Here is how the published times line up:

1. 9 a.m. The weekend farmers market opens at Hobe Sound Farms, 1425 SE Bridge Road. More than 60 vendors are there, along with live music, food, a petting zoo, a holiday hayride and a skating rink.
2. Noon to 12:30 p.m. Parade entries gathered on Dixie Highway in this window in 2025.
3. 1 p.m. The parade steps off.
4. 2 p.m. The farmers market closes. The farm keeps its petting zoo, hayride, skating rink and bounce house open until 6 p.m., and tree sales run until 6 as well.
5. 6 p.m. Doors open on Gomez Avenue.
6. 7 p.m. The Singing Christmas Tree begins.

The tight spot is the middle of the day. The market closes an hour after the parade starts, so the farm and the parade work best one after the other. The farm's afternoon hours mean you can still pick up a tree after the parade and bring it home before the evening show.

The Long Run West of I-95

Everything outside that one weekend happens at Hobe Sound Farms. Entry and on-site parking are free. Activities cost $5 to $20 each. The farm sells Fraser fir trees. Anyone who reserved a tree in the October 3 to November 12 presale can pick it up at the Farm Stand any day of the week through November 29.

From publish day on, the farm's calendar looks like this:

On Saturdays and Sundays during the extended stretch, the weekend list goes well beyond trees. It adds slingshots, archery, cattle feeding, pony rides, a Gem Jungle, a bull ride and swamp buggy rides. Discover Martin lists Night at the Farm on Wednesday, December 9, with hayrides, archery, a golf simulator, a mechanical bull, the petting zoo, holiday shopping, food tastings and holiday drinks. Admission is free. It's the only weeknight evening event on the farm's December calendar. It also lands the Wednesday after parade weekend, so anyone who missed the Saturday crowds gets a second chance.

The visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus on December 19 and 20 comes two weeks after the parade, when the village core has gone quiet again. Families who want holiday photos and missed the first weekend can still get them that weekend.

The Corner That Stayed Put

Parade weekend also brings visitors who haven't been to the village core in a while, and some may have heard that one of its oldest restaurants was closing. In September, TCPalm reported that Harry and the Natives has not been sold. The Old Florida restaurant opened in Hobe Sound in 1941, and the MacArthur family has owned it for 85 years. The family told the paper the restaurant is staying on its Hobe Sound corner.

For the rest of the year, our August guide to what's open in Hobe Sound covers the Federal Highway corridor, and our Hobe Sound neighborhood page covers the wider area.

If family is visiting for parade weekend and starts asking what Hobe Sound is like the rest of the year, we're happy to talk it over. George has called this part of Northern Palm Beach and Martin counties home since 1980. Schedule a consultation with George M Richetelli.