Things to do in Florida, Emerald Coast

The culture scene on THE Beach is nothing short of thriving. From ballet companies, theatre troupes, orchestras and symphonies to opera, jazz, art museums and cultural festivals, THE Beach has something to please every culture-lover's palate. Many cultural groups are truly home-grown, starting with just a few hard-working, enthusiastic people, and are now genuine assets for an entire community.

Large arts alliances and other organizations were formed to assist smaller artistic and performing groups in finding wider audiences. The Bay Arts Alliance of Panama City, The Arts Council of Northwest Florida in Pensacola, and the Cultural Arts Association of Santa Rosa Beach, among others, are growing in numbers of member groups. New art centers, such as the Belmont Art Center in the Belmont-DeVilliers district of Pensacola, are helping inject new life into older neighborhoods by bringing in exhibits of regional artists’ work and providing a once-a-month Artist’s Market.

Escambia County is the proud home of the Pensacola Museum of Art, the Pensacola Opera and the UWF Archaeology Institute. Okaloosa County boasts the Mattie Kelley Arts Foundation and the Northwest Florida Ballet, while Walton County houses the Seaside Repertory Theatre. In Bay County you'll find the Visual Arts Center, as well as Panama City POPS Orchestra.

Nearly every area newspaper provides information on dates, times and locations for most cultural venues; most have weekly entertainment sections as well as online counterparts. If your cultural tastes run to black tie sophisticated, hard-core grunge, or somewhere in between, THE Beach serves up a smorgasbord of appetizing possibilities.

THE Beach Resources