Christmas Camping in Florida

One of our new favorite holiday traditions is Christmas camping. The Spirit of the Suwannee and Stephen Foster Cultural Center both host large holiday light displays, a Christmas village and the man himself even comes to visit kids! They are very different celebrations, but we have experienced both and loved them for different reasons.

Spirit of the Suwannee – Suwannee Lights

We visited this park in December 2021 and admittedly had doubts about what we were getting into as soon as we pulled into the park. There were a lot of people, and the campground was packed without much room between sites. This celebration is definitely livelier.

Once we got set up, we walked down to the festivities and were pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had! Though we only did the drive through light display one night, we did enjoy the Christmas village every night which has a large gas firepit to roast marshmallows, a singing puppet show, crafts with Mrs. Claus, vendors and a general store alongside a walk-through light display.

Tip: Renting or bringing a golf cart is a must! This park is beautiful but HUGE. We weren’t able to get a golf cart until the last day so we had to load up and drive anytime we wanted to explore areas of the park – many which you couldn’t park nearby anyway.

Another thing we loved about this park was that the bath houses were very clean and well kept. We had a full hook up at our camper which was also a huge bonus!

Stephen Foster Culture Center State Park - Festival of Lights

Last year we stayed at Stephen Foster Cultural Center during their Festival of Lights. The campground was quiet and beautiful. We had a large, spacious site with power and water hook up. It was an easy walk down to the festival from our site. We arrived on a Thursday which was a very quiet night.

There were themed displays all around the main event area that you could walk through. In the auditorium area there were a few stations set up with crafts and treats which were complimentary of the park, a nice little surprise! The kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows and drinking hot cocoa. There was also fresh popcorn!

Down in the main event area a few vendors were set up selling crafts and they also had one food truck (basic carnival fare). The big man himself was also there greeting children for pictures (also free).

There was also a railroad museum on site hosting a scavenger hunt – between the four of us we could only find about three quarters of the items! Finally, there is also a kid’s train – adults are welcome to ride but we definitely slowed it down!

Friday night was a bit busier, and Saturday was much more trafficked. We left Sunday morning, but I would suspect it was also a slower night. The park allows visitors to drive through the light display as well, but the displays are certainly very walkable.

So, which did we prefer?

Both…for different reasons. The fun vibe of Spirit of the Suwannee is contagious, the full hookup, and acres of campground offered hours of fun. Stephen Foster was more chill but allowed us to experience all the magic every night. It will be a hard choice for us to make where we visit this year!