Seeing Red Is Nearly Sold Out, but Seaside's Holiday Calendar Is Mostly Free to Walk Into

On BigTickets, every 2026 Seeing Red Wine Festival event now shows a waitlist except one. The one still for sale is Grand Tasting general admission on the lawn at Central Square. Over the next nine weeks, that same lawn is booked with concerts, a movie night, a parade finale, a tree lighting and a two-day holiday market. Several of those are free, and none of the others posts a ticket price.

The upshot is a practical one. If you live in or near Seaside, the paid side of the season is already settled. Everything else between this Saturday and December 30 is open to anyone within walking or biking distance of the Amphitheater. Here is that calendar in order, starting with the weekend that is nearly full.

The Last Open Ticket at Seeing Red Is the Lawn Ticket

The 34th Seeing Red Wine Festival runs November 5 through 8, 2026. Here is how each event looked on the festival's BigTickets page at last check:

• Al Fresco Reserve Tasting, Friday, November 6, 6 p.m. Waitlist only. Tickets were $450 plus a $27.08 fee.
• Battle of the Somms, Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. Waitlist only, at $275 plus fees. Two sommeliers compete over paired wines and courses, and guests vote on the pairings they prefer.
• Grand Tasting VIP, Saturday, November 7. Waitlist only, at $450 plus fees.
• Celebration of Bubbles, Sunday, November 8, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Waitlist only, at $125 plus fees. Champagne, Cava and Prosecco are paired with brunch from Chef Jim Shirley on the Lyceum Lawn.
• Friday and Saturday bundles. Both the general and VIP bundles are waitlist only.

The one event still on sale is Grand Tasting General Admission, Saturday, November 7, 1 to 4 p.m., at the Seaside Amphitheater in Central Square. Tickets are $300 plus an $18.39 fee, or $318.39 total. As of October 20, 2026, there were 203 general admission tickets left. That count is nine days older than this post, so treat it as a ceiling.

The schedule has a neighborly side effect. The Seaside Farmers Market keeps Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. year-round, with August through December on Saturdays only. So on November 7 the posted market hours end at the same hour the Grand Tasting begins. A Saturday morning market run that weekend means sharing the square with a festival setting up for the afternoon.

Nine Wednesdays, One Amphitheater

The weekly anchor of the season is Sounds of Seaside. These are live concerts in the Seaside Amphitheater every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m., and the town's listing asks you to bring blankets and chairs. Local event guides list the November concerts as free admission. Seaside has posted the full lineup through the end of the year:

Max McCann plays three of the nine dates, and Flow Tribe and Roman Street each play twice. Three of the concerts land the day before a major holiday. For anyone hosting family on November 25, December 23 or December 30, a two-hour show starting at 4 p.m. fits between arrivals and dinner.

Halloween Comes First, This Saturday

The first big day on that lawn is two days after this post goes up. Halloween in Seaside runs Saturday, October 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. in Central Square. Families trick-or-treat at participating merchants and find themed installations around town. This year the theme is a Golden Ticket, candy-colored world, and Seaside's own announcement sets the tone:

"Costumes encouraged. Curiosity required. And somewhere among it all, a Golden Ticket may be waiting."

That quote comes from Seaside's fall events page. Neither it nor the event listing posts an admission price.

When trick-or-treating ends at 7, Central Square Cinema starts on the same square and runs until 8:30 p.m. The calendar hasn't named the film yet. If you're planning an evening, the town has made it a single block of time: candy at 4, the movie at 7, and home by 8:30.

November 28 Is the Day to Plan Around

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26. Seaside's holiday season opens two days later, and the schedule for that Saturday runs nearly the whole day.

The night before, Friday, November 27, Central Square Cinema shows The Grinch with Jim Carrey from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Amphitheater. The listing does not say whether there is a charge.

Here is how Saturday unfolds:

1. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Seaside Farmers Market sets up in the Amphitheater, rain or shine unless the weather turns unsafe.
2. 3 p.m. The Seaside Holiday Parade leaves Seagrove Plaza and heads down 30A toward Central Square.
3. After the parade. Emerald Coast Theatre Company performs at Krier Plaza.
4. 5 p.m. Turn on the Town, with the Christmas tree lighting at the Seaside Amphitheater. Santa officially opens the season, and carolers are part of the program.
5. Until 8 p.m. Santa moves to the Christmas Village for photos.

The town lists the full event as 3 to 8 p.m. at 2227 E County Highway 30A. Local event guides describe the parade and lighting as free to attend. They also note that parking along the corridor fills quickly on that afternoon and suggest parking farther out and walking or biking in.

Taken together, the day has a two-hour quiet stretch between the market closing at 1 and the parade starting at 3. For anyone who lives within reach of 30A, that gap leaves time to go home with the market haul, eat lunch and come back on foot before the route fills.

Anyone who wants to ride in the parade instead of watching it can register through BigTickets. All registration proceeds go to Point Washington Medical Clinic.

December Fills In, and a Few Dates Are Still Open

Seaside's winter overview says more holiday events will be added to the calendar as they are announced. Here is what is posted so far:

• Seaside Holiday Market, December 5 and 6, Central Square. Saturday runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors include local artisans, makers, Seaside merchants and regional sellers. Local guides list the market as free to browse.
• Photos with Santa, December 12 through 20, 4 to 6 p.m., Christmas Village. Seaside's listing says the photos are complimentary. That makes them the town's most clearly free holiday event.
• Holiday Show, December 19, 20 and 22, at the Post Office. The calendar entry still says more details are coming, so hold the dates loosely until times are posted.

The Santa photos run 4 to 6 p.m., the same hours as Sounds of Seaside. On Wednesday, December 16, Fred Domulot plays the Amphitheater during those hours while Santa is in the Christmas Village. A single 4 o'clock walk into town covers both.

After Flow Tribe closes the concert series on December 30, the next big date on Seaside's calendar is the 30A Songwriters Festival, January 15 through 18, 2027, in Seaside and at venues along 30A.

If family is visiting Thanksgiving weekend or over the holidays and you'd like help timing their stay around these Seaside dates, Laura Calhoun is happy to share what she's watching on the town calendar. When you're ready to talk about your own plans on 30A, schedule a free consultation.