What is Winterfest?
Our tours and performances light up beautiful Downtown Pensacola from Historic Seville to the Palafox Business District. This year, we are still offering exciting holiday memory tours for the entire family, including a special Santa's Express Tour the week before Christmas that's great for young children. The beautiful horse and carriage are available for rides through the Historic Districts. Our flagship Performance Tour which featured 16 fun stops with your favorite holiday characters will be back in 2010.Winterfest Around the Web
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Announcing the Winterfest Calendar Project
When we were getting our calendar together for 2010, we noticed that there still aren't any really great holiday event calendars for Pensacola. Everyone has their own set of events to promote and their own rules for submission, and it's hard to keep up with it all.
At Winterfest we aim to do things better. We'll be monitoring all the event calendars we can find and taking your submissions at calendars@pensacolawinterfest.org. Soon you'll find sharing features so you can easily make plans with friends and family.
What events will we include?
Anything in or near Pensacola, holiday-themed, and family friendly. Please include a web address where we can find more information, or a description and contact info so people know how to participate. There's no cost or obligation on your part, we just want a great calendar so people can get the most out of the holiday season.
Why should you send your info to our calendar?
One of the big problems events have in Pensacola is that it's hard to reach people who'd enjoy attending. We get thousands of visitors to our website from October to December, and we send out notices to our guests to let them know about great stuff to do during the holidays.
We'll be using our Twitter, Facebook, and Buzz streams to give people timely reminders of events and promoting the calendar with advertising.
All you have to do is send us an email with your details -- no forms, no special formatting. Just drop us a note and we'll do the rest. If you like, we'll even send your event to other calendars we know about to save you the trouble. What could be easier?
Have an idea to make our calendar better?
Tell us, we'd love to hear about it.
The Pirate Trolley Sails Forth
Captain Scallywag teaches a pirate lass a few sea shanties aboard the pirate trolley. Them mateys who refuse to join the chorus, soon find themselves on the plank!
Quincy Pirates Invade Pensacola!
A horde of young pirate lads laid siege to Fort VIC, attacking the Pelican and creating havoc along the shoreline. The group from Quincy, Florida invaded Pensacola seeking treasure and adventure but were soon thwarted by the quick work of Captain Scallywag and ship's crew.
A Pirate's Life for Me!
Shiver ye timbers! Pirates invaded downtown Pensacola, taking no prisoners and uncovering yet another of De Tuna's hidden treasures. Dancing and singing are favored activities of our pirate crew.
Ahoy Matey, Cast Off for Adventure
The maiden voyage of the Pirates of Pensacola sailed into the sunset. The crew enjoyed a sumptuous sampler from the ship's store, joined in singing pirate ditties and unearthed part of de Tuna's treasure. But, never fear, there's more booty to be found on the next voyage of discovery.
Audition Online for Winterfest 2010!
Winterfest is busier than ever in 2010, and we need performers for all of our interactive and staged events. Are you a great actor, singer, or dancer? Do you love being up close and personal with your audience? Working the crowd? We want to work with you! Send your auditions to auditions@pensacolawinterfest.org and they'll get posted to our special auditions blog. Anything you email -- video, photos, music, even documents and powerpoints, will get formatted for posting, so get creative. Tell your friends, too! If you refer someone we select, you'll get two free tickets to Winterfest's 2010 Performance Tour (one referral per audition).
Pirates of Pensacola
Take a Ride in the Winterfest "Sleigh"
There's no better reminder that it's Christmas than the feeling of Jack Frost nipping at your nose! An old Christmas tradition, riding in the open air is a great way to enjoy the sights and sounds of Winterfest. Snuggle up to your sweetie or hold your little ones close as you experience the performance tour in our open tram. Bundle up, and be sure to take one of our soft red blankets. Elves will be on hand to pass out hot chocolate to help you stay nice and warm. Feel the brisk Christmas chill as you marvel at our talented performers sharing their holiday spirit!
Welcome, Candy Cane!
Candy Cane’s inaugural voyage was Friday, November 27th. Quint Studer and his family were our first travelers.
It's hard to believe Winterfest hasn't always had two beautifully restored trolleys. A "green trolley" joined Winterfest in 2007 on loan
from a company in Mississippi. When it became available for purchase this year, we decided to add a companion to the original trolley, Snowflake. Through the summer of 2009, a gradual transformation took place. Green became red, and the entire trolley was meticulously rejuvenated, with every bench plank lovingly hand-sanded. Now Candy Cane joins the ranks of Winterfest, ready to transport happy visitors on their holiday journey. Thanks to our many volunteers who spent over one thousand hours working to make the new trolley sparkle and shine.
Winterfest Office Elves
You'll find an assortment of elf assistants at the Courthouse office. Kathy Ackerman has been the Chief Office Elf since 2004. Deidre LaCasse is our expert trolley dispatcher and art director. If you've been to Winterfest in the past five years, chances are you've met both of these outstanding Santa's helpers. Louis Vallon has grown up as a Winterfest elf. He's a Jack-of-all-trades and is in charge of details. Along with assistants Lauren Palmer, Allison Bunyard and Kathy Ledet, you can be assured that your questions will be answered.
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