Old-School Cool

Pensacola Vintage Fest Returns to Pensacola Fairgrounds

Grab a tote bag, throw on your best vintage ‘fit and get ready to thrift— it’s time for Pensacola Vintage Fest (PVF).

Hosted by Pensacola Vintage Collective, PVF is the Gulf Coast’s largest vintage clothing event. Now in its second year, the festival features a variety of local and regional vendors selling all types of vintage clothing and accessories from the 1950s through the early 2000s.

Pensacola Vintage Collective is run by local vintage seller Ryan Smith, who has been engaged with the local vintage community for years. Smith sells curated vintage pieces through his local business, Obsolete Heat. You may have seen his booth inside Bo’s Local Finds or Blue Moon Antique Mall.

Since its establishment in 2019, Pensacola Vintage Collective has hosted a multitude of vintage shopping events throughout the community. From the popular Vintage Block Party at The Handlebar to various pop-up events at Odd Colony and Garden Street Vintage, Smith has remained dedicated to promoting local vintage dealers and cultivating a community around a shared love of all things vintage.

Held in July 2024, the inaugural PVF was a huge success, with an outcome of over 1,500 attendees. Despite hosting popular vintage events in the past, the inaugural PVF serves as Pensacola Vintage Collective’s largest event in history.

“I didn’t know how many people would come out until about five days before the event. Then, I realized what was going to happen. The attendance was hard to kind of gauge. It wasn’t until the last few days that we were selling so many tickets per day that we knew we were going to have a huge crowd. We were very pleased with how it turned out last year,” Smith said.

Smith anticipates a similar turnout for this year’s event, stating that tickets are already moving. To accommodate a crowd of this size, PVF is held inside the 22,000-square-foot expo hall at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds, and the A/C will be pumping.

“We’ve made provisions to keep the building cool. We want to mitigate some of the heat because it got very hot in there last year. We definitely heard those concerns, so this year, we are making provisions to try to keep the building as cold as possible,” Smith explained.

PVF vendors will be strictly selling vintage clothing event, unlike an antique market with homewares and other goods. Vintage vendors from across the South will line the expo halll with racks upon racks of trendy vintage finds.

More than 75 vendors will be selling highly curated selections of vintage men’s, women’s and kid’s clothing in all styles and genres. Whether you like to rock the retro styles of the 70s or embrace the currently trending Y2K vibes, PVF offers a little something for everyone.

With such a successful turnout at last year’s PVF, event organizers are expecting even more attendees to travel to Pensacola. Both dealers and shoppers alike will be coming in from across the Gulf Coast, including neighboring states like Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

“One of the main differences this year is that we’re drawing a lot more vendors from out of state. Last year we had a couple, but this year we’ll have close to 20 people who are traveling more than 100 miles to vend with us. I had all sorts of people hitting me up for spots as soon as we made those available a couple of weeks ago,” Smith said.

In addition to out-of-state vendors, a slew of vendors from the Pensacola vintage community, including Spinach Vintage, Second Hand Haven, and Recycled Trendz and more, will also be in attendance. Some of the other confirmed vendors that will be traveling from areas across the Gulf Coast region include Rare Worn from Mobile, Alabama and Retro Ruby from Panama City.

Flipping through racks and digging through bins is sure to work up an appetite. There will be plenty of food trucks on-site to feed all the hungry thrifters. Sauce Boss will be serving up their delicious juicy burgers. Waffle Boutique will bring their unique and delicious bubble waffle treats. The Rican Vegan will dish up delectable vegan food for everyone to enjoy. Finally, Momma’s Lemonade will be there to quench the thrifter thirst!

Whether you’re wearing head-to-toe vintage on the daily or just dipping your toe into the vintage clothing world, PVF is a unique event that is sure to be fun for everyone.

Tickets to Pensacola Vintage Fest are on sale now for $10 at pensacolavintage.com. Early Bird tickets are also available online for $15, which grants early entry to the event for those wanting to beat the crowd and be the first to look through available merchandise. Kids 12 and under may attend for free. Parking at the event is free.

Pensacola Vintage Fest will run from 11 am to 5 pm on July 13, with early entry granted to Early Bird ticket holders at 10 am. The Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds is located at 6655 Mobile Highway in Pensacola.

For complete event details, updates and more, visit pensacolavintage.com and follow @pensacolavintagecollective on Instagram and Facebook.