For decades, Winter Park has celebrated the winter holidays with popular events and decorations on Park Avenue, all of them branded by the broad “holiday” moniker.

Last year, the local group that received city funds to decorate for the holidays changed the name to “Christmas on Park.” This year, city officials, at the urging of some residents, want the more inclusive “holiday” name restored given that events begin in mid-November, run through New Year’s Day and acknowledge other holidays such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Now, the toney city faces accusations that it’s attacking Christmas — and the name of the 2025 celebration remains uncertain.

Carina Sexton, the executive director of Park Avenue District, the nonprofit agency which supports downtown businesses, wouldn’t say this week what it’s calling festivities this year.

Sexton could not be reached by phone but when asked about the name by email Thursday her response didn’t address the issue. In a follow-up email Friday morning she said: “We have no further comments at this time.”

The city wants to call the celebrations “holiday” events, as it has done since at least 2005. But Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said celebrations of Christmas are still on in Winter Park in 2025, despite an online petition claiming Christmas is in jeopardy in the small Central Florida city.

“We are not departing from the tradition, as the petition implies. All names are the same as they were before, except for last year’s naming by the Park Avenue District,” DeCiccio said during Wednesday’s City Commission meeting. “So, in summary Virginia, don’t worry, Christmas is alive and well in Winter Park,”

City resident Gigi Papa started a petition this week at change.org to “Save Christmas in Winter Park, FL.” It had 800 supporters as of Friday afternoon, but it’s unclear how many are city residents. Papa did not respond to multiple emails and voicemail messages seeking comment.

During the commission meeting, Papa, a frequent attendee and public commenter, asked commissioners not to take “Christmas” out of festivities and thanked petition supporters.

“Recently our mayor insisted that the Park Avenue District eliminate the word ‘Christmas’ from ‘Christmas on Park’,” she said. “It’s my understanding that unless that Park Avenue District changes the name the mayor will withhold the taxpayer-funded contribution allotted for Park Avenue Christmas lighting.”

The petition is “fraught with inaccurate information,” DeCiccio said.

“The Christmas tree remains the Christmas tree. The Christmas Parade remains the Christmas parade. The Tuba Christmas event remains, etc,” she said.

As far as funding for the celebration, the city is giving $90,000 to the Park Avenue District for this year’s decor, and it would take a majority vote of commissioners to rescind it — and that isn’t under consideration, according to Clarissa Howard, the city’s spokesperson. Plus next fiscal year’s budget (starting Oct. 1), approved on first reading Wednesday, includes $90,000 for the agency to handle it again.

She said before the organization changed the name it had been called “Hometown Holidays” since 2021. Before that, going back to at least 2005, the city promoted it as “Holiday Events.”

An Aug. 13 news release the city sent out about festivities generated feedback from residents concerned about continuing to brand it as a Christmas celebration, she said. That led the city to ask the agency to reconsider the name.

“The only change that we are requesting is not to tradition, it’s not to history, it’s just to that name that was changed just last year,” Howard said. The city wants to “represent all of the holidays,” she said, noting the city added a menorah for Hanukkah and a kinara for Kwanzaa to Central Park in 2021.