St Augustine Blessing of the Fleet

Blessing of the Fleet

Sunday, March 24 

The annual Blessing of the Fleet is conducted in Matanzas Bay following 11 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Scheduled to begin at noon from the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, the blessing is for both pleasure and commercial craft. Hosted by the St. Augustine Yacht Club on behalf of the City of St. Augustine and now sponsored by the St. Johns Tourist Development Council, the ceremony dates back to 1946 and is a Palm Sunday tradition in the oldest city. 

The actual blessing follows a procession from the Cathedral to the city yacht pier with participants including clergy, members of the Knights of Columbus and members of the Easter Festival Royal Family and Entourage. 

For information, call The St. Augustine Yacht Club at 824-9725 or go to www.sayc2000.com.

Grand Muster and Torch Light Parade

Grand Muster and Torch Light Parade Saturday, March 23

The annual St. Augustine Garrison’s Spanish Colonial Grand Muster will include an encampment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. across from the City Gates, with the ceremony and torch light parade at 8 p.m. down Saint George Street. Spanish Soldados will demonstrate military arts and civilians will portray everyday life of the period at the encampment. The parade and celebration will include with Changing of the Guard at the City Gates and posting of new sentries. 

The parade will proceed down St. George Street to the Plaza de la Constitucion for the blessing of the flag at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. 

The parade will conclude at the Governor’s Palace with a salute of musket fire honoring the Governor. 

The public is invited to the free event.

St. Augustine Chalk Walk

Saturday and Sunday
March 23-24 The St. Augustine Chalk Walk

Paseo Pastel will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 23 on the sidewalks near the Visitors Information Center, 10 W. Castillo Drive. 

Paseo Pastel is the Spanish custom of a casual promenade or walk. More than 70 chalk artists will create a sidewalkgallery of art. On March 24, a public stroll will be until 4 p.m., with sidewalk washing to begin a 4 p.m. Spectators are invited to view the sidewalk chalk art. 

Go to staugustinechalkwalk.com

Matchbox Twenty Concert

Five-time Grammy Award nominee Matchbox Twenty performs at 7 p.m. at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre 1340 A1A in St. Augustine.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Gates 6:00pm | Starts 7:00pm

Pre-sale tickets for all dates will be available to members of the matchboxtwenty.com community from tomorrow, November 13th, through Thursday, November 15th. All remaining tickets will then go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, November 16th. For full details and ticket availability, please see www.matchboxtwenty.com/events. Matchbox Twenty will also be teaming up with Tickets-for-Charity for these dates to offer fans access to some of the best seats in the house, while benefiting great causes at the same time. Every ticket purchased through TicketsforCharity.com creates a donation to charities supported by Matchbox Twenty, as well as causes fans themselves can choose to benefit. For more information on Tickets-for-Charity visit www.ticketsforcharity.com

Matchbox Twenty recently concluded a major Australian tour, thanking their fervent fan following for also catapulting “NORTH” to a #1 chart debut. The band received rave reviews for their live shows including Sydney’s Music Network which hailed, “…one of the world’s best groups are still having infectious fun and branching out over their long and glorious career.” The Australian dates followed a pair of sold out London shows including this year’s iTunes Festival 2012.

The 2013 tour celebrates Matchbox Twenty’s blockbuster album, “NORTH,” which exploded into the #1 position on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 after its first week in release earlier this year. Fueled by critical acclaim – as well as the hit singles, “She’s So Mean” and “Overjoyed” – the album’s unprecedented success marked the band’s first-ever chart-topper and #1 debut.

Matchbox Twenty’s fourth full-length studio recording and first all-new album in a decade, “NORTH” sees the band driving their pop-rock sound further forward, magnifying the indelible melodies, crafty lyricism, and glorious hooks that have defined their multi-platinum body of work. Matchbox Twenty – Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, Kyle Cook and Brian Yale – lived together last summer in a house in Nashville where they collaborated on the new material before once again joining forces with the Grammy Award-winning producer Matt Serletic at his Emblem Studios in Calabasas, California. The result of their labors stands among the band’s finest, with songs like “Put Your Hands Up” and the top 10 sensation, “She’s So Mean,” marked by Matchbox Twenty’s instantly identifiable sonic approach and unadulterated high spirits.

In addition to more than 30 million records sold worldwide, Matchbox Twenty has also earned countless accolades, including five Grammy nominations, four American Music Award nods, the 2004 People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Musical Group.”

Tickets range from $39.50 to $75.

The Rainmaker

Limelight Theatre Presents: The Rainmaker

Richard Nash’s play about the Curry family and their hopes of a marriage and rain during the American Depression Era. Performance times are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. 

All performances take place at the Limelight Theatre, located at 11 Old Mission Ave. in St. Augustine. 904-825-1164

Tickets are:

$25 for adults
$22 for seniors and
$20 for students and military.

St. Augustine St. Patrick’s Day Parade

St. Augustine St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 12th

Celebrate the coming of St. Patrick’s Day in the city of St. Augustine. St. Augustine St. Patrick’s Day Parade is on Saturday, March 3, 2013 at 10 a.m.
Every year, the city of St. Augustine puts on the biggest celebration of St. Patrick’s Daythat could rival other festivals around the U.S., and most notably the best International collaboration between Celtic music and arts in the country.

The parade, which takes place through downtown St. Augustine, celebrates all that is Celtic in tradition with performers from all over Europe and the U.S. Folk singers and artists will regale visitors with the traditional music of the Celtics along floats and entertainment.

Part of the Celtic Music and Arts Festival, the parade will begin at 10 a.m.  at Francis Field, 29 W. Castillo Drive, and follows the bayfront to the Bridge of Lions, takes a right down Cathedral Place, and returns to its origin via Cordova Street.

The St Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival 2013

The St Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival 2013

March 9 & 10, 2013!

The sounds of the ancient Celtic peoples of Scotland and Ireland are as alive today as ever at the St. Augustine Celtic Music Festival, March 9-10, 2013 atFrancis Field on Castillo Drive.

Find the Celt in you as you take in the sights, sounds and tastes of centuries of European history. Celtic clans from around the world show their ancestral pride, Highland games athletes demonstrate their mind-boggling strength, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches through the streets of the Oldest City’s Historic District, and vendors offer up Celtic cuisine and hand-made crafts.

But the hands-down favorite of the St. Augustine Celtic festival is the music. Scottish and Irish bands playing both traditional tunes and modernized renditions of the ancient Celtic music appear live on stage throughout the two-day festival – arguably the best collaboration of Celtic artists assembled in the United States.

We’re talking Scots-born Albannach, Ireland’s Dublin City Ramblers, and Jacksonville’s Beach’s own Rathkeltair and Spade McQuade & the Allstars, attracting fans from throughout Florida and Georgia, Savannah to St. Augustine, Orlando and The Villages. Did you know that Celtic music had a profound impact on American bluegrass and country? Aye, so if you’re thinking about missing this one, yer talking oot yer fanny flaps.