Studer Community Institute

'Destination Downtown' brings events together

May 22, 2015
/ Mike Ensley
/ community-dashboard

If you’re looking for something to do this Memorial Day weekend, the Downtown Improvement Board thinks downtown Pensacola should be your destination. “Destination Downtown” is a push by the organization to highlight six events, all within walking distance of each other, happening in downtown Pensacola this weekend. The six events highlight the ease of getting around on foot in the city. “Theoretically, you can come down, stay and have something to walk to every day from Friday through Monday,” said the DIB’s Amber Mitchell. “Downtown can be intimidating to people who don’t visit on a regular basis, but we want people to know that if they know where to go, it is very welcoming.” The events include: • Gallery Night, the monthly “night of shopping, dining and live music” that takes on Palafox Place and the surrounding streets is Friday. • The Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ home series against the Jackson Generals, from Friday through Monday. • The Palafox Market, where vendors offer “fresh produce, live plants, baked goods, fine art, antiques” and more are offered every Saturday morning in Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza. • SoGo Saturday, where the shops and eateries that are located south of Government St. in downtown Pensacola will hold their “Kickoff Summer Event” on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. • The Palafox Wine Walk, which will allow “wine enthusiasts to sample more than 30 newly released wines from select boutique vendors while strolling between some of the best shops on Palafox.” • The Veterans Park Memorial Day Ceremony, a ceremony to remember the men and women who bravely gave their lives in service to the country, featuring guest speaker Lt. Gen. Duane Thiessen and the Pensacola Naval Air Station Color Guard, the NAS Pensacola Honor Guard and Bugler. “We’ve never done anything like this before,” said Mitchell, office/finance coordinator for the DIB. “This is a completely new idea and campaign for us.” The coordinated effort of promotion has been popular among both potential visitors and the events involved. “We’ve really seen an awesome response,” Mitchell said. Businesses in downtown are also happy to see the effort. “I firmly believe the more events happening downtown, the better,” said Jim Sweida, President of Blue Morning Gallery. “The people who say there’s nothing going on in Pensacola really need to get downtown and sample what we have to offer.” Blue Morning will be participating in both Gallery Night and The Palafox Wine Walk this weekend and Sweida says the gallery sees increased traffic from both events. “We see a lot of first timers coming in on Gallery Night when we do our open house,” Sweida said. “And that translates not only to return visits, but also sales.” For the Wine Walk, Blue Morning will have wine vendors in the gallery hosting tastings of limited edition wines and a keyboardist providing music. “For the Wine Walk, we really like to set an overall mood,” Sweida said. “Last year, we had some really wonderful European wines for the tasting and it was a wonderful event.” Further down Palafox in the SoGo District, Saturday will have special events going on as well. In the closed block between Main and Zarragossa Streets, the day will feature music by DJ Ramsey, a hair show at VolumeONE Salon, Aerialists presented by Pure Pilates, a floral and plant show by Fiore, chalk art for kids and much more. “Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to bring the family and see what downtown Pensacola has to offer,” says Nic Schuck, owner of Emerald Coast Tours, which offers Segway, bike, and walking tours of Historic Pensacola. “School is almost out for summer, so bring your family and we will get your summer started right.” By all accounts, the new method of attracting visitors downtown has been successful in getting people’s attention and the DIB hopes to use it again. “It has been great,” said John Peacock, chairman of the DIB. “If there are events that fall together like this, we will definitely use this strategy again.”

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'Destination Downtown' brings events together

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