Last December, you needed a ticket to see the Jensen Beach tree lit. The Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce's 2025 Taste of Jensen listing put the Community Christmas Tree lighting, a performance by Jensen Beach High School's Jubilate Chorus, and the Town of Ocean Breeze golf-cart parade inside one ticketed evening on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The 2024 version worked the same way. It ran on Tuesday, Dec. 3, and tickets were $50 per person.
This year the Chamber split that night in two. The tree lighting moves to Thursday, Dec. 10, during Jammin' Jensen, which has no admission fee. The Taste keeps the golf carts and moves to Tuesday, Dec. 15. The town's main holiday ceremony now happens on a free weeknight that already brings people downtown, and the $55 night becomes a food event with a parade.
Dec. 10 is a Jammin' Jensen night with a tree in it
The Chamber's 2026 Taste of Jensen page states the change directly. The ceremony "that was held during the Taste of Jensen" now happens on Thursday, Dec. 10, during Jammin' Jensen, shortly after 6 p.m.
Most of the ceremony comes along with it. The Chamber's community events page says the lighting features the Jubilate choral group from Jensen Beach High School and holiday messages from community leaders. It also calls the lighting the holiday season kick-off. It takes place at the usual Jammin' Jensen spot, 1912 NE Jensen Beach Blvd., the address of the Jensen Beach Community Center.
Jammin' Jensen already has a fixed shape. The Chamber describes it as a weekly mini festival with local artists, street vendors and live music, running 6 to 10 p.m., with no admission fee. On Dec. 10 the tree lighting is one part of a regular Thursday night: the vendor tents are already up and the music is already playing when the chorus starts.
The Taste moved too, almost two weeks later and $5 higher
The ticketed night changed in three ways besides losing the tree. It moved from the first Tuesday of December to the third, the price went from $50 in 2024 to $55 in 2026, and the golf-cart parade now has a set time.
| 2025 Taste of Jensen | 2026 Taste of Jensen | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Tuesday, Dec. 2 | Tuesday, Dec. 15 |
| Hours | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Community tree lighting | Part of the Taste | Moved to Thursday, Dec. 10, at Jammin' Jensen |
| Jubilate Chorus | Part of the Taste | Performs at the tree lighting |
| Ocean Breeze golf-cart parade | Part of the Taste | Part of the Taste, 6:45 p.m. |
The parade is still the reason a lot of people stay on the sidewalk. The 2025 listing described residents of the Town of Ocean Breeze driving dozens of decorated golf carts through downtown Jensen Beach. This year it starts at 6:45 p.m., which leaves time for a round of tasting before the carts arrive. The 2026 lineup is James Graham Steel Pan Music, Jambush and The Little Things.
Tickets are $55 per person, sold online through the Chamber or at its office inside the Jensen Beach Community Center. The Chamber notes that tickets are limited. Participating restaurants compete for People's Choice, Best Presentation, Best Appetizer, Best Featured Entrée, Best Dessert and Best Beverage. The Chamber's events page says more than 25 restaurants take part.
With the tree moved to Thursday, the Tuesday ticket buys the food, the awards, three acts and the carts.
The restaurants behind the tasting tables changed this fall
Downtown Jensen Beach's restaurants changed more between late summer and this month than in most recent years, and that shows in the restaurant scene the Taste is built to showcase.
- Broth closed Aug. 31. It was a handcrafted-soup restaurant that opened May 21, 2025, in the Pineapple Passage space at 1939 NE Jensen Beach Blvd. and lasted just over a year, TCPalm reported.
- 11 Maple Street, at 3224 NE Maple Ave., closed Sept. 26 while a sale to new owners was pending. That sale was then canceled, according to TCPalm's Oct. 8 report, and founding chef-owner Mike Perrin decided to bring the restaurant back himself. On Oct. 28, TCPalm reported that the 41-year-old restaurant would reopen Oct. 29, and that it hoped diners would be patient with reservation calls.
- GRÁ is chef Mark Jones's restaurant in Broth's former space, now listed as 1939 NE Jensen Beach Blvd., Unit 2. Jones had planned to take over 11 Maple Street, and he moved the concept to the smaller space after that sale was canceled, TCPalm reported Oct. 9. Its OpenTable page describes a 23-seat chef's table with a five-seat counter, serving a single set menu that changes with the seasons. It says Jones grew up in Dublin, cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens across Europe, and owns the restaurant with his wife, Shayla.
- House of Brews, the family-owned taphouse at 3311 NW Main Ave., closed permanently after its owners accepted an offer for the plaza, TCPalm reported Oct. 12.
GRÁ's booking schedule overlaps with the new holiday dates. OpenTable releases each month's reservations at midnight on the 8th, so December tables become available Dec. 8 at 12 a.m. Eastern, two days before the tree lighting. If you want a table at a 23-seat room during the busiest stretch of downtown's December, that's the date to put in your calendar.
Every Thursday between now and New Year's
The tree lighting falls on a Jammin' Jensen night, so the Thursday schedule matters for the whole season. The Chamber holds Jammin' Jensen every Thursday except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. In 2026, all three of those holidays fall on Thursdays.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Jammin' Jensen, 6 to 10 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Thanksgiving, no Jammin' Jensen
- Thursday, Dec. 3: Jammin' Jensen
- Thursday, Dec. 10: Jammin' Jensen and the Community Christmas Tree lighting
- Thursday, Dec. 17: Jammin' Jensen
- Thursday, Dec. 24 and Thursday, Dec. 31: Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, no Jammin' Jensen
That leaves four Thursday nights downtown between tonight and the end of the year, and Dec. 10 is the one built around the tree.
Dec. 10 and 11 make two free nights in a row
The new date also lines up with a county event the next evening. Martin County Parks and Recreation holds Winter Fest on Friday, Dec. 11, at the outdoor amphitheater of the Mansion at Tuckahoe in Indian RiverSide Park. The county lists performers, Santa, arts and crafts, face painting and food trucks. That puts two family holiday events in Jensen Beach on back-to-back nights, with the tree on Jensen Beach Boulevard Thursday and Santa at Tuckahoe Friday.
The weekend before is the parade weekend in the neighboring towns:
- Friday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m.: the Stuart Christmas Parade
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 p.m.: the 40th annual Hobe Sound Christmas Parade
- Saturday, Dec. 5, evening: the Martin County Christmas Boat Parade, organized through the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast. Stuart Main Street holds a free watch party at Riverwalk Stage in historic downtown Stuart from 7 to 10 p.m., with live music and food.
Put together, the season runs in order: the neighboring towns' parades Dec. 4 and 5, Jensen Beach's tree and Winter Fest Dec. 10 and 11, and the Ocean Breeze golf carts at the Taste on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Two Thursday nights downtown remain on Dec. 3 and Dec. 17, and Jammin' Jensen picks back up in the new year.
At Renny Realty, we follow how downtown Jensen Beach changes block by block, including which storefronts turn over, which plazas sell and what moves into the spaces. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of Jensen Beach Boulevard and Maple Avenue, or wondering what this fall's changes mean for property you already own near downtown, Schedule a Consultation and we'll go through it with you.
