This week in Pensacola: Sept 25 – Oct 1

A seafood festival, a lionfish festival and a salsa festival all land downtown on the same weekend. Park once and walk all three.

Everything below is free unless it says otherwise. Times are what the organizers had posted as of Thursday, so check before you drive.

Pensacola Seafood Festival — Seville Square, Fountain Park and Bartram Park, downtown. Friday 11 AM to 11 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 11 PM, Sunday 11 AM to 5 PM. Free to get in and the music is free too. Moon Taxi plays Friday at 9, The Molly Ringwalds Saturday at 9. Arts and crafts vendors fill the square, and the kids area is in Bartram Park. Leave the coolers and pets at home. Parking is first come, first served in the downtown lots.

Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale — Pensacola Main Library, 239 N. Spring St. Friday 3 to 7, Saturday 9 to 5, Sunday 9 to 3. Five dollars to get in Friday, members free. Sunday is fill-a-bag day.

FWC Pensacola Lionfish Invitational and Festival — Plaza de Luna, Palafox Pier. Public festival Saturday 10 to 6, Sunday 10 to 5. Divers spend Friday and Saturday spearing invasive lionfish off the coast and bring the catch in here. It is two blocks from the seafood festival, so do both.

Pensacola Seafood 5K — starts and finishes at Seville Quarter. 7:30 AM. Flat course through downtown with an after party. It benefits the Pensacola Runners Association.

Pensacola Latin Salsa Festival: Havana Nights — Community Maritime Park. 2 to 11 PM. Free. Live salsa, merengue and bachata, with Zona Libre headlining. Food trucks, a kids zone with inflatables and a petting zoo. It kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month.

Gabriel Iglesias: The 1976 Tour — Pensacola Bay Center, 201 E. Gregory St. Doors at 7, show at 8. Ticketed, all new material.

Bands on the Beach — Gulfside Pavilion, Casino Beach. 7 to 9 PM. Float Like a Buffalo is playing. Free. Bring a chair or a blanket. No pets, no glass. The series runs through Oct 27.

Songwriters Festival Open Mic Showcase — From the Ground Up Community Garden. 6:30 PM. Ten dollar suggested donation. Gulf Coast songwriters, hosted by Katie Dineen. It is the first event on the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival schedule.

The Songwriters Festival moves downtown Oct 1–4, with free Pickin’ on the Porch sets Friday and Saturday afternoons on Zaragoza and Alcaniz and a free downtown finale Sunday, Oct 4, from 1 to 6. Then it heads to the beach Oct 8–11. Full schedule at songwriterspensacolabeach.com.

Every Thursday. Follow along on Instagram.