Visit Mobile Destination Staycation: America 250 Celebrations

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Destination Staycation segments encourage you to explore your city like a tourist—rediscovering local favorites and finding hidden gems close to home. In this installment, the focus is on America 250 in Mobile, highlighting the nation’s history and ways local residents can celebrate.

Chelsey was joined by Ashley Rains, senior PR and communications manager for Visit Mobile, to discuss excitement surrounding the semi quincentennial celebrations taking shape in the Port City.

Mobile: Older Than the Stars and Stripes

Rains says Mobile knows how to celebrate history. She notes Mobile is the oldest city in Alabama and was founded nearly 75 years before the United States declared independence.

Rains explains that for more than a year, organizations across the city have met to plan events honoring America’s 250th birthday. She adds that the Mobile Chamber and former Congressman Bradley Byrne have helped lead an initiative bringing together city and county attractions, museums, cultural heritage groups, and other partners.

Rains says America 250 events, celebrations, and activities can be found in one place on Visit Mobile’s website, Mobile.org.

Events Happening Soon

America 250 Audio History Tour is an experience pass available through Visit Mobile’s website. She says participants can visit historic parks, attractions, and museums while listening to generations of oral histories. You can check in at each stop to earn points and qualify for prizes.

Several upcoming events:

• Sunday, June 28: 151st Army Band concert at Medal of Honor Park.
• Wednesday, July 1: Mobile County Commission Government Plaza Pocket Park naming and dedication, followed by an America 250 kickoff party.
• Fourth of July: Fireworks hosted by the City of Mobile at USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park. Rains notes Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced a soft opening for Cooper Riverside Park, giving residents another place to watch fireworks.
• Sunday, July 5 (starting at 4 p.m.): Colonial Fort Condé and the History Museum of Mobile present an annual living history program. At 5 p.m., the team plans to open the 1976 bicentennial time capsule, with guests able to view its contents until 7 p.m.

Events Happening After July 4

Rains says the America 250 momentum continues through the summer and across the year. She highlights:

• The annual Landing Event and Ancestor Festival, beginning the weekend of July 9 at the Africatown Heritage House.
• A Historic Mobile Preservation Society discussion with historian Mike Bunn about the “fourteenth colony” during the Revolutionary War.
• Community festivals throughout the year, including the Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival, Culture Fest, Mobile Latin Fest, Greek Fest, and the Mobile International Festival.
• Red, White and Read, a statewide literary initiative continuing through August.
• An exhibit at the Mobile Museum of Art featuring “America 250 – Kent Portfolio,” a 1974 project with works by more than 100 artists reflecting on what independence means to them.

For more information, visit Visit Mobile online.