From the category archives:
Definitely smashing the turnout record number from last year, this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration at Pier Park far exceeded expectations for success. Last year’s event was immense, but this year the added elements brought out crowds by the thousands. All through the night, we were continually amazed by the shear numbers of people that were everywhere.
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The title is obviously difficult to quantify, but as a lifelong resident of our great city, I can say without a doubt, that I’ve not experienced a better 4th of July on this beach before.
All week long you sensed the buzz. On Thursday afternoon you felt it. By Friday morning rumblings became a full-on stampede, all leading up to a Saturday 4th of July that, at least in one writer’s opinion, was Panama City Beach’s greatest Independence Day event ever.
It was a hot, very hot, but beautiful weekend perfect for beach lovers who showed up in droves. From end to end, Panama City Beach was packed with tourists. Hotels and Condos were sold out, restaurants stayed on waits, attractions were packed to the door and if you were brave enough to step foot into Walmart, you had no doubts as to the overwhelming surge of business.
The Veteran’s Memorial was rededicated at Pier Park where several Vets saluted the flag and prayed for soldiers currently protecting our country. Throughout the day there were concerts, contests and all sorts of food and fun to be had.
At sunset, the real show began. From Grand Lagoon down to Pier Park, Panama City Beach tourists and locals were witnesses to a stunning celebration. Night skies came to life, and Pier Park put on one of the most amazing fireworks displays I’ve ever seen. It was awesome.
I hope that this weekend’s events were not just benchmarks for future events, but a precursor to what Panama City Beach can expect in the years to come.
More pics and video to come soon.
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On December 5, 2009 runners from across the Southeast will participate in the inaugural Run for the Redfish, a combined half marathon, 5k run and kids fun run will be held at Pier Park. A portion of the proceeds for event will benefit the Coast Conservation Association (CCA).
The run will begin at the Front Beach Road entrance to Pier Park and continue down Front Beach Road, looping back to end at Margaritaville. Margaritville will host the post race celebration and awards ceremony. Shotgun start to the race will be at 8am for the half marathon and 8:30am for the 5k. All runners of the half marathon and 5k will receive a Run for the Redfish long sleeve T-shirt as part of their participation.
Race committee member Joe Edgecombe said, “As an avid runner in Bay County, I’m excited to help bring a running event of this caliber to our area. The Run for the Redfish has all the bells and whistles; a certified course, professional timing, a professional race day photographer to capture the moment, and a venue that is above all the rest. Panama City Beach, the Tourism Development Council, The Resort Collection, Pier Park, Margaritaville and a team of dedicated individuals have made this a destination event! The best location and the most ”bang for the bucks’ road race in the entire region!”
The Run for the Redfish is not only a new and exciting event for Panama City Beach, but will bring awareness to the Coastal Conservation Association who works to protect our unique waterways and coastlines which are the habitat of the Redfish.
Race sponsors include Redfish Riviera Outfitters, Pier Park, The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, seepcb.com, the Bay County Tourist Development Council, Beach TV, and Maragritaville. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.
For more information on the run or registration visit www.runfortheredfish.com. Runners can register for the race online or at local retailers; there will be no registration the day of the event. Registration forms and payment can be mailed to PO Box 9927 Panama City Beach, Fl 32417.
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Over 85 people met at Ron Jon Surf Shop at Pier Park Sunday morning to help keep the beach clean. Both sides of the pier were cleaned — from Barefoot Beach Club to the Polynesian Village area — with dozens of bags of trash collected.
Dan Kirk, manager of Ron Jon Surf Shop, stated, “It was a tremendous success. We doubled our attendance over last year. I’m very thankful to all the organizations and individuals who showed up.” Dan indicated that he was already looking forward to the event next year and hopes to make it even more successful.
Organizations who participated in the cleanup included Nike, Walmart, Beachbreak by the Sea, Bay Families with Dogs, United Way, Boys & Girls Club, KeeptheBeachClean.com and of course, Ron Jon Surf Shop. Starbucks donated the coffee and Walmart donated water.
A young lady from the Walmart team won the surf board (it was a great incentive to bring people out). Those participants who did not win received nice goodie-bags with Ron Jon gifts inside including stickers and a Ron Jon “can coolie”.
