Blue Angels, Beaches, Music, Museums: Vacation Artfully in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. — From the Blue Angels to the beaches, fine dining to festivals, and museums to musicals, Pensacola, nestled in the Florida Panhandle, offers a vacation experience like no other.

“We always say that Pensacola is, ‘The Way to Beach,’” Nicole Stacey from Visit Pensacola told WSBTV.com’s Nelson Hicks. “So our art scene is the artful way to beach and it’s a really cool way to bring the fact that you’re going to vacation in Pensacola for our beautiful beaches and things to do but then there are other things to add to that vacation experience. After a few days in the sun or if you’re coming down when the weather is a little bit cooler, there are museums for you to go check out, there are performances, this is the opera, and there’s the ballet. Truly, Pensacola has got it all.”

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Pensacola: An Artful Way to Beach

The area is well-known for its stunning beaches, from Pensacola Beach with its lively boardwalk, beachside restaurants, and events, to Perdido Key, where the natural beauty offers a peaceful retreat. Whether you’re seeking an active day by the water or a more tranquil escape, Pensacola has it all.

But there’s more to Pensacola than sand and sun. The local tourism campaign, “Vacation Artfully,” speaks to the city’s rich cultural offerings. A walk through downtown Pensacola quickly reveals why this coastal town is a hidden gem for the arts.

“I don’t want to say best-kept secret—because I think the secret is out of the bag at this point,” Pensacola attorney and Chairperson of the Pensacola Foo Foo Festival Chairperson Therese Felth McKenize said. “But I still think it’s unexplored for a lot of people.”

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The Arts Take Center Stage

Pensacola is home to the “Big Five”—a professional theater, symphony, ballet, opera company, and an accredited art museum. The Pensacola Museum of Art, located in a historic 100-year-old former city jail, celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2024.

“We do have some really amazing works by some surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí,” Pensacola Museum of Art director Nicholas Croghan said. “We also have some modern masterpieces by artists like Pablo Picasso. We also are currently exhibiting some of the pioneers of photography.”

Some Japanese woodblock prints are also currently on display. The prints are some of the oldest pieces in the collection and date back to the 1830s.

Croghan noted that the Pensacola Museum of Art presents engaging cross-disciplinary exhibitions and educational programming while stewarding a growing collection of modern and contemporary art.

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What's on the menu in Pensacola? “You are in the hub for arts and culture here in Pensacola: the Clark Family Cultural Center, which is home to Pensacola Little Theatre, Ballet Pensacola, the Stamped Film Festival, Emerald Coast Writers, and any -con—EntreCon, CiviCon, PensaCon—that we have in town. They are all housed right here,” the theater’s CEO, Sid Williams-Heath, said. (Nelson Hicks)

Just across the street is the Pensacola Little Theatre.

“You are in the hub for arts and culture here in Pensacola: the Clark Family Cultural Center, which is home to Pensacola Little Theatre, Ballet Pensacola, the Stamped Film Festival, Emerald Coast Writers, and any -con—EntreCon, CiviCon, PensaCon—that we have in town. They are all housed right here,” the theater’s CEO, Sid Williams-Heath, said.

The center, housed in a historic 1911 building, is currently undergoing a $7 million renovation that will elevate the theater experience. Upcoming shows include POTUS, A Christmas Story, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Camelot.

Ballet Pensacola also calls the Clark Family Cultural Center home. Artistic Director Stephano Candreva, formerly of the Atlanta Ballet, leads the company, which will present Cinderella in October, followed by performances of The Nutcracker in December.

“I love to express myself through movement,” Candreva said. “You don’t need to speak in order to express yourself; you can tell a whole story by the way (you) express yourself, people have the feeling of what you are telling, not necessarily with words, but with the actions and the felling and the energy.”

Counter-Culture and Culinary Delights

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If formal arts aren’t your style, Pensacola offers something for everyone. The 309 Punk Project has been fostering DIY, counter-culture arts since the early 1990s.

“We are the oldest punk house in the South, which means punks have been living in this house since the early ‘90s,” Lauren Anzaldo from the 309 Punk Project said. “We’re going on 30-plus years. (It’s) always been a site of arts, culture, food, music, writing, all those sorts of things. Now we continue to do that as a non-profit organization.”

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The culinary scene in Pensacola is equally impressive. Whether it’s ‘From the World Is Yours Oysters,’ lobster corn dogs, or shrimp and crab nachos at Atlas Oyster House, or the dill-and-jalapeno shrimp or grilled pork chop at George Bistro and Bar, the city’s food offerings are a delicious surprise.

Downtown Pensacola isn’t just about dining—bars, nightclubs, and shops fill the streets.

“The downtown scene has blown up over the years,” Robert Goodspeed from the Handlebar, a live music venue in Pensacola, said. “There are so many different bars. I mean you could spend an entire weekend and not hit everything, which is really cool.”

A Beer Lover’s Paradise

Pensacola is also gaining recognition as a top destination for craft beer. With a dozen breweries in the area, Pensacola was recently named the second-best city for beer lovers in the U.S. by TastingTable.com, ranking ahead of cities like Portland and Austin.

“So this is Odd Colony Brewing Company,” Brett Schweigert from the brewery said. “It was established in 2019. We kind of pride ourselves on producing historical stayle of lager, English pub ale, an IPA, alongside some more seasonaly-inspired farmhouse ales.”

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Why Visit in the Fall? The Foo Foo Festival

Fall is one of the best times to visit Pensacola, and there are three reasons why: cooler temperatures, thinner crowds, and the return of the Foo Foo Festival.

Running from Oct. 31 to Nov. 11, the Foo Foo Festival celebrates the arts in all forms.

“It’s really a cool concept because it’s all about the arts and the ways in which we celebrate that here in Pensacola,” Stacey said.

From live music performances to theater to immersive art installations, there’s something for everyone.

Voctave, a Disney-rooted vocal ensemble, will perform as part of the festival.

“They specialize in Broadway and familiar show tunes,” Peter Steenblik from the Choral Society of Pensacola said.

The Foo Foo Festival awards grants to groups like the Choral Society of Pensacola for those groups to present unique programming during the festival.

The Japan-America Society of Northwest Florida is another grant recipient. The non-profit group will host an anime convention for the Foo Foo Festival.

“It’s a really great opportunity to bring together members of the community together who enjoy animation, who enjoy comics who enjoy art and crafts and dressing up,” Savannah Mikus from the society said.

Other events include a performance of Carmen: The Traveler by the Pensacola Opera, the Joyful Noise Gospel Celebration, the Night Moves Fest, Night on the Tracks, The Blue Trees—an environmental art installation, The Living Museum: A Trip Through Pensacola’s History, and more.

See the Blue Angels perform in Pensacola

Of course, no mention of Pensacola is complete without highlighting its most famous residents: the Blue Angels. Visitors can catch the flight squadron practicing nearly 40 times a year, with their final show of 2024 taking place during the Foo Foo Festival on Nov. 1 and 2.

“We should be Atlanta’s beaches,” Stacey said. “We’re close, you can drive to us or you can get on a flight and it’s 45 minutes. I literally tell people when I’m flying to Atlanta like once you’re up (in the air), you’re coming back down. It’s an easy drive with the family. It’s a quick flight. And it’s a great place to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but still to enjoy a cool beach town with a cool downtown city vibe.”

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