Holiday Park is open the same hours it always is, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Inside those hours, the Parks Bond construction runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the city has warned about higher noise levels during that window. So the daytime is the part of the park that changed this fall. After five, the park looks much as it did before, and the War Memorial Auditorium inside it has a full concert calendar through December.
The new places opening a few blocks south and west keep evening hours too. For Victoria Park this fall, the evening has become the useful part of the day.
What the Fence Covers
The City of Fort Lauderdale's Holiday Park page lists the bond work. Construction began in May 2026 and includes:
- A new playground. The playground area stays closed for the whole project.
- Dog park improvements. The western part of the dog park stays closed for the whole project, after the full dog park closed May 26 to 28.
- Shade improvements for the baseball dugouts.
- New wayfinding signs and landscaping.
- Walking trail improvements, with parts of the paths on posted detours.
The end date depends on which part of the page you read. The text says completion is expected by summer 2027, weather permitting. The construction graphic on the same page says May 2026 to fall 2027. Until the city settles on one date, plan on the playground and the west dog run staying closed through at least next summer, and possibly longer.
The project does not include new courts. The city's amenity list for the park still includes full-court basketball, pickleball, a racquetball court, a roller hockey rink, shuffleboard, volleyball, a gymnasium and lighted athletic fields. The Jimmy Evert Tennis Center and the Baptist Health IcePlex, the Florida Panthers' official practice facility, are also inside the park.
The Hours the Construction Leaves Alone
The 8-to-5 construction window covers the playground and the morning dog walk. It does not cover the hours that matter most to a lot of people who use the park. Courts, fields and paths that are open in the evening still close at 11 p.m., the same as before the project.
That lines the park up with its biggest tenant. The War Memorial Auditorium reopened as a concert venue on Nov. 13, 2024, and its programming happens almost entirely after dark.
The Auditorium Runs on the Opposite Schedule
The War Memorial events calendar for the rest of the year reads like a list of evenings that start after the construction crews leave. Start times below come from the venue's ticket links where they're listed.
| Date | Show | Start |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Turnpike Troubadours, with Muscadine Bloodline | 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Niko Moon, Back To My Roots Tour with Blake Proehl | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Hush: A Silent Night, a silent-disco haunted house, 21+ | 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Victoria Monét, Frequency Of Love Tour | 8 p.m. |
| Dec. 3 and 4 | Dark Star Orchestra | Not yet posted |
| Dec. 5 | Beartooth | 6:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 12 | Sabaton | Not yet posted |
| Dec. 19 | JBeatz | Not yet posted |
Two shows on the calendar are marked cancelled: Black Label Society on Oct. 29 and 10 Years of 6LACK on Nov. 18. Check the venue page before you plan an evening around any date, since listings change.
Halloween weekend is the busiest stretch. Turnpike Troubadours and Niko Moon play back to back on Oct. 23 and 24, and the 21+ Hush event follows a week later. For anyone who lives near Holiday Park, those are the nights to expect show traffic on the streets around the park.
North Federal Highway Is Opening in the Evening, Too
The new spots closest to the neighborhood are on North Federal Highway, south of Sunrise, and they keep evening hours as well.
Magie Wine Bar, 551 N. Federal Hwy., Suite 600. Axios Fort Lauderdale reported that it does not take reservations and is 21 and older. Listed hours are 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. It's a wine bar with a snack menu. SunState News, citing a first look from The Broward Scene, said it was set to open Thursday, Oct. 15. This is the second Magie, after the original in Little River. Since the earliest it opens is 6 p.m., Magie is an after-the-park stop.
Tonno Nero, 510 N. Federal Hwy. Chef Joe Anthony is moving into the former Tacocraft space. Browardist reported an expected opening by the end of October, with weekend brunch planned. As of mid-October, the restaurant's own site still said "Coming soon!" If the brunch plan holds, Tonno Nero would be the rare new opening on this strip that serves the daytime.
Peppi's Pizza, 1900 E. Sunrise Blvd. This one is in the Gateway Shopping District, the closest of the three to the north side of the neighborhood. The Sun Sentinel gave its opening target as "End of September or early October." Call ahead before you go.
Openings this new often miss their dates, so treat each of these as possible rather than certain. Within about a mile of Victoria Park, most of the new places are set up for the evening.
Las Olas Fills In the Rest of the Evening
Las Olas has its own wave of openings. Miami New Times listed several of them this fall, and most are also built around dinner.
NAIA, at 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., was aiming to start dinner service the weekend of Oct. 18 and add lunch and brunch later. Its website still said "coming fall 2026" in mid-October. Caviar Club, at 833 E. Las Olas Blvd., planned a members-only opening Oct. 15 and public reservations starting Oct. 27. That falls on the Tuesday after this post goes up.
The daytime exception is Ophelia, a bakery and café at 32 E. Las Olas Blvd. near Huizenga Park, which New Times listed as open by Sept. 30. Big City Tavern has left the boulevard. It closed Sept. 30 after 25 years at 609 E. Las Olas Blvd., Miami New Times reported.
A Few Weeks Built Around the After-Five Park
The calendar from now through Nov. 7 follows the same split. Mornings are better spent away from the construction, and the evenings carry the plans.
- Friday, Oct. 23. An evening walk on the open stretches of the Holiday Park paths, then Turnpike Troubadours at 7 p.m. at War Memorial.
- Saturday, Oct. 24. The city's free LauderBOO Halloween event runs 1 to 4 p.m. at Snyder Park, not Holiday Park, with trick-or-treating and games. Niko Moon plays War Memorial at 8 p.m. that night.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27. Caviar Club opens public reservations.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. Hush: A Silent Night starts at 9 p.m., for guests 21 and older. Magie stays open until 2 a.m. on Saturdays.
- Saturday, Nov. 7. Victoria Monét at War Memorial at 8 p.m.
The playground and the west dog run will stay closed long after this calendar ends. The city's two completion dates, summer and fall 2027, are the ones to watch.
If you'd like to talk through what the Holiday Park work means for homes on the streets around it, Levinson Luxury Group follows these projects block by block and can share what we're seeing. Ask us about access to our private listings.