It would be great to see one business sponsor a beach cleanup every weekend! This is a very effective way for businesses to serve the community (real public relations) and market their brand at the same time.
Edited by Jason K: If you are a local business and you want to sponsor a beach cleanup, I will gladly do everything I can to help promote it.
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This weekend, near perfect weather and the top skimmers from around the world converged on the beach behind Edgewater Beach Resort to compete in the 11th annual Zap Pro/Am Skim Jam contest. Onlookers in the hundreds, some enthusiasts of the sport, others just enjoying the extreme event, watched the likes of Morgan Just, Corbin Dull, Patrick Hunt, Anthony Cox, Derek Shenton and others shred ebbing surf up and down the beach. Efforts from Mr. Surf’s Surf Shop on Panama City Beach, Zap, Skim USA, Global Surf Industries, Surftech and others filled the beach with activities and free giveaways.
This year’s event had big expectations and boy did it live up to them. The skimming was absolutely amazing. Awesome rides were skimmed by several triggering gasps and waves of applause from those taking in the competition from the shore. Next to the event was the UCA cheer camp competition, which carried over, filling the beach with over 5,000 people.
Heats were broken into skill level and age. One of the highlights from the earlier brackets was Anna Prophet, a local female skimmer, who shredded lines all over the place making skim history advancing to the semi-pro finals of the competition and landing in the top 5. But for hundreds in attendance under the perfect weather conditions, the anticipation continued to grow awaiting the pro-level skimmers.
I was among those anxiously waiting and I have to say, there was no disappointment. Those guys are good—real good.
Here is the video Jason made from footage shot Friday. He has tons more footage from Saturday’s event that will be published later in the week.
11th Annual Zap Pro/Am Skim Jam from Jason Koertge on Vimeo.
Corbin Dull, a local pro skimmer, won the Zap Pro/Am competition, blistering waves left and right. Other notables was another Panama City Beach local, Lance Richardson, who placed third overall and probably got the most air out of all the contestants. Alex Hood placed fifth overall and had a stunning show. Other awesome performers included, John Ackerman, Blake Tyre and last years champion Mogan Just.
On top of all the great pro skimmers, lots of local amateur skimmers showed their stuff during the free skim. All over the beach, kids and adults of all ages had a blast skimming themselves crazy and watching one heck of a show.
Skimming the History:
I read up on the history of the sport and learned that Skimboarding dates back to the late 1920′s when lifeguards skimmed on pieces of wood. Evolution of the sports has skimboarding as one of the most high-tech water sports anywhere. The boards used by professional skimboarders are built using technology adapted from aerospace to attain maximum lightness, buoyancy, and rocker (which is the curve on the board from one end to the other). In fact, the board used by the average skimboarder is far more technologically advanced than that of the average surfer.
If you’re interested in learning more go here or stop by Mr. Surf’s Surf Shop where you can learn the basics and take a board out for a test run.
Edited: I have to give a shout out to our good buddy Arlene Froeming. Thanks to her and her generosity in loaning me a sweet telephoto lens, we had the ability to produce some stunning close-ups. She does some freelance photography and can be found here. – Jason
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An amber sun sets on Panama City Beach and I watch two couples, vacationers from Mobile, Alabama, dance amid hundreds of others in the Seabreeze Jazz Festival attendance. It is their second day at the event and the energy from the first day hasn’t waned at all. Around them, vendor booths selling artwork, food, wine and music make a halo around the Pier Park’s outdoor amphitheater. Creamy jazz rhythms saturate the air. From where I stand, the couples are having a wonderful time, as is everyone else. Reluctant to interrupt their fun, I stopped and asked them what they thought about the festival. One of the husbands, still dancing, shouted back to me, “Ya’ll should do this kind of stuff more often. This is the most fun I’ve ever had in Panama City.”
Nick Colionne at the 2009 Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Pier Park Panama City Beach from Jason Koertge on Vimeo.
That was the scene at this weekend’s Seabreeze Jazz festival held at Pier Park. If you missed this it, you missed on heck of an event. The place was packed, the food was delicious and the music intoxicated everyone in the amphitheater. Hosted by internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nick Colionne, the event featured some of the most skilled jazz musicians in the world. The likes of Eric Darius, Boney James, Wayman Tisdale, Will Downing, Althea Rene, Warren Hill, Joyce Cooling and others hit Panama City Beach like a silk-covered bomb. From the start of the event until the end the music was just outstanding; without doubt the best you’ll ever hear live in one sitting. Singers, Guitarists, Saxophonists, Fluotists–you name it, they rocked it. The attendance was stratospheric; not an empty patch of grass anywhere. And best of all, the artists loved being on Panama City Beach.
