GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Officials started meeting 15 months ago to plan the city’s 150th birthday. After all, a municipality only turns 150 years old once.

The Kick-Off Celebration on Saturday, Nov. 2, will roll out a year of festivities to commemorate the city’s incorporation in 1874. Initially established in 1854 as White Sulphur Springs because of its artesian flow, it was renamed Green Cove Springs in 1866 and took the county seat from Whitesville (later known as Middleburg) in 1871.

“We started probably about August of 2023 to hammer down a plan of how we wanted to do it,” said Events Coordinator Kimberly Thomas. “It's a year-long thing, really a two-year long thing – the year leading up, and then the year of the birthday. We've got a lot of things planned for next year. The celebration is not the end of it. This is just part of the celebration. That's why we're calling it a kickoff to the 150th year.”

The party accompanies the monthly Food Truck Friday in Spring Park, which was moved to Saturday. It starts at 4 p.m. and will feature 80 vendors and food trucks, a children’s entrepreneur market, a car show showcased by Clay County Cruzers, live music by Duval County Line and the largest fireworks displays in the city’s history.

“And some surprises are coming with the fireworks and just a good fun night like we always do out there on the river,” Thomas said. “We will be celebrating the history of Green Cove Springs. We'll have some things going on in our tent. We're giving out our Community Directory that explains our history, some swag, all that kind of stuff.”