Rockledge-Cocoa Christmas boat parade, December 10, 2021.
Rockledge-Cocoa Christmas boat parade, December 10, 2021.
Our town is so small, it usually has joint events with the town next door. In July, it’s fireworks. In December, it’s parades, on land and on the water. Friday night it was the Rockledge-Cocoa (or Cocoa-Rockledge) Christmas boat parade, and it was kind of adorable.
If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, people dress up their boats with lights and inflatable decor (picture giant polar bears) and set out on the Indian River Lagoon for an extremely short trip between Rockledge and Cocoa, Florida. Other towns have this, too – I once had the experience of riding on a boat in the Cocoa Beach boat parade, and while it was interesting, it was longer than most operas. It’s fine from the shore, where everyone was having parties, but on a boat, especially a boat without a bathroom, it can feel rather endless.
But I digress. The Rockledge-Cocoa parade is not endless. It’s short and sweet. In Rockledge, several people gathered at the municipal dock on the historic river road next to the Indian River Lagoon to watch. Here are a few photos I snapped of the experience.
