Blue Wahoos Celebrate Holiday Season By Hosting, Participating In Variety Of Events

In ways which have utilized both the stadium and front office staff, the Blue Wahoos have spread Christmas spirit and created holiday season cheer.

Being part of Saturday’s annual Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade, presented by Cox Communications, will complete a two- weekend stretch of four private stadium events and two parades involving Blue Wahoos staff members.

Within this eight-day period, the Blue Wahoos have hosted three Christmas party events, along with a Rawlings Tigers baseball clinic on December 14 for a youth travel ball organization.

The Blue Wahoos will end the year on December 31 with an early New Year’s Eve party (5 p.m-8 p.m.), which is open to the public, and complete with an 8 p.m. fireworks show. The $5 admission per-person includes inflatables and other activities for children.

“We are lucky here in Pensacola, because we are able to still do outdoor events still through December,” said Shannon Hannah, the Blue Wahoos events manager. “It doesn’t get really cold for an extended period except maybe in January, so we are to use the stadium year-round and people enjoy being here.

“And we have the space, we have the variety. We have this fun, outdoor venue with a video board that people can put slideshows on, or video messages.”

The stadium’s Hancock Whitney Club level, complete with its own private entrance, has been the venue for three different Christmas parties across two weekends.

On Friday (Dec. 13), a military group from Pensacola-Naval Air Station is hosting a Christmas-theme, karaoke competition for its squadron.

“We’ve got full service catering and bartending, both in-house, (through RS3 Strategic Hospitality) which makes it very easy for clients,” Hannah said. “Sometimes, with holiday parties at other places, you are working with someone who doesn’t have … experience in events planning.

“We pride ourselves on making it super easy for a group who might not be in the events planning world. We try to do everything they need, so they can walk in and have fun at their party.”

The backdrop at the stadium’s club level is the vista of Pensacola Bay and Pensacola Beach in the further distance, along with the potential of a spectacular December sunset.

“There’s nothing like it,” she said.

With this being the final month, it completes a quest of having the stadium as a year-round community venue, beyond the six months of the Blue Wahoos baseball season.

“We’re able to host a huge variety of events with different audiences,” Hannah said. “We’re grateful to show off the stadium. We have this third level event space that overlooks the ballpark and the bay and what an opportunity to come and get food from our chef (Travis Wilson and sous chef Carl Sackman) who have won awards nationwide and they are wonderful.”

Several Blue Wahoos staff members, along with team mascot Kazoo, participated in the Dec. 8 “Surfin Santa Beach Parade” on Pensacola Beach.

A larger group will be part of the massive Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade. These events further awareness of the team and help showcase the family-friendly brand the Blue Wahoos have created.

All of it leads into the new year when the Blue Wahoos have a variety of early-month events to preceded the start of the 2025 Blue Wahoos baseball season.