Avondale's Holiday Season Runs Down St. Johns Avenue, From the Day After Thanksgiving to Luminaria
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
Avondale started as a planned development in 1920. The sidewalks, sewers and utilities went in before a single lot was sold, and the shops on St. Johns Avenue were built small on purpose so they would fit in with the houses around them. One of those buildings, from 1927, was designed by Henry Klutho. Jacksonville Today recently called the strip "perhaps the region's most-walkable and inviting cluster of restaurants, boutiques and specialty shops."
That small scale shapes the holidays here too. Between the day after Thanksgiving and the Sunday before Christmas, almost everything on Avondale's calendar is run by someone with a direct stake in the street. A merchants association volunteers to run the biggest night out. Two restaurant owners are betting on buildings they already control. The largest event of all only works if residents carry sand and candles out to their own front yards.
Amplified Avondale follows one simple rule: it happens on the last Friday of every month except July and August. The Historic Avondale Merchants Association started it in 2022 to bring people to the Shoppes of Avondale, according to Folio Weekly. In November, that rule puts it on the day after Thanksgiving. Visit Jacksonville lists the next edition for Friday, Nov. 27, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The event has landed on that same Friday before, on Nov. 24, 2023, and Nov. 29, 2024.
Folio describes how the night unfolds. Artists, musicians, food vendors and balloon artists fill the sidewalks, and as the sun sets, restaurants open their windows and doors so the bands inside can be heard out on the street. Ron Rothberg, one of the founders, leads bike tours on the strip for Art Bikes Jax. He told Folio where the money comes from and where it goes:
"All the funds go towards the pay of our artists, musicians and restaurants, and we couldn't be happier to volunteer."
Rothberg credited two sponsors: Community First Credit Union, which has backed the event for three years, and Ascension St. Vincent's, which he called "our neighbor." The event has also grown beyond the avenue through a partnership with the Murray Hill Farmer's Market, less than a mile away. Visit Jacksonville's calendar also shows a Dec. 25 listing, which falls on Christmas Day. The Amplified Avondale Instagram is the organizers' own channel and the best place to check December plans.
On Nov. 27, the Riverside Arts Market's 2nd Annual RAM Holiday Market runs from 5 to 8 p.m. in the plaza across Riverside Avenue. You can do both in one evening: the market first, then St. Johns Avenue once Amplified Avondale starts at 6. The next day, Nov. 28, is Small Business Saturday, and RAM's calendar has River Stage performances at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m.
The same idea of building on what you already have explains the biggest restaurant change on the avenue this year. Ale Pie House's lease at 3951 St. Johns Ave. ended in March 2026. Hoodline reported in September that the pizzeria planned to reopen at 1580 Wells Road in Orange Park.
The building's owners are Nathan Stuart and Margo Klar, the married couple behind The Boathouse in Ponte Vedra Beach. 3951 St. Johns Ave. was the first commercial property they ever bought. Jax Daily Record reported that the building was a grocery store about 100 years ago and had to be renovated to meet the neighborhood's preservation standards. After what Stuart called a "heavy investment" in the remodel, the couple thought about leasing it out again and decided to open a restaurant of their own instead.
That restaurant is Boathouse Avondale, a sushi-forward concept that Jax Daily Record said was expected to open around Thanksgiving, half a mile up the avenue from the strip where Amplified Avondale happens.
"We're really going to push hard to make it the best sushi in Jacksonville," Stuart told Jax Daily Record. The couple has opened eight restaurants since their Orange Park Fish House & Oyster Co. in 2018. That list includes Boathouse locations in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach and Julington Creek, plus New Berlin Fish House & Oyster Co. in Jacksonville. A USA TODAY Network photo dated Oct. 6 shows the interior during the fit-out.
Back in the core of the Shoppes, the avenue's longest-running restaurant is also putting money into its own space. Biscottis, at 3584 St. Johns Ave., has been a neighborhood staple for more than 30 years, according to Jacksonville Today. In August, Jax Daily Record reported a city permit for a 1,231-square-foot private dining and event space there. Gold Standard Construction & Consulting is the contractor, and the job is valued at $77,000.
The Jacksonville Business Journal reported that Biscottis was already taking reservations for the new room, with bookings running into the first half of 2027. If you're planning an office party or a family dinner this December, Biscottis' website says to call the restaurant about event availability.
The Luminaria is where the work shifts from merchants to neighbors. Riverside Avondale Preservation has run it for 42 years, lighting the historic district by candlelight on one Sunday evening in December. This year that Sunday is Dec. 20, and RAP's ticket page lists the event from 5 to 11 p.m. The candles go out because residents set them out. Each $7 kit holds six bags, six candles and a bag of pre-measured sand. RAP recommends one luminary every six feet, so one kit covers about 36 feet of frontage.
RAP's own guidance on how many kits a home needs works out like this:
| Your frontage | Kits RAP suggests | Kit cost |
|---|---|---|
| Average front yard | At least 2 | $14 |
| Corner lot | 3 | $21 |
| Side yard, walkway, porch or other feature | 1 or more extra each | $7 each |
The $35 Starter Pack bundles four kits, a limited-edition tote and a firestick. Bought separately, four kits are $28 and a firestick is $3, so the tote accounts for the other $4. Home delivery costs $15 and must be purchased by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11. RAP volunteers leave the order on your front porch before the event. There's also an 11-by-17-inch poster of this year's artwork by Marissa Perna for $20.
Pickup has a new wrinkle this year. Kits and merchandise come from Buckland House, RAP's home at 2623 Herschel St., and the first day is a new Inaugural Pick-Up Party on Friday, Dec. 18, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pickup continues Saturday, Dec. 19, and Sunday, Dec. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The public side of the neighborhood depends on RAP, too. The group funds more than 5,000 kits to light the 26 public parks in Riverside and Avondale, plus free kits for neighborhood churches, community spaces and merchant districts. A $150 "Light A Park" sponsorship helps pay for the more than 75 acres of parkland. It also puts your name, and an optional memorial, on the Luminaria map that comes with every purchase, as long as you order by Thursday, Dec. 10. Jacksonville Today lists Boone Park, with its trails, playgrounds and picnic areas, as the nearest park to the St. Johns Avenue shops.
If you live in an access-controlled apartment or condo building and want delivery, RAP asks you to email [email protected] with instructions.
If your Avondale home will be glowing on Dec. 20 and you've wondered what it's worth in this market, the Tonya O'Quinn Group is happy to help. Request your free home valuation or relocation consultation, and we'll walk you through what homes on your street are actually selling for.
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