This Year's Deck the Chairs Is Built Around Its Student Stage

"Deck The Chairs is our tradition, and Students in the Arts Alliance is our future." Kurtis Loftus, the event's founder and executive director, said that in a news release when Jacksonville Today reported in April that a new nonprofit would oversee the holiday exhibit at Seawalk Pavilion.

When the lights come on Wednesday, Nov. 25, that quote turns into a schedule. The 2026 calendar has five themed weeks running through Jan. 1, and student performers fill most of its Saturday afternoons and evenings. The decorated lifeguard chairs at Latham Plaza and the Seawalk Pavilion lawn still draw people in. The new organizer has built the season around who is performing on the Pavilion stage.

From a lifeguard fundraiser to a student arts program

Deck the Chairs started in 2013, inspired by the lifeguard stands along the sand a few steps east. According to Jacksonville Today, Loftus and his staff started with 18 local business partners and raised money for the Volunteer Lifeguards. Over the years the displays spread across Latham Plaza and the Pavilion lawn.

Earlier this year, Loftus and the board launched the Students in the Arts Alliance to give teens chances to learn, perform and grow. The alliance now runs Deck the Chairs and its youth performances. It also runs programs outside the holiday season, including the second annual Deck the Bins Art Contest, which asks young artists to turn public garbage containers into art, and a FloArts Talent Scholarship with the Florida School of the Arts. The 2026 printed schedule calls Deck the Chairs the alliance's "Flagship Program" and uses the tagline "It Starts With Arts."

The event is still free and open daily from Nov. 25 through Jan. 1, with Publix as the 2026 presenting sponsor. What has changed is how each week is organized.

Five weeks, five partners, one stage

Each week of the 2026 season has its own theme and partner. The table below covers the five themed weeks, using the official Deck the Chairs schedule.

The organizer notes that dates and times can change and points visitors to deckthechairs.org for updates. The table shows the pattern. Saturdays carry the student lineups, Sundays carry the market, and weeknights mostly belong to the lights.

The Saturdays belong to the students

The Saturday lineups show the alliance's priorities most clearly. The Saturdays on Dec. 5, 12 and 19 each run from early afternoon into the evening, with most sets lasting 10 to 40 minutes.

• Saturday, Nov. 28. The opening Saturday runs from 2 p.m. with Ray of Sunshine Theatre, Jordan Judith, Music Rowe and The Big Orange Chorus, which closes the night with a 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. set.
• Saturday, Dec. 5. The Jacksonville Suzuki Strings open at 1 p.m. Next come the Episcopal School of Jacksonville Chorus and Dance Team, Ft. Caroline Middle School, NOVA Dance and Wellness, Oceanway School of Dance and Performing Arts, Palm Valley Academy, Global Arts Dance Department, Valley Ridge Academy Dance Team, The Bolles School, Pine Forest Dance Ensemble, Dansations and Bravo. BLA Dance Academy closes with an 8:10 to 8:40 p.m. set.
• Saturday, Dec. 12. Tuba Christmas starts at 1 p.m. The Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville, Nancy Dance, the Fletcher High School Dance Team, North Florida Twirling Academy, Switzerland Dance School, Jacksonville Country Day School, Scott Jones School of Dance, Synergy Dance Company, Academy of Dance and World of Dance follow. Showtime USA! finishes at 9:10 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 19. The Foundation Academy opens at 1:30 p.m. Power Hitters Cheer and Allstar, the Landrum Lions Dance Team, Fascinatin' Rhythm, Atlantic Coast Dance Studio, Fletcher Middle School, Grace Conservatory, Heather Loveland Dance Academy, Ballet Arts Centre, SET Studio and Dynamics Dance follow. First Coast Ballet Theatre closes at 9 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11, works as a smaller version of the same idea. The Discovery School Band, the Beaches Chapel Handbell Ensemble, First Coast Center for the Arts, Hawkins School of Highland Dance and The Gift of Dance perform, and the University of North Florida Dance Team closes the evening. For families with a performer on the bill, Deck the Chairs is now a recital date as well as an evening walk. For neighbors without one, the Saturday stage makes the event something to visit in the afternoon as well as after dark.

The Sunday market went from two dates to five

Last season, according to Action News Jax reporting carried by WOKV, Deck the Chairs added Christmas Markets for the first time, with two dates next to the main exhibit on Nov. 29 and Dec. 6.

In its second year, the Deck the Chairs Christmas Market runs every Sunday of the season. It is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Latham Plaza and Seawalk Pavilion, 11 1st Street North, featuring local makers and artists, on these dates:

1. Sunday, Nov. 29
2. Sunday, Dec. 6
3. Sunday, Dec. 13
4. Sunday, Dec. 20
5. Sunday, Dec. 27

The students show up on Sundays too. The Kids Holiday Craft Shop runs from 1 to 4 p.m. on market days. On most of those Sundays it is paired with the Deck the Jaguar chair arts activity. Greenlight Theatre Company performs Santa Claus Is Coming to Town on Dec. 6 and again on Dec. 20, both at 10:30 a.m. On Dec. 13, the Cathedral Arts Project and the Global Academy of Jacksonville Choir and Orff Ensemble are on the Sunday stage.

The Sundays also fit the weekly calendar for Beaches shoppers. The city calendar lists the Beaches Green Market on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Penman Park, 321 Penman Road. With the holiday market on Sundays, a December weekend can include both without either taking the other's day.

The chairs are still the vote

The chairs are still the reason the event has its name, and visitors pick the winners. The chair voting page lists more than 30 Community Chairs eligible for the 2026 People's Choice Awards. Each visitor walks the displays, notes the number at each chair and casts one ballot with three picks. Voting opens Nov. 25, and the chairs with the most votes are recognized at the 2026 Community Chair Awards. Those awards are on the Pavilion stage Sunday, Dec. 20, at noon, in the middle of a market day.

The decorators include businesses and civic groups from across the region. The event guide names Publix, the Jacksonville Zoo & Botanical Gardens, the City of Jacksonville Beach, Dreams Come True, the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida and Oceanside Rotary among this year's community chair teams.

Weeknights, holidays and the nights the lights take a break

On ordinary weeknights the event goes back to its original form. The organizer lists the chair displays with the musical light show nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. The schedule also has some details that are useful to know before you go.

• Concessions follow the calendar. The alliance's concessions and merchandise stand is closed Monday and Tuesday during the first three weeks, plus Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Dec. 30 through Jan. 1.
• Thursday, Dec. 10. Pier Dance with John Miller and the Bay Street Band runs 5 to 8 p.m. on the Pavilion stage.
• Thursday, Dec. 17. St. Paul's Night is on the stage from 5 to 6 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 18. Worship Night runs 6 to 9 p.m., and the printed schedule says there is no light show that evening.
• Thursday, Dec. 24. Ocean City Church holds a Christmas Eve service at 5 p.m., and concessions are closed.
• Tuesday, Dec. 29. The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Pep Rally takes over the Pavilion from 4 to 7 p.m.

After the themed weeks end, the chairs stay up through Jan. 1, a little more than five weeks after the Wednesday opening. The current schedule is on deckthechairs.org, and it is the place to check before planning around a specific act.

Events like this are part of daily life at the Beaches, and we keep track of them the same way we keep track of the market. If a December walk past the chairs at Seawalk Pavilion has you thinking about your own plans at the Beaches, The Gilman Group is glad to talk them through with you. Contact Us.