Sunset Beach Gets the Front Row for This Year's Holiday Boat Parade

"The parade is a tradition for locals, and to ask our hard-working volunteers to sacrifice their Thanksgiving holiday struck me as unfair," Rhonda Bunker told Life in Brunswick County this fall.

Bunker is the photographer who took over south Brunswick's holiday boat parade after the old one ended. That quote explains the new date. It doesn't cover the bigger change for anyone who lives on this end of the county. The First Annual Sunset Beach & Ocean Isle Beach Christmas Boat Parade starts at Sunset Beach Town Park at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. For 22 years, the parade a lot of us grew up with happened a few miles east. This year, the boats line up here.

The OIB Flotilla wrapped up after 2025

The Brunswick Beacon reported that the Ocean Isle Beach Flotilla's organizing committee announced on Wednesday, Sept. 9, that the 2025 flotilla would be the last. The committee's statement said, "After much thought and consideration, we have made the decision that the 2025 OIB Holiday Flotilla was the end to a great tradition."

The flotilla started in 2003 and raised money for local charities. Its final year, 2025, brought in $52,291 for Brunswick Family Assistance. Organizers had earlier told the Beacon that the event had grown into essentially a full-time job for a small committee. Every September through November they lined up sponsors, made and sold shirts, and organized judges, prizes, raffles and the after-party.

What wore the flotilla down was the volunteer hours, and that's why the new parade's schedule matters. When Bunker moved it to a Saturday, she gave three reasons: volunteers keep their Thanksgiving, captains get more time to decorate, and the date is less likely to clash with work.

Why the starting line is in Sunset Beach

Bunker has run boat parades before. According to Life in Brunswick County, she organized the Pompano Beach Boat Parade in Florida for six years. More recently she was the driving force behind the America 250 Boat Parade out of Sunset Beach.

That summer parade was a test run for this one. The Brunswick Beacon's photo coverage shows boats passing Sunset Beach on June 27 and spectators filling Sunset Beach Town Park. Bunker told Life in Brunswick County that she'd been warned she would struggle to get boats.

"We fielded about 35 boats in our first attempt to honor a charity called the Those Who Served Foundation, and about 800 people showed up in Sunset Park to watch the event."

Those numbers are from the June parade, so they don't predict December's turnout. They do show that Town Park already works as a place where a few hundred people can gather on the water's edge to watch boats go by.

The route is also much longer than the flotilla's. In past years, the flotilla could be seen from about Inlet View to Sharky's in Ocean Isle Beach. The official event listing has the parade starting at Town Park, heading east along the Intracoastal Waterway past Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle Beach, and finishing in front of The Links at Brick Landing Clubhouse. The Life in Brunswick County feature describes the route as running from Sunset Beach to Shallotte Point. Both descriptions put the start at the same place, so Sunset Beach has the front row either way. Where the boats end up matters more if you're watching from the Ocean Isle Beach end. The organizer's Facebook event is where you'll find the final route.

Where to watch on December 5

The event listing names three viewing points. Here they are from west to east:

• Sunset Beach Town Park, 206 Sunset Boulevard N. This is the start. The boats leave here at 6 p.m., so you'll see the whole lineup before it spreads out along the waterway.
• Ocean Isle Beach Commercial Canal NC Wildlife Boat Ramp. This is the middle stretch, past the Ocean Isle Beach side.
• Waterway Tavern at Brick Landing Clubhouse. This is close to where the listing says the parade ends.

Town Park is the only spot with seats you can reserve. VIP seating costs $25, preferred seating costs $15, and both guarantee you a waterfront spot in the park. Non-reserved seating and standing room are free, and the organizer encourages donations to the parade's charities. You buy paid seats ahead of time by contacting Bunker through the contact information on the event listing.

The parade runs from 6 to 8 p.m., and it's dark by then in early December. If you live close enough to walk or bike to Town Park, you can skip the parking hunt altogether.

The boats, the prizes and an Old Bridge connection

Entering a boat costs nothing. Captains sign up through Bunker at the contact information on the event listing. The prize money is real. According to Life in Brunswick County, Best Boat in Show wins $1,000, and first place in each subcategory wins $750.

Putting it on isn't cheap or quick. Bunker told the magazine that an event this size usually takes 10 to 11 months of lead time and can cost more than $15,000 to launch. She's doing it in about 10 to 11 weeks. "Charities have to be paid, prizes have to be awarded and sponsors have to be found to help," she said. Businesses and individuals who want to sponsor, volunteer or enter a boat can reach her through the same contact.

The parade benefits three charities: the Those Who Served Foundation, Empowering Pawz and the Old Bridge Historical Society of Sunset Beach. The last one ties the parade to Sunset Beach's own history on the waterway. The society runs a museum with exhibits and the Tender House where the old bridge was operated. Some of the money raised on the Intracoastal Waterway on December 5 goes to preserving the waterway's past here.

Bunker chose a grand marshal with local roots instead of a celebrity or politician. It's Tripp Kelly, who started his business, RipTide Bins, at 14.

The old Thanksgiving weekend slot gets new plans

When the parade moved to Saturday, December 5, Thanksgiving weekend opened up. A September 8, 2026 Ocean Isle Beach town meeting agenda lists three event applications for that weekend. The Pure Markets Black Friday Market and the Ocean Isle Museum Foundation's "Holiday at the Museum" both applied for Friday, November 27. The OIPOA Christmas Parade applied for Saturday, November 28. These were applications on an agenda, not approved events, so check with each group before you plan around them.

With the boat parade a week later, you can host family over the holiday and still have a free Saturday night in December for the boats. Here's what's on the calendar close to home from now through parade weekend:

1. One Love Market, Saturdays, November 7, 14 and 21, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The nonprofit market is back at its original spot opposite the Sunset Beach Fishing Pier, between Sunset Boulevard and 27th Street, with local artists, potters, jewelers, photographers and makers.
2. Festival of Trees, November 12 through December 31. WECT's holiday guide lists the Museum of Coastal Carolina's seventh annual Festival of Trees for these dates. The museum's event page gives its address as 21 East 2nd Street in Ocean Isle Beach.
3. Mystery of the Christmas Star, Saturday, November 21, 1 to 2 p.m. Ingram Planetarium is at 7625 High Market Street in Sunset Beach. This works well after a morning at the last fall One Love Market.
4. Christmas Boat Parade, Saturday, December 5, 6 to 8 p.m. It starts at Sunset Beach Town Park.
5. One Love Christmas Festival & Holiday Market, Sunday, December 6, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's at Sea Trail Convention Center, the day after the parade.

A parade that once happened somewhere else now starts a short walk from a lot of Sunset Beach front doors. Entering a boat is free through the organizer, and the only guaranteed waterfront seats at Town Park are the ones reserved with her ahead of time.

If you're new to Sunset Beach and still figuring out how the island's holiday season works, or you'd like to talk about life on the Brunswick County waterway, I'm happy to share what I know. Kristen Dunn is always glad to hear from neighbors. Let's Connect.