"The Water Trolley service will not be operating from October 28 through November 1, 2026 due to the Boat Show."
That notice sits at the top of the City of Fort Lauderdale's LauderGO! Water Trolley page. Most weeks, the free trolley runs daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. along the New River, with stops at Riverwalk Laura Ward Park, Esplanade Park, Tarpon River, New River Yacht Club, Downtown and Smoker Park. Water Taxi of Fort Lauderdale, which runs the trolley with the city, also states on its show page that its regular service will be suspended during the show.
For five days, Fort Lauderdale's public water network belongs to the 67th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The show also runs the city's largest single parking hub. And this is the first show since a new elevated road opened to carry visitors straight into that hub at the south end of the city. Put those three facts together and the resident's week takes shape. The beach and the waterways are the show's. Downtown, reached by car, is the part of the city that stays easiest for the people who live here.
The Show's Network Replaces the City's
The 2026 show runs from Wednesday, October 28, through Sunday, November 1. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. on Wednesday's preview day, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The official show maps list six venues: Broward County Convention Center, Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Marina, Superyacht Village and Pier Sixty-Six Marina.
To link those sites, the show brings in its own transit while the city's is paused. Its water taxi connects Bahia Mar with the Riverside Hotel, the Convention Center and Pier Sixty-Six North, GALLERYone DoubleTree, and Shooters Waterfront at Las Olas Marina. Passes cost $15 for one day or $65 for five, and children under five ride free. The free show shuttles run four routes:
- Convention Center to Bahia Mar
- Convention Center to Superyacht Village to Bahia Mar
- Brightline Station to the Riverside Hotel
- West Marine to Bahia Mar
Golf carts carry visitors between Superyacht Village and Bahia Mar.
Every route ends at a show venue. If you normally take the trolley from Smoker Park to Esplanade Park for dinner, the show's network won't get you there. It was built to move ticket holders between marinas. For that week, a downtown evening on the river means a car or a walk.
The Connector Points Everything South
Last year's show came before the biggest change at the south end of town. On October 20, 2025, Broward County opened the Convention Center East Expansion and the new Convention Center Connector. The Connector is an elevated bypass through Port Everglades that links U.S. 1 and State Road 84 directly to the Convention Center, with no Port security checkpoints. The county says the road also improves access to the beaches and businesses along the 17th Street Causeway, "one of the busiest corridors in the region." The 29-story, 801-room Omni Fort Lauderdale opened next door on December 18, 2025.
That matters this month because the show names the Convention Center, at 1950 Eisenhower Boulevard, as its transportation hub. It has more than 3,000 parking spaces at $20 a day. The Connector, the hub garage and the first two shuttle routes all lead to the same place. The show's own design sends its heaviest arrivals to the south end. Hotel guests now have an 801-room tower right on the hub as well.
Pier Sixty-Six adds to that pull. Its rebuilt marina returned for the 2025 show, and this year it hosts brokerage yachts 100 feet and longer at Pier Sixty-Six North.
What Isn't Published Yet
As of October 10, 2026, the city's news feed showed traffic notices for October 17 events but no road-closure advisory for the boat show. The city's boat show page confirms the dates and venues but gives no street details yet. Check City News in the days before October 28 for A1A, Seabreeze Boulevard and 17th Street.
For reference, WLRN reported that during the 2025 show, the North Beach Parking Lot, the Las Olas Garage and on-street spaces between Vistamar Street and Las Olas Boulevard charged a special $30 rate. That rate applied in 2025. No 2026 rate for those lots has been announced. Even so, it gives a sense of what beach parking can cost during show week, set against $20 at the Convention Center hub.
If you do go, a one-day adult ticket costs $48 this year, up from $46 in 2025. A child's one-day ticket for ages 6 to 12 is $19, up from $18, and a two-day general admission pass is $80, up from $77. Children under six get in free.
The Week Downtown Keeps
With the beach and the water given over to the show, the confirmed calendar for those five days is mostly downtown and inland. Here is the week laid out next to show hours.
| Day | Show hours | Elsewhere in Fort Lauderdale |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Oct 28 | Noon to 7 p.m. | The Carpenters Songbook: A Live Celebration, 7:30 p.m., Lillian S. Wells Hall at The Parker |
| Thu, Oct 29 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | I AM WILD: A Charley Harper Exhibit, Museum of Discovery and Science, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Fri, Oct 30 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | The Poppy Project Pop-Up Living Garden, Galleria Fort Lauderdale, all day |
| Sat, Oct 31 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | The LOOP's MKT, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sonic Live in Concert, 7:30 p.m., Au-Rene Theater, Broward Center |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Sunday Jazz Brunch, 11 a.m., Esplanade Park; The LOOP's MKT, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
The Charley Harper exhibit and the Galleria garden aren't one-day events. The Museum of Discovery and Science runs I AM WILD from September 18, 2026, through January 11, 2027. Galleria Fort Lauderdale hosts The Poppy Project through November 10, in support of Henderson Behavioral Health and in collaboration with the USS Fort Lauderdale. Both are easy weekday afternoon visits while the show draws its crowds to the marinas.
Halloween falls on the show's Saturday. The city held its family Halloween events a week early: LauderBOO at Snyder Park and community events at Croissant Park and Riverland Park are all on Saturday, October 24. On the night of the 31st itself, the confirmed downtown event is Sonic Live in Concert at the Broward Center.
Sunday Shows the Whole Pattern
The Sunday Jazz Brunch on November 1 is free. It runs on several stages at Esplanade Park and is produced each month by the city's Parks and Recreation Department. Esplanade Park is also a regular Water Trolley stop. On this Sunday, the free boat that usually stops there is off. Downtown is still the most open stretch of the city, but you reach it by car or on foot.
On the beach side, The LOOP's MKT at Las Olas Oceanside Park keeps its usual weekend hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Bahia Mar and Las Olas Marina are close by, and the show's last day opens at 10 a.m. If the market is part of your Sunday, the hour before the show opens will likely be the quietest time to go.
If the boats at Pier Sixty-Six North or Bahia Mar have you thinking about a dock of your own, Barry Levinson's team at Levinson Luxury Group can quietly share waterfront homes with dockage that never reach the public market. Get access to our private listings before the show's traffic clears.
