DeLuna Fest Dances into Pensacola Beach

This end-of-summer beach music festival boogies into Pensacola Beach Sept. 21 - 23, 2012, promising three-days of beach-friendly bands and musicians. It features a mind-boggling four stages -- two of them planted squarely on the sands of Pensacola Beach -- plus live music featuring a diverse blend of genres.

Imagine it: dancing with sugar-sand wedged between your toes, reveling in the diverse mix of live talent, and admiring Florida’s breathtaking sunsets.

Now that, that smells like fun to me.

The Talent: As my husband (under) stated, “DeLuna Fest really does it up.” These famous artists are no means a complete list, but they’ll give you an idea of the caliber of musicians.

• Foo Fighters

• Zac Brown Band

• Florence And The Machine

• Band of Horses

• Jimmy Cliff

• Dwight Yoakam

• Fitz and the Tantrums

• Ben Folds Five

• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

• Diplo

• DJ Jazzy Jeff

• The Joy Formidable

• The Gaslight Anthem

• The Wallflowers

• Superchunk

• Guided By Voices

A Fact to Twirl Your Beach Towel: The average high temperature during October in Pensacola is 79 degrees. I’m just saying.

The First ‘DeLuna Fest’: Spanish conquistador Tristán De Luna knew how to throw a flip-flopping-crazy-good beach party. In fact, he and his crew threw Pensacola’s – and America’s – original beach bash in 1559 after surviving a perilous journey across brutal seas.  As DeLuna Fest’s website points out, "It was the beach party to end all beach parties, literally, as the settlement was blown away by a hurricane shortly after."