The Fort Walton Beach Police Department will host its fifth annual Winter Wonderland event Dec. 12-13 from 6-8 p.m. at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds, offering families a free holiday experience while building community connections with local law enforcement.

• What started as six or seven pallet houses outside the police department during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has grown into a large-scale community event that drew more than 1,000 attendees last year, according to Lt. Kendra Stalls of the Fort Walton Beach Police Department.

“It’s important for us to be able to interact and build trust within our community,” Stalls said. “I know when the holidays come around, I look for things to take my kids to, and it’s even better when it’s free.”

The event moved to Chester Pruitt Park in its second year before relocating to the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds, where it has been held recently to accommodate continued growth.

This year’s Winter Wonderland will feature 20 vendors, two food trucks, bounce houses donated by Fun for All Inflatables, and a snow machine. The centerpiece remains “Pallet House Lane,” where different units within the police department – including patrol squads Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, along with the crime scene and criminal investigations division, records and communication division, and community policing — each design and decorate their own pallet house. 

• The fire department has also participated since the first year.

Admission is free, though attendees are encouraged to bring toy donations for Emerald Coast Toys for Tots or items from a needs list for Save Underdogs, a local organization. Visitors can also purchase raffle tickets for $10 each or receive one raffle ticket per toy donation. Raffle prizes include hotel stays, four-hour charter boat fishing trips, gift cards and gift baskets donated by local community partners. 

Eglin Federal Credit Union provided donations this year to cover event essentials such as candy canes for Santa and other behind-the-scenes items.

“I want to make it the biggest, best event for people who have children, whether they’re low income or high income — it doesn’t matter,” Stalls said. “To come out and be able to have a good time with their kids and for them to leave and have that memory, and for the police department to be included in that memory as a good memory going forward.”

Attendees will enter through the main gate at the fairgrounds, where raffle items will be displayed in the front room. Vendors and craft activities will be set up in the main building, with the snow machine operating out the back door. Pallet House Lane and bounce houses will be set up in the outdoor areas.

• “It’s an amazing event that’s grown over the years,” Stalls said. “I just want them to be able to, years from now, reflect and have a positive memory — to be able to say at our 10th, 11th, 12th Winter Wonderland, ‘I was there from the beginning.’”

The Northwest Florida Fairgrounds is located at 1958 Lewis Turner Blvd, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547.