59th Annual Palm Sunday Extravaganza

If you show up at the Annual Palm Sunday Extravaganza at Tradewinds Tropical Lounge and don't like the music, wait a minute. This yearly event changes the act every 40 to 75 minutes, showcasing 11 singers and bands in 12 hours, from 1:00 p.m. on Palm Sunday, April 13, to 1:00 a.m. on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Why? Well, years ago, Tradewinds wasn't open on Sundays at all, and they decided that Palm Sunday was the best day to try opening on the seventh day, which makes sense. On Palm Sunday, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine leads a procession from the Cathedral Basilica to the outer dock at St. Augustine Municipal Marina. There, he blesses the fleet of small and large boats. The procession garners an audience of non-boaters lining the waterfront and the Bridge of Lions, prompting the owners of Tradewinds to open the bar after the blessing and let everyone wet their whistle and listen to some of St. Augustine's most well-known musicians.

One assumes the musicians or bands play on alternating stages, with one act playing on the main stage on the left while the other sets up on the beer stage on the right. (Fact: the beer stage is so named because that's where this small bar stores cases of beer before moving them into the cooler.) The first Tradewinds Palm Sunday Extravaganza in 1966 was a success, so they've held one every year since then.

Final note: The Palm Sunday experiment worked so well that Tradewinds Tropical Lounge is now open seven days a week from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the next day.