Emerald Coast Beer Festival

The 26th Emerald Coast Beer Festival is happening on September 9th in Seville Quarter, Pensacola! The festival will feature over 50 breweries and 200 craft beers. There will be microbreweries, distributors, and homebrew clubs providing beer at the event. General admission is $30 per person; VIP tickets are $80 per person. For the Friday tasting event, VIP Admission gets early access at 5:00 pm and General Admission starts at 5:30 pm. The festival will also feature live music and food vendors!

Visit the official Emerald Coast Beer Festival website to learn more, stay up-to-date, and purchase tickets. 

Amnesty Days for Sneads

Sneads is hosting Amnesty Days this September. Only residents of Sneads will be allowed to participate; no commercial customers. Additionally, citizens will be required to provide proof of residency, a bill, or have ID. The Amnesty Days will be hosted on the corner of Third Ave and Old Spanish Trail. There will be three available dates: September 14th (7:30 am – 5 pm CST), September 16th (7:30 am – 5 pm CST), and September 17th (8 am – noon). 

The following items are NOT accepted: tires, batteries, liquids, chemicals, propane tanks, paint cans, fluorescent bulbs, microwaves, T.V.s, and computers. 

Please contact City Hall at 593 – 6636 with any questions or concerns. 

Florida Scallop, Music, & Arts Festival

This weekend, September 3rd-4th, is the Florida Scallop, Music & Arts Festival. Celebrate Labor Day weekend by enjoying freshly harvested St. Joseph’s Bay scallops while enjoying live music. The event will be held at George Core Park in Port St. Joe starting at noon. This two-day festival includes American Blonde, Tiger County Regulators, Sauce Boss, and The Josh Garrett Band. One-day passes cost $15/per person while a two-day pass is $25/per person. Please note that kids under 12 get in for free. Visit their Facebook page here to stay up-to-date on the line-up and festival announcements. Visit their event website here to purchase tickets or learn more. 

Soaring out of Summer Celebration

Join the Calhoun/Liberty Community Health Partners tomorrow at Foxtrot 95 Calhoun County Airport for the Soaring out of Summer Celebration. The event starts at 10 am and aims to bring awareness to the Florida Department of Health’s SNAP-ED program and other important local resources. The celebration will host hot air balloon rides, sports activities, bounce houses, yard games, food trucks, live music, a fruit & vegetable stand, and local resource vendors. Admission is FREE so bring out the whole family for a day of fun and education! 

Caribe Family Festival

This Saturday from 12pm – 6pm, the FAMU Way Market Area will be hosting Caribé! Also called A Festival of Colors, this event celebrates the history, culture, music, and folklife of the Caribbean islands. Guests are encouraged to express their creativity by creating and wearing masks and costumes for the parade. The event is FREE and will feature a parade in which guests are allowed to partake in, music, dance, food, performances, vendors, displays, and more!

Featured performers include: DJ RRane, Gyasi Clarke, The Forgotten Coast Dancers, DJ Dean, Excellence Dance Studio, Breanna Jade, DJ Zoe, Miriam Watkins & the Tallahassee Salsa Dancers from Studio D, Elio Delgado, DJ Ju, Lion Steel Band from Leon High School, DJ Vizyon, and DJ Stan Man. It is being produced by the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Foundation with partial funding from Leon County/Visit Tallahassee.

Sip & Stroll in Jacksonville

Every third Thursday of the month, enjoy a night at the downtown Jacksonville waterfront sipping wine, listening to music, and partaking in local eats. Sip and Stroll features specialty cocktails crafted by Manifest Distillery alongside beautiful Florida sunsets. The monthly event is presented by PNC in partnership with the Downtown Investment Authority. Guests can enjoy the picnic area, the southbank riverwalk, and more! Lawn chairs, picnic blankets, and leashed dogs are welcome. Tomorrow is the August Sip and Stroll event. The event starts at 5 pm and goes until 8 pm. Please note that only alcoholic beverages in a branded Sip & Stroll cup are permitted on the Riverwalk during the event; pick up a branded cup at either of the Riverwalk bars.

Drag Boat Racing in Sneads

The Town of Sneads and the Outboard Drag Boat Association is hosting a Sneads Showdown this coming week, August 20-21. The race will be held at Sneads Park on Legion Road. Admission is $10/person while kids 10years-old and younger get in for free! There will be food and beverage vendors on-site for your enjoyment. Please note that while racing does not begin until 10:30 am, the gates and festivities will open at 8 am. Please come prepared for the heat with water, sun protection, and bug spray. 

Grape Harvest Festival

The 2022 Annual Grape Harvest Festival is coming to the FAMU Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research on August 20th! From 8 am to 4 pm, the festival will be bustling with family, food, fun, and agricultural discovery. FAMU is a national leader in viticulture research, and this festival is meant to celebrate both FAMU and the surrounding community.  

Click the photo to visit the Grape Harvest Festival website for more information.

There will be a vineyard trailer ride, grape and wine sampling, grape stomping contest, water slides, a grape throwing competition, a hula hoop competition, live entertainment, fun vineyard run and walk-a-thon, grape picking, a health fair, and more than 60 community exhibitors and vendors! Onsite general admission is $10/person; children under 12 years of age and FAMU students (with valid ID) are free. Non-FAMU students will receive a 50% discount while seniors (65+) will receive a 20% discount. Parking is located off-site at the “Antique Car Museum” located at 6800 Mahan Drive. Parking will open at 7:30 am on the day of the event. A complimentary bus shuttle to the festival grounds will be provided on a 10–15min schedule.

Blountstown Rocks

In 1963, a group of talented young musicians from small towns across the Florida panhandle would visit Blountstown on Friday nights to play songs of the ’60s at the American Legion Hall. More than 50 years later, Saving Downtown Blountstown and Main Street Blountstown are teaming up to host the “Return of the Villagers.” Come down to the 20 West Saloon (formerly J Milley’s) tomorrow, August 13th, at 6:30 pm for Blountstown Rocks! The dance will provide a nostalgic shimmy down memory lane with the band starting promptly at 7 pm. Food will not be provided but the dance is conveniently located by a number of local restaurants. There will be an open bar available at Return of the Villagers. Please note that the dress code is casual. 

Jackson County Turns 200

Jackson County is turning 200, and the city is hosting a Bicentennial Celebration Festival on August 13th. The Festival will include food trucks, games, live music, a farmers’ market, history, inflatables, vendors, and more! Entry to the festival is free, as are the games. However, be sure to bring money for the food trucks, farmers’ market, and merchandise vendors. Parents, please note that some kid-friendly activities involve water – plan accordingly. For more info: email darbyshired@jacksoncountyfl.gov or contact the County Administration at (850) 482-9633.