Boat Parade Awards for Lighted and Holiday Parades

Short answer

A boat parade usually gives a short list of judged awards, such as best overall, best lights, best theme and most original, often split by boat size or by sail and power, plus a people’s choice, a business entry award and a spirit or captain’s award. Many clubs add a perpetual trophy for best overall that the winning boat holds for a year, and give every entry a pin or medallion. We design the whole set from your parade or club logo, in acrylic, wood and metal, with no minimum order and a proof you approve before anything is produced.

Awards for a parade that happens after dark

Most boat parades are judged at night, from the shore or from a judge boat, and the awards are handed out later: at the dock, at the club, or at a party once the boats are tied up. That shapes the order. The awards need to be ready before the parade, but the names usually go on afterward, so many committees order with the category and year on the award and add the boat name on a plate once the judges have decided.

A parade award is also a keepsake for a crew that spent weeks wiring a boat. Acrylic cut to a hull, a wave, a star or the club burgee and printed in full color looks right on a cabin shelf or a club wall. A wood plaque suits a business entry that wants something for the front counter.

For how we build awards from your own artwork, see custom awards. Other boating events, from poker runs to regattas, are collected in boating event awards.

Awards most boat parades give

Best overall

The top award of the night, judged across every entry. At a yacht club it is often a perpetual that the winning boat holds until next year, with a keeper award to take home.

Best lights and best theme

The two categories almost every parade judges. Best lights rewards the display itself; best theme rewards how well the boat tells its story.

Divisions by size or type

Small and large boats, or sail, power and paddle, judged separately so a dinghy is not scored against a fifty-foot cruiser.

Business and club entries

A marina, restaurant or dealer that enters a decorated boat wants an award it can hang where customers see it. A plaque works well here.

Every entry

A medallion or a parade pin for each boat that entered, so the crews who did not win still leave with this year’s piece.

People’s choice and spirit

A spectator vote, a captain’s award or a spirit of the season award for the boat everyone talked about afterward.

A boat parade award list you can copy

A typical list for a lighted holiday parade with a few dozen entries. Trim it to your entry count; a small parade may only need best overall, best lights, best theme and people’s choice.

Typical awards for a lighted boat parade
Award	How many	What goes on it
Best overall	1, often a perpetual plus a keeper	Parade name, “Best Overall,” boat name, year
Best lights	1, or 1 per division	Parade name, award, boat name, year
Best theme	1, or 1 per division	Parade name, award, boat name, year
Most original	1	Parade name, award, boat name, year
Division winners	1 per size or type division	Parade name, division, boat name, year
Best business entry	1	Parade name, award, business name, year
Best club or group entry	1	Parade name, award, club name, year
Best youth or family crew	1	Parade name, award, boat name, year
Captain’s or spirit award	1	Parade name, award, boat name, year
People’s choice	1	Parade name, “People’s Choice,” boat name, year
Entry pin or medallion	1 per boat or crew member	Parade name and year

For how to score these categories and where to put the judges, see how to judge a boat parade.

Christmas parades first, then summer

Lighted Christmas and holiday parades are the busiest boat parade season, and most of them fall in late November and December. If your parade is on the calendar for this season, the award list is worth settling now. Work back from the parade date, and from the date of the party where the awards are presented, and contact us for the current lead time against that date; how far in advance to order explains how to plan it.

Summer has its own parades: Fourth of July flotillas, lake festival parades, harbor days and blessing of the fleet events. They are usually judged in daylight, so best lights gives way to best decorated, most patriotic or best costume. The rest of the list stays the same, and the same design can serve both parades with only the event name changing.

Holiday Lighted Boat Parade
Best Overall
2026

Presenting the awards

Judges need time to compare notes after the last boat passes, so most parades present the awards later the same evening at the club or a waterfront venue, or at a party the following weekend. A few announce winners from the dock as the boats come in.

Order with the category and year, add the boat name later. A name plate fitted after judging means the awards are ready before the parade.
Bring a backdrop for photos. Winners are photographed with their award; a banner with the parade and sponsor logos makes those photos worth sharing.
Let sponsors present. A sponsor who funds a category can hand it over on stage. Sponsor plaques cover the thank-you they take home.
Have a plan for absent crews. Some boats go straight back to their slips. Decide who holds their award and how it gets to them.

What to send us

The parade or club logo, and any sponsor logos.
The award list with how many of each, and any size or type divisions.
Whether best overall is a perpetual, and a photo of it if it already exists.
The parade date and the date the awards will be presented.

We send a design proof for the full set before anything is produced. Artwork can go through file upload, and questions to contact us.

Boat Parade Awards FAQs

What awards does a boat parade usually give?

Best overall, best lights and best theme are the core. Many parades add most original, division winners by boat size or type, a business entry award, a club entry award, a youth or family award, a spirit or captain’s award and a people’s choice.

Can the boat name be added after the parade?

Yes. Many committees order the awards with the category and year, then add the boat name on a plate once the judges decide, so the awards are ready before the parade.

Do you make lighted awards?

No. Our awards are acrylic, wood and metal, printed and cut to your design. Acrylic printed in full color carries a lighted boat or a night scene well without any lights of its own.

Should every boat get something?

Many parades give every entry a pin or medallion with the parade name and year. It thanks the crews who decorated and gives them a piece to collect year after year.

Can best overall be a perpetual trophy?

Yes. A perpetual stays with the club and gains a plate each year, and the winning boat can take home a smaller keeper award.

Is there a minimum order?

No. A single best overall award is as normal an order as a full set of parade awards.

Racer in a helmet raising both arms as gold confetti falls under stage lights

PARADE DATE SET?

Send the award list and we will design the set

Send your parade or club logo, the award categories and how many of each. We design the set and send a proof before anything is produced.

There is no minimum order. Tell us the parade date and the date the awards will be presented when you ask for a quote.

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Boat Parade Awards