“The Seabreeze Jazz Festival is at the top of my list because the people here are so receptive; they come out to hear the music,” said Nick Colionne, “The people here are beautiful, everyone has been so nice to all the artists. I look forward to coming back next year.”
So the question remains, was the Seabreeze Jazz Festival a success? Well, that depends on the lens with which you view success. If you view success by sheer number of people, then the Seabreeze Jazz Festival was a smashing success. Pier Park had no parking, which is quite a statement being that Simon works hard on providing that service so close to the shore. People were everywhere; in the amphitheater, around the mall, in the streets—everywhere!
If you judge success by the festival’s economic impact, well, by that standard, the event was a success as well. I don’t know about you, but to me, the traffic on the beach felt awful “summer-y” as did the waits at restaurants and the lines in the shopping centers. Mind you, the Zap Pro Skim Jam and the UCA Cheerleading Camp aided in filling the beach, but the crowds seemed to stretch from one end of the beach to the other and that spells dollars for most the businesses on the beach.
So was this year’s Seabreeze Jazz Festival a success? Well, there’s one other way to view success. For me, the degree of the event’s success manifested itself in the two couples who danced on our beach until the stars came out. They decided on a vacation to Panama City Beach and, as the man said, it was the most fun they’ve ever had. That’s success.
Tip-of-the-hat to all the people involved in bringing the Seabreeze Jazz Festival to Panama City Beach. It was a blast. You guys did a great job.
I have to give a shout out to our good buddy Arlene Froeming. Thanks to her and her generosity in loaning me a sweet telephoto lens, we had the ability to produce some stunning close-ups. She does some freelance photography and can be found here.
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It’s never too early to make plans for the Panama City Beach’s Seafood, Wine & Music Festival. If you don’t know much about the event, the SWM Festival is a weekend packed with entertainment, excitement and the best food on the coast prepared by the best chefs in the business. Here is the preliminary schedule.
*TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Friday October 9 – 4pm-11pm
Julianne Hough & John Anderson LIVE
Saturday October 10 – 11a-11pm
Mystery Artist to be announced June 19th
Sunday October 11 – 11am-6pm
Grand Funk Railroad LIVE
More Happenings:
FAMILY FUN DAYS 11A-3PM SAT & SUN
including: gymnastics shows, family yoga, hands on art, 10+ bouncers, balloon art, family activities, clowns, stilt walkers and more
GRAND WINE TASTINGS EACH DAY
Wine and beer available all day and night.
CELEBRITY CHEF EXHIBITIONS 3P-6P DAILY
Watch local chefs prepare their signature dishes on the exhibition kitchen built on site. Free recipe cards
CLASSIC CAR SHOW
NON-STOP LIVE MUSIC FROM OPEN-CLOSE
INCLUDING: JAZZ, ROCK, COUNTRY, REGGAE & MORE
Tickets for the Panama City Beach Seafood, Wine & Music Festival are on sale now. When you purchase your tickets early online use the special promo code FRIEND to save an additional $2 off all adult General Admission tickets. This special discount is available for a limited time only.
To buy your ticket click here.
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Saturday, the first annual Pier Park Easter Egg Hunt attracted hundreds of kids and parents to enjoy beautiful weather, the furry Easter Bunny and tons and tons of candy. The first three rounds of egg hunts were for the kids and the fourth and final round was all for the parents, no kids allowed.
“There were 7,000 total filled eggs layed out today,” said Felecia Cook, Director of Marketing for Pier Park in Panama City Beach. The hunt took place in the festivity grounds or the grassy area in between the sand volleyball court and Buffalo Wild Wings.
The first age group sent for the hunt included kids 2 to 3 years of age. When Cook said go, it was a mini stampede across the grass in a scramble to collect as many eggs as possible. It was less of a hunt and more of a race to collect the most, but it was apparently fun for all as parents hurried to keep up with their kids.
