Santa’s Enchanted Forest sues Miami-Dade to block rival event – NBC 6 South Florida

The owners of Santa’s Enchanted Forest are suing Miami-Dade County to stop another winter wonderland event from setting up shop at its former home.

Santa’s called Tropical Park home for nearly four decades, before the county refused to renew its lease back in 2020.

Santa’s owners have now filed a civil lawsuit against Miami-Dade County and Loud and Live Engage, the company behind Christmas Wonderland, which is a competing theme park set to debut at Tropical Park on November 16.

The suit claims that Miami-Dade County repeatedly informed Santa’s owners that any subsequent use of the Tropical Park property for a large-scale holiday fair like Santa’s Enchanted Forest — or any other event of a similar size and scope — must be competitively awarded.

A promotional video for Christmas Wonderland notably announced that — “Christmas returns to Tropical Park.”

“This lawsuit is being brought to seek redress for the County’s backroom dealings, utter disregard for its own rules and cronyism that threaten the future of SEF and Santa’s Enchanted Forest,” the suit stated.

Santa’s owners claim Miami-Dade County strung them along with the promise of a public procurement process — which would have given Santa’s a fair attempt at re-establishing itself at Tropical Park.

“The County inexplicably retreated from these repeated assurances and instead simply awarded the coveted lease agreement to a would-be competitor of SEF – i.e., LLE – under the guise of a non-competitive permit,” the lawsuit continued.

The suit asks a judge to cancel the permit for the rival Christmas Wonderland event.

In the meantime, Santa’s Enchanted Forest plans to open at its current home in Medley on Thursday, November 9.