Fun and funnel cakes in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - In Pensacola, crowds gathered in Seville Square for a festival and packed the beach, until severe weather began to move in.

Despite temperatures pushing one-hundred degrees in north west Florida on Wednesday families filled Seville Square.

Kids played on slides, rode on pony's, and wolfed down hot dogs.

But, perhaps what drew some people out of the A/C was a classic festival food.

"Everybody comes to our stand for the best funnel cakes in the world," said Dustin Hearin of Pensacola.

Hearin's family has been selling funnel cakes at Pensacola festivals for 35 years.

Dustin said he began helping the family a few years ago.

He let FOX10 in on the family secret.

"Because my Nana makes her own special recipe, and nobody knows it. So they're always the best," said Hearin.

But he wouldn't reveal what's in the batter that makes the Hearin's so much better.

"Top secret," said Hearin.

Meanwhile, Arianna Mazzarello, a sophomore who attends Gulf Breeze High School, was showing off her henna tattoo.

"I'm with my family. It's Fourth of July, and we're celebrating it," said Arianna Mazzarello."(I like) the fireworks and my dad's in the military and my dad likes fourth of July a lot it just means a lot to us."

She was waiting to buy one of Hearin's famous funnel cakes.

And we agreed something about festival food just taste's better when your off work and school.

"I'm really hungry. I love the funnel cakes, and hot dogs," said Mazzarello.

And out on Pensacola Beach crowds were stacked about four families deep.

It looked like the perfect summer day on the sand until lifeguards began clearing people out of the water, because of a severe weather threat moving in from the north.

Guards had to drive trucks out with red lights flashing to get people moving off the beach.

Fireworks are scheduled to go off on the beach and from the bay at nine.