10
| downtowncrowd.com
Winterfest 2023
Classic Holiday Stories Come to Life in Downtown Pensacola by Darien Hardy
I
t is once again that time of year when the storage bins filled with strands of lights, tinsel and glittering ornaments are pulled from the corner of the attic or the back of the closet. Downtown Pensacola will soon be lit up with holiday flare as members of the community come together for one of the city’s favorite annual holiday events: Winterfest.
This year, Winterfest has many exciting events in the works such as a couple parades and a brandnew tour. The Elf Parade—which Winterfest puts on every year—gets all the favorite holiday characters together to walk through downtown Pensacola, wave to all the kids and lead to the way to the Christmas market. The market will be held at the plaza at the corner of Zaragoza and Tarragona Streets.
Winterfest will take over the downtown streets through December 24, featuring new festivities, fan-favorite events and more zany activities. This year’s Winterfest festivities kick off at 223 S Palafox Place in downtown Pensacola. With more actors, songs, festivities and tours, event organizers say this Winterfest is the biggest year yet.
The beloved Grinchmas parade encourages folks to bring the Grinch presents that would make his heart grow three sizes. Eventgoers may bring things like onions, drawings of the Grinch, shiny things to bring to Martha May Whovier and tools to work on his trolley with.
Winterfest ’s history originates back to when community members would decorate Pensacola’s downtown historic village and people would drive their cars around to see the lights. From there, a group of neighbors came together to give trolley tours around the village. Soon, they added storylines that took guests through many different classic Christmas stories.
“Ever yone who’s anyone in Whoville will be there—a real Who’s Who, if you will,” Winterfest PR Manager Kismet Dunkerly said. Dunkerly has worked with Winterfest since 2019, and in 2021, Dunkerly started to work in Winterfest’s public relations department. Also coming this year is the brand-new trolley tour “A Whoville Christmas Caper,” which will take
guests on a 25-minute ride to see the beautiful holiday decorations around downtown Pensacola. While Winterfest organizers warn that the Grinch is on some sort of a decoration-stealing bender, they assure guests that he will not spoil any of the fun. “I’m beyond excited for this tour because we’ve cast the most wonderfully hilarious and talented Whos we could find, and they do not disappoint,” Dunkerly said. Finally, Winterfest will be hosting the talented artist, Mr. Scott, who will transform guests into caricature Whoville versions of themselves. Mr. Scott has been a professional artist for more than 35 years. He is proficient in a variety of different styles, but he is best known for his comic book art style. You can check out some of Mr. Scott’s artwork online at mrscottland.com. To be sure you do not miss out on any of the Winterfest fun, we have brought you complete details on this year’s holiday tours, performances, photo opportunities and more. For tickets and to view the full lineup of scheduled Winterfest events, visit pensacolawinterfest.org.