The last round, reserved for “parents only” included candy-filled eggs mixed with prize-filled eggs from the retailers in Pier Park. Prizes included anything from charms from Shimmering Seas to free t-shirts from various retailers to soccer balls, volleyballs, pizzas and other foods. When Cook said go for the parent’s round, the crowd went wild, literally and scurried to their hands and knees to collect as many eggs as possible.
The weather was perfect, the turnout phenomenal and the energy high. I talked to my buddy at the new carousel and they had droves of kids riding most of the day.
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With wind gusts of up to 30 mph and heavy downpoor expected all day, the volleyball pros still plan to play, even though there won’t be many there to watch. I was told by someone that the last event they had attended 18 out of the 25 games they watched were in bad weather.
They play, rain or shine. I was told the qualifiers went well yesterday; the players got wet, and had to fight the wind, but they played. Coming from one direction, the players barely had to tap the ball to serve it over the net, but from the other way, hitting it as hard as they could, the ball sometimes wouldn’t even make it. I guess the advantage of wearing bikinis and boardshorts while you play your pro sport is that getting wet just doesn’t matter.
I was up on the roof of Seahaven, Origin, and felt like my Blackberry was going to be blown out of my hand; my jeans were flapping in the wind, and I don’t wear baggy jeans. My hair was even blowing, and I keep it too short for it to move.
On the ground, flags were flapping in the wind, near the brink of ripping. I overheard one worker screaming “that’s all you got!”, then it started raining – hard. Luckily I was under the covered area of Sharkys. Cameras and rain don’t mix.
Play was postponed until 10 am when I was there. Not sure if they are playing right now (its 1020). It isn’t raining right now, but it is very windy still. Tomorrow, however, is supposed to be nice. We’ll see.
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After the Lil Wayne show last week organizers came away with valuable experience on how to handle “big” names in our little beach town. I thought it was pretty crazy, but didn’t realize the chaos that was actually unfolding all day – I guess that was one of the reason the media was kicked out. If last week’s show was a cat 3 hurricane, yesterday was a tropical depression. Of course, the turnout wasn’t quite as hefty either. Good show guys, good show.
Unfortunately I was unable to make the finals for the USA Rock Paper Scissors (otherwise known as USARPS) competition, but one lucky (or strategically cunning, ‘eh Matti?) college student walked away with a hefty $20,000 check payable to his college tuition. He’s a mechanical engineering student at Syracuse, so he needs the money. Congratulations “Naco”. More on USARPS later.
NERD rocked the house. The lyrics weren’t exactly kid-friendly, but the music was actually quite awesome. They played with two drummers who were both amazing and refused to shy away at showing off their talent. Being a drummer at heart that hasn’t played in years, I still love a great drum solo. Maybe one day I’ll own a set again.
There weren’t as many in attendance, but I would say that thousands were still there. I think I was the only press allowed in – I feel special.
Encouraged by the performers, the audience practiced copious amounts of crowd surfing and were egged on to create a mash pit. The energy was high and the crowd seemed to jump with every beat. Most everyone was college age, but I saw a few younger and older – some with parents.
As I was heading up to the roof, I asked a friend that works for Boardwalk, “So, where’s Flo’s tour bus,” remembering the craziness getting Lil Wayne from his bus to the stage. “No buses are allowed on property. He was escorted in earlier quietly to prevent pandemonium.” I asked where he was, her reply: “I can’t even tell you, Jason.” I thought I was special.
Flo Rida was on time, right on time, actually. Of course, I think his maturity as a performer was evident. He was professional at getting the crowd hyped often joining the crowd at their level and at one point offering to give away his diamond cross necklace, “. . . diamonds are a lady’s best friend,” he said. I didn’t see him actually give the necklace away, I’m sure that would have been greatly discouraged as it was probably worth tens of thousands of dollars. I think we would have surely seen a mash pit then.
On this particular sunny day, the sand was warm, and the water was warmer than last week, although it was still a brisk 68 degrees. But, the air temp was close to 80, but in the sweaty crowd, it felt like 90.
I took a couple hundred pictures, here are the best 40-something. If you aren’t following us on Twitter, you missed some great live updates. Follow us now so you can keep up with all the live action in the future. Plus, you can keep up with what we are doing throughout the day and be notified of new posts.
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