Enjoy a weeklong celebration with re-enactments, entertainment and interpretive experiences during the Nations Oldest City’s 442nd Birthday Celebration!
On Tuesday, celebrate the anniversary of Spanish Admiral Don Pedro Menendez’s sighting of the area – naming it for Saint Augustine in honor of his celebrated Feast Day. Re-enactors portraying Franciscan Monks and their Native American converts will be present through out the city and a special evening theological presentation will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Bishop Baker Center, located at 259 Saint George Street. Admission is free. For more information, call 904.824.2806. On Wednesday, visit the Native American village of Seloy (now the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park) as it comes alive with demonstrations of culture and lifestyles of the natives that inhabited the land for 500 years prior to the Spaniards arrival in 1565. As part of the birthday celebration, the park will feature demonstrations of Timucuan culture and lifestyles from 5 to 7 p.m. At 7 p.m., the University of Florida’s Dr. Kathleen Deagan will present a walking tour of the park’s archeological sites. Dr. Deagan’s extensive archeological work at the site has made her the leading authority on Seloy and the original Spanish occupation of the area. Admission is free of charge. For more information, call 904.829.3168 or 800.356.8222. On Thursday, experience the daily life colonial St. Augustine’s Spanish women settlers through demonstrations by the St. Augustine Textile Arts Guild at the St. Augustine’s Government House at the Plaza de la Constitucion from 5 to 8 p.m. Participate in hand-dyeing, weaving and other 16th century skills. Admission is free. For more information, call 904.823.9722. On Friday, St. Augustine gets lively with a variety of 16th century entertainers including jugglers, fire-eaters, madrigal singers and actors presenting authentic skits and comedies in the gardens of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, located at 19 San Marco Avenue. Festivities are from 5 to 8 p.m. and admission is free. For more information, call 904.824.1606. On Saturday, the Birthday celebration continues at 9:30 a.m. with a reenactment of the landing by the city’s founder, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, at the Mission of Nombre de Dios – the exact landing point of the Spanish colonists in 1565. The landing reenactment will be followed, as it was 442 years ago, with a celebration of Mass. Members of Los Floridanos, current citizens who trace their ancestry to the original founding fathers, will present a program. For more information, call 904.824.2809. At noon, the First Thanksgiving will be remembered with an authentic Culinary Timeline Cooking Contest where foods dating from the 16th century will be created at a special encampment at the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park. Local restaurants will team with re-enactors to present authentic great –tastes in amateur and professional classes. For more information, call 904.829.3168 or 800.356.8222. The Colonial Spanish Quarter, located on St. George Street, will have a birthday celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. featuring authentic Colonial crafters, the Spanish Royal Family, live music and birthday cake for all. At 7 p.m., the season’s final changing of the guard will take place at the Government House on the Plaza. Admission to all of the day’s events are free. For more information, call 904.825.6830.