The Foo Foo Festival will pop the cork on its annual 12-day cultural celebration November 3rd with the unveiling of 4,000 colorful bubbles hovering over downtown Pensacola.

 

Dubbed “Bubble Alley,” the aerial display is composed of 18-inch diameter, multi-colored vinyl balloons suspended from wire grids over one block of Intendencia between Jefferson and Tarragona.

The project is the brainchild of Friends of Downtown, a group of volunteer business owners that for the past six years has created Foo Foo Festival events that included the highly successful and colorful installations of Umbrella Sky, Fire and Rain and Son et Lumiére.

 

Behind the scenes, Pensacola-based PR agency Ideaworks developed the overall game plan and marketing strategy for Bubble Alley. Handling the fabrication is Pensacola-based design, fabrication and installation company Razor’s Edge Design. “Our challenge with the project is to create the exciting visual aesthetic of Umbrella Sky which attracted thousands of visitors to downtown Pensacola,” says Jared Petticrew. “And we think Bubble Alley will do just that and become one of the many memorable highlights of the always entertaining and colorful Foo Foo Festival.”

 

Downtown Improvement Board Executive Director Walker Wilson says he believes Bubble Alley, will recreate the excitement of Umbrella Sky and become a visual centerpiece of the November festival that concludes on Nov. 14th. “I’m convinced the Bubble Alley will match or even exceed the extraordinary public response that Umbrella Sky brought in 2017,” says Wilson. “It will no doubt offer a uniquely colorful experience to everyone who visits downtown Pensacola during this wonderful festival that has become the preeminent fall event.”

 

Bubble Alley, Walker notes, is free to the public and accessible day and night during the festival. “The public is encouraged to walk, take a bicycle or scooter between Bubble Alley and other Foo Foo Festival events such as the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, Jazz for Justice and the Vandals to Vanguards Pop Art Exhibit,” says Walker.

 

Once the reusable bubbles are taken down at the end of November, they will be offered to other groups that wish to recreate the display in other settings.