It’s Happening in the South: Happy 450th Pensacola, Florida

Certain birthday milestones deserve grand celebrations, especially when said milestone is 450.

Birthday candles, flickr, creative commons by DavidInc

Pensacola, Fla.’s 450 day celebration culminates on Saturday, August 15 with the world’s largest birthday card and a piece of birthday cake for everyone.

“The party is free and open to the public,” says Ashley Chisholm, account manager at EW Bullock Associates. “It’s a family-friendly huge birthday bash.”

The celebration kicks off at 9 a.m. with a Landing Reenactment and Catholic Mass on Pensacola Beach at Fort Pickens Gate Park.

However, if you don’t do mornings on the weekend, the party/street festival starts at 5 p.m. in downtown (PDF file) at Palafox Place. The surrounding street and others will be closed off for revelers to enjoy live music and entertainment, history reenactments and more. Many businesses will be participating in their own way as well with specials and other events.

In addition, Pensacola Celebrity Chefs will be on-hand creating small Spanish dishes to sample for $4.50, says Bullock.

There are also will be a time capsule in which resident are encourage to donate items.

The birthday celebration will end with fireworks  at 9:30 p.m.

Now, if you can’t wait until Saturday to celebrate, on Thursday at 5 p.m., there will be a Spanish conquistador statue dedicated at Plaza de Luna.  On Friday, there’s an art auction at 7 p.m. that features 10 historic paintings by artist-in-residence, Dean Quigley.

photo credit: Birthday candles, flickr, creative commons by DavidInc