News & Culture

Shutter Speed

Chris DeLorenzo is on a hunt. The 30-year-old Grayton Beach resident stalks his way around ’70s muscle cars looking for light, looking for color, looking for treasure. That’s how he describes his fine art approach to photographing automobiles at a drag…

Heavy Layers

I step off the dirt parking lot just off 30A and onto a mosaic path. Native plants brush the walkway’s edges. A massive tree throws dappled shade across the property, where three paintings framed inside wooden pavilion structures form a…

Spinning Around

Every April since 2008, Record Store Day has celebrated the unique culture of independent record shops through in-store events around the globe. On the Emerald Coast, stores such as Central Square Records and Revolver Records offer locals a place to…

Local Tickets. One Place.

A locally based ticketing portal for live events is now available to Northwest Florida residents. 850TIX.com owned by Rowland Publishing, Inc. promises to provide a one-stop shop for residents and visitors to find and purchase tickets to local concerts, events, and shows.

The Latest

Dance to Your Own Beat

Movement to music is a melding of mind, body, and spirit.  The mind works to remember the choreography or to create it. The body exerts energy, adrenaline, and stamina as it pirouettes, sashays, leaps, and lunges. The spirit is enlivened…

New School Of Thought

As a dad, Matthew Weinberg was certain his daughter Sienna’s future was promising. But when it came time to enroll her in school, frustration set in.  The 4-year-old girl had apraxia, a speech motor dysfunction. Her parents tried to enroll…

Local And Lyrical

April showers bring May flowers as well as National Poetry Month.  “While poetry may not cure the ills of the world, it can help people cope by providing creative outlets that can turn brutality into beauty with the simple turn…

Singers, Songwriters, and Stages

I love live music as much as the next person. But let’s be real. In an era of dynamic pricing tactics and endless added fees gouging our wallets, it can feel impossible to enjoy more than one festival or major…

Best Of the Emerald Coast

See who the readers of Emerald Coast Magazine voted as the Best Local Band, Best Community Event, Best Live Music/Entertainment Venue, Best Art Museum/Gallery, Best Place to Take the Kids — and dozens of other categories.

Two Decades, One Baton

When Sinfonia Gulf Coast raised its baton for the first time in 2005, it did so with an audacious promise: to redefine the symphony experience along Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coast. Two decades later, that promise has become a lived reality—one…

Art For All

Tucked along Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola, Blue Morning Gallery is a local treasure. It’s a place where creativity feels approachable, and art leads to a smile.  Unlike traditional galleries, Blue Morning is entirely artist-run. There’s no owner, no paid…

ArtsQuest 2025

The Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA) of Walton County, proudly announces Gerard Frank as the Featured Artist for the 37th Annual ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival. Frank’s custom artworks—Clarence and Alabama, Great Minds, and One Man Show will be showcased on all…

Dancing Through Life

She is only 9 years old. She progressed to the semifinals of America’s Got Talent at 7. She makes an impact on everyone she meets with her contagious energy and passion for movement. She is Eseniia Mikheeva—an up-and-coming dance star…

Shutter Speed

Chris DeLorenzo is on a hunt. The 30-year-old Grayton Beach resident stalks his way around ’70s muscle cars looking for light, looking for color, looking for treasure. That’s how he describes his fine art approach to photographing automobiles at a drag…

Heavy Layers

I step off the dirt parking lot just off 30A and onto a mosaic path. Native plants brush the walkway’s edges. A massive tree throws dappled shade across the property, where three paintings framed inside wooden pavilion structures form a…

Spinning Around

Every April since 2008, Record Store Day has celebrated the unique culture of independent record shops through in-store events around the globe. On the Emerald Coast, stores such as Central Square Records and Revolver Records offer locals a place to…

Anchored in Art

Freeport’s streets burst with color and history in the form of massive painted concrete anchors—each landmark telling a story. The Anchored in Freeport project transforms the city’s maritime symbol into a permanent public art installation. For a town shaped by…

The Gift Of Giving

Across Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties, an average of 12.5 percent of residents are experiencing food insecurity, according to numbers reported by Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study. A 2025 annual report from the Florida Council on…

For The Love Of Literature

Melli Pappas is a passionate advocate for literary accessibility. A proud mother, grandmother, and owner of The Book Rack in Fort Walton Beach, she’s always loved to read for herself and with her kids. “Both my parents were huge readers,”…

NEWSMAKERS

New School Of Thought

As a dad, Matthew Weinberg was certain his daughter Sienna’s future was promising. But when it came time to enroll her in school, frustration set in.  The 4-year-old girl had apraxia, a speech motor dysfunction. Her parents tried to enroll…

Restoring Tradition

At Traditions Workshop in Fort Walton Beach, the past and present coexist. Antique tools and old, weathered machinery, some dating back more than a hundred years, sit comfortably alongside power tools of the twenty-first century. But this isn’t a museum—the…

From LA To 30A

Kuk Harrell and his wife Stevie sat on the couch in front of a box that was delivered to their Atlanta home. Unsure what it could be, he carefully cut the seal, pulled open the carton’s lid, and reached inside.…

Captured In Flight

It was only a couple years ago that I couldn’t find an eagle anywhere. Fellow photographers were finding them, and the photos were taunting me on social media. But the more I looked, the bigger the disappointment in not seeing…