Saturday, Nov. 7, has four things going on at 2 p.m. The Blue Angels are scheduled to fly over Sherman Field at about that hour. The Pensacola Symphony's dress rehearsal at the Saenger starts at 1:30. A Sound Booth pop-up on Palafox Street runs from 2 to 4, and the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival is open in Seville Square until 5.
You don't have to pick just one. The NAS Pensacola Air Show FAQ says the Blues are scheduled to fly both days at about 2 p.m., and the show runs Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7. If you go to the base on Friday, Saturday stays open for downtown, and downtown has more going on this weekend than it does most of the fall.
Why so much landed on one weekend
Some of this was planned. Foo Foo Festival always runs late October into November, and this year it goes Oct. 29 through Nov. 9. The arts festival was always booked for Nov. 6–8, and the air show for Nov. 6–7.
Hurricane Isaias added the rest. While the city recovered, every City-permitted special event was canceled so safety crews could focus on restoration, and the City told residents to check with organizers before heading out to an event. The Pensacola News Journal reported that Palafox Market was canceled for Oct. 10 and was scheduled to return Oct. 17. Festa Italiana moved further. WEAR reported that the festival moved from Oct. 9–10 to Nov. 13–14, with organizers explaining:
"The decision was made with the safety of our volunteers, performers, vendors, members and community in mind—and to give everyone the time they need to focus on storm preparations."
The weekend's two main downtown venues are open again. The City's Parks and Recreation recovery notice, last updated Oct. 22, lists Seville Square, Plaza de Luna, Community Maritime Park and Veterans Memorial Park as open. It still asks visitors not to use the electrical outlets in reopened parks until they're inspected. If you play Osceola, holes 10–18 had no reopening date as of that update.
Friday, Nov. 6: give the day to the base
The air show is free. Gates open at 8 a.m. and the show starts at 9:30, according to the official air show site. Visit Pensacola puts it at Sherman Field and notes that getting onto the base requires REAL ID-compliant identification.
Getting through the gate is where a free show can still cost you an hour. Pack with the base's rules in mind:
- ID. NAS Pensacola's public visitation instructions route adult U.S. visitors through the West Gate with a REAL ID or passport. Foreign nationals need an escort from an appropriately identified U.S. citizen.
- Bags. Most bags are prohibited. Small purses and diaper bags are allowed and subject to search.
- What stays in the car. Pocket knives, multi-tools, toy or replica weapons, pepper spray, pop-up tents, outside food and drinks, with narrow exceptions for children and babies, and pets other than service animals.
- Parking. It's free. Security directs cars to open lots, and once those fill, to lots served by shuttles.
The 8 a.m. gate time is set for the show. On an ordinary weekend, NAS lists public visitor hours at the West Gate as 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., after screening at the Visitor Control Center on Navy Boulevard. Go by the show's own instructions this weekend, not the everyday hours.
You also have a Friday evening option downtown. Lightspill, presented by Friends of Downtown, is free and open to the public at Artel Gallery, 223 Palafox Place, and runs through Nov. 9. The arts festival is open on Friday too, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 7: downtown from morning to night
With the air show done on Friday, Saturday takes place within a few blocks of Palafox. Here's how the day lines up:
- 9 a.m. at Seville Square. The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival opens, and admission is free. It's a juried show: GGAF says it receives more than 600 applications and selects more than 200 artists to exhibit.
- 10 a.m. The festival's Children's Festival opens with free art activities for kids and runs until 4 p.m. The first Sound Booth pop-up for Science on the Street, presented by Pensacola MESS Hall, also opens and runs until noon near the exhibits on Palafox Street between Garden and Main.
- 1:30 p.m. at the Saenger Theatre, 118 South Palafox Place. The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra's Mozart & Bizet dress rehearsal starts, and doors open at 1. The event page doesn't say whether the rehearsal is free or ticketed, so check before you go.
- 2 to 4 p.m. The second Sound Booth pop-up runs on Palafox. If you saw the Blues on Friday, this hour is yours.
- Late afternoon. Side Show, presented by PenArts at The Gordon Community Art Center, runs through Nov. 8. Tickets are $20, and the outdoor pre-show attractions are free. The event page doesn't list exact performance times.
- 7:30 p.m. at the Saenger. Mozart & Bizet. In-person tickets start at $26, and virtual tickets are $20.
- After the concert. Night Moves, from Night Moves, Inc., is booked at The Handlebar, Lagunas, Odd Colony and Betty's. Its page doesn't break the lineup out by date.
Parking is the one thing the arts festival warns you about. Its visitor page says downtown parking is challenging and points you to paid garages and lots, private lots and the Winterfest trolley. Handicap parking for permit holders is at Bartram Park, entering from Main Street at Barracks Street.
Palafox Market was knocked off its Saturday schedule by the storm and was set to return Oct. 17, according to the same PNJ report. Check with the market's organizers before you plan a coffee and produce stop around it on Nov. 7.
If Friday doesn't work for you, Saturday still does. The air show opens at 8, so you could see the arts festival on Sunday, take the Blues at about 2 on Saturday and make it back downtown for the 7:30 concert. You'd miss the afternoon Sound Booth and the rehearsal. You wouldn't miss the Blues.
Sunday, Nov. 8: where the weekend ends
Sunday has fewer events, and several of them end that day. The arts festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Children's Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Science on the Street and Side Show both list Nov. 8 as their last day. If one of those was on your list and you missed it Saturday, Sunday is your last chance.
Some Foo Foo events go one more day, through Monday, Nov. 9:
| Event | Where | Last day |
|---|---|---|
| Lightspill | Artel Gallery, 223 Palafox Place | Nov. 9 |
| Boo in the City Haunted Walking Tours | Pensacola Tours | Nov. 9 |
Night Moves' own page and the festival calendar give different end dates, and the schedule doesn't list full addresses or daily hours for the walking tours, so look at each event's page on foofoofest.com before you head out.
The week after: two more dates the storm shaped
The next week is quieter, with two events on the calendar.
Wednesday, Nov. 11. Veterans Memorial Park, 200 S. 10th Ave., holds its Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. The park says more details are coming, so check back closer to the day. The park was on the City's Oct. 22 list of open facilities.
Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13–14. Festa Italiana runs at its new dates at Fountain Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission, according to WEAR. The Pensacola News Journal also lists Fountain Park for Nov. 13 and 14. If you had it marked for early October, move it to that weekend.
Recovery work is still going on around town, and the City says schedules may change as it continues. Its open-facility list is updated at playpensacola.com. Before you load the car on Friday morning, check each organizer's site for the event you're heading to.
At Coastal Collective Group, we keep this calendar because we live it too. If you have family coming in for the air show and wondering what a weekend here really looks like, or you're thinking about your own next move on the coast, we'd love to talk it through over coffee. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll pass along whatever we're watching for next weekend, too.
