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Coastal North Carolina towns near Wilmington celebrate the Christmas season with several holiday boat parades, also known as flotillas.

Events are scheduled in New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties throughout late November and December 2025.

Boat owners compete for prizes by decorating their vessels with festive lights and creative themes.

Wilmington is a coastal town surrounded by a bunch of other coastal towns and beaches, so it's no real surprise that we like to celebrate our holidays at least partly on the water.

That includes the Christmas season, of course, and over the decades a half-dozen flotillas, or boat parades, have popped up around the area, with local watermen and pleasure boat enthusiasts bedecking their craft with festive lighting in honor of

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