From now until a week before Christmas, the most dependable night out east of St Andrews Country Club is Friday, in the courtyard between Rocco's Tacos and Tap42 at The Shops at Boca Center. The center's Friday Artisan Market runs from 5 to 10 p.m. nearly every week through December 18, and its two biggest seasonal events land on market nights. Down Military Trail, Sugar Sand Park fills the weekdays with theater, science programs and a night of telescopes. Downtown Boca's fall calendar is built from one-night festivals. The Military Trail side runs on a weekly routine, and you can plan around it.
Tomorrow night has the whole pattern in one evening
This post goes up on Thursday, October 29. Friday, October 30 is the night before Halloween, and three free or low-cost options near Military Trail overlap that evening:
- Creepy Crawlies at the Chickee Lab, Children's Science Explorium at Sugar Sand Park, 300 S. Military Trail. Two sessions, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m., for ages 5 to 12. The City of Boca Raton lists the cost at $10 for residents and $12.50 for non-residents.
- Hocus Pocus (1993), a free outdoor screening on the patio of the Spanish River branch of the Boca Raton Public Library, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- The Friday Artisan Market at Boca Center, 5 to 10 p.m., with October 30 on the center's published schedule.
The full lineup is on the city's Halloween season roundup, which also lists Spooky Tennis at the Racquet Center at 6 p.m. that night for ages 7 to 12. An early science session at the Explorium, then the movie or the market, covers the evening without heading east of the Military Trail corridor.
That same mix comes back almost every week through mid-December.
The Friday courtyard schedule, week by week
The Shops at Boca Center publishes its market dates well ahead. Here they are next to the center's seasonal events, the Thanksgiving gap and the other Friday options nearby.
| Friday | Courtyard at Boca Center | What else is happening |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 30 | Artisan Market, 5–10 p.m. | Hocus Pocus at Spanish River Library |
| Nov. 6 | Artisan Market, 5–10 p.m. | Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Willow Theatre, 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 13 | Artisan Market, 5–10 p.m. | |
| Nov. 20 | Artisan Market plus Holiday Kickoff, 5:30–8 p.m. | Boca Raton Wine & Food Festival the next night |
| Nov. 27 | No market listed | Day after Thanksgiving |
| Dec. 4 | Artisan Market, 5–10 p.m. | |
| Dec. 11 | Artisan Market plus Wags in Wonderland | |
| Dec. 18 | Artisan Market, 5–10 p.m. | Last market date on the center's posted schedule |
The Holiday Kickoff on Friday, November 20 is the night the season officially starts on this side of town. The center lists Santa's arrival and a tree lighting, a holiday DJ with LED dancing robots, cookie decorating, a holiday craft station, letters to Santa and face painting. Photos with Santa cost a $10 donation. All proceeds go to the Boca Raton Toy Drive through The Rotary Club of Boca Raton West Foundation, and guests can bring new, unwrapped toys to donate. Since the kickoff runs 5:30 to 8 p.m. inside the market's 5-to-10 window, families can finish with Santa and still have two hours of market left.
Wags in Wonderland follows on December 11, also a market Friday.
The courtyard has a quieter monthly event too. On the last Sunday of each month, Boca Center hosts a free Pilates class from 5 to 6 p.m. with @MoveWithVida. The next two are November 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and December 27.
Sugar Sand Park covers the weekdays
If Friday belongs to the courtyard, the rest of the week belongs to Sugar Sand Park at 300 S. Military Trail. The Willow Theatre and the Children's Science Explorium share the address, and the city's November calendar puts most of their programs Sunday through Wednesday.
- Sunday, Nov. 1: Make & Take, Veggie Stamp Tote Bags, at the Explorium from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Each project costs $5. No advance registration is needed, and supplies are limited.
- Tuesday, Nov. 3 and Wednesday, Nov. 4: Explorium Science Squad's Harvest Lab. Tuesday's 4 to 5 p.m. session is for ages 5 to 7 with a parent, at $10 for residents and $12.50 for non-residents. Wednesday's 4 p.m. session is for ages 8 to 12.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: Senses of Cinema, Films for Thought at the Willow Theatre, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at $12 for residents and $15 for non-residents.
- Monday, Nov. 16: Eyes To The Skies, a free telescope night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Camino lot behind the Explorium, weather permitting. If the weather is poor, it moves indoors to the planetarium.
One Sugar Sand Park event lands on a Friday. On November 6, the Willow Theatre stages Last of the Red Hot Lovers from 7 to 9:15 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person, $23 each for groups of four or more in one transaction, and $20 with a season ticket. The market opens at 5 p.m. that night, so a quick walk through the Boca Center courtyard before curtain works. The Willow Theatre box office number on the city listing is 561-347-3948.
For younger readers, the Spanish River branch runs Adventures in Reading, a children's literacy program, on Thursdays from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Sessions are November 5, 12 and 19 and December 3 and 10. The library's event page requires a reservation for each class.
Where dinner fits, and the Friday exception
The newest restaurant at Boca Center is Mamush Prime Kosher Grill at 5250 Town Center Circle, Suite 143. The Boca Raton Observer named it one of three new kosher restaurants in Boca this year, serving Mediterranean food and charcoal-fired meats and seafood.
Its hours change the Friday plan. The restaurant's own site lists Sunday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Shabbat takeaway and catering, and closed Saturday. So on market nights, Mamush closes about an hour before the courtyard fills. For a sit-down Mamush dinner, the weekday Sugar Sand Park nights line up better: Harvest Lab or Senses of Cinema on November 4, or the telescope night on November 16. The Boca Center directory lists later weeknight hours than the restaurant's site does, so call ahead before planning around a late table.
Two restaurants are on the way at Town Center. In September, the Palm Beach Post reported that Felice and Limani Grille were both listed as "coming soon" at Town Center at Boca Raton, with opening dates still to be announced. Boca Magazine gave Felice, an Italian restaurant, a window of "this fall or winter." Neither report gave an opening date, so check with Town Center before making plans around either one.
The downtown nights worth the drive east
Downtown Boca's fall calendar works differently. Each event is a single night, not a weekly routine, so the three below are worth adding around the Friday schedule.
- Thursday, Nov. 5: The city's Night Market returns to Sanborn Square, 72 N. Federal Highway, from 6 to 9 p.m., with food, local artists and makers, and music. Being on a Thursday, it doesn't conflict with the Boca Center market the next night.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Red, White & Boca, a free Veterans Day celebration at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, from 4 to 7 p.m. The city lists live music, a classic-car show, food vendors and a veterans marketplace.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: The 13th Annual Boca Raton Wine & Food Festival runs from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at Sanborn Square Park. It comes the night after the Boca Center Holiday Kickoff, so the weekend before Thanksgiving is the busiest two nights of the season.
The drive itself
Most trips from St Andrews toward Boca Center and Sugar Sand Park use Clint Moore Road and Military Trail, and both have had roadwork this month. Palm Beach County's road and bridge report for October 19 to 25 listed periodic eastbound right-lane closures on Clint Moore Road, about 300 feet east of E. Rogers Circle, for FPL pole removal. The same report listed sidewalk installation at Military Trail and Clint Moore Road, with periodic northbound and southbound lane closures. That October 16 report covered a single week, and the county issues a new list weekly, so look up the current one before a 5 p.m. Friday drive toward the courtyard.
The Ina Bloom Team keeps track of what opens and what's on along Military Trail all season. If you're thinking about how a move or sale in St Andrews Country Club fits the months ahead, Request a Private Consultation.
