From beloved Tiny Tim to the grumpity Grinch to the familiar yuletide story of the “Polar Express,” Winterfest 2021 is bringing comforting characters and themes we all love to Downtown Pensacola for the upcoming season.

 

Pensacola Winterfest 2021 events are set for Nov. 21, 26, 27, and 28; December 3, 4, 10, 17, 18, 19, 21,22, 23 and 24.

 

Each night’s presentations will include the free Winterfest plaza live performance at the former County Courthouse on historic Palafox Street, as well as visits with Santa Claus and other seasonably appropriate personalities. On the steps of the historic building, Scrooge, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit and the Ghosts of Christmas will bring “A Christmas Carol” to life as Scrooge rediscovers the true meaning of the holiday.

 

Each ticketed tour has a preview performance as a prelude to the trolley’s departure.

 

The poplar Polar Express tour is a 20-minute immersive, live-theatre experience. Guests enjoy the show from a steam-engine-pulled tram with entertainers placed along the route in downtown Pensacola, retelling the classic story.

 

Guests who opt for the Cajun Christmas tour will watch an opening show on the courthouse steps before boarding a trolley with a guide who will tell stories of how they celebrate Christmas on the bayou as they take a short ride to the Historic Village for a visit with Papa Noel, the Cajun Santa Claus. From there, they will be free to roam the village. 

 

Winterfest is known across the South as a destination event. It is sponsored in part by a grant from Visit Pensacola. Winterfest has been highlighted in Coastal Living magazine, Southern Living magazine and Expedia. Florida Travel + Lifestyles named Winterfest the “Best Christmas celebration in the Sunshine State,” and the Southeastern Tourism Society put Winterfest on its coveted Top 20 list of festivals and events for the Southeast.

 

All Winterfest festivities are based at Palafox and Government streets in downtown Pensacola, which is decorated with hundreds of thousands of festive lights for the season.

 

To purchase tickets and for more information, including ticket prices and reservations, click here.