From November 6 through November 29, downtown St. Petersburg's waterfront runs like a single venue that changes tenants every weekend. Vinoy Park hosts a wine festival, then a country music festival, then a two-day market with hundreds of vendors. In the weekend gap between them, Bayshore Drive becomes the starting line for Run Fest's races. Spa Beach and Albert Whitted Park fill whatever is left. The organizers send drivers to the same few garages, and SouthCore Garage at 101 1st Ave. S. comes up most often.
The month at a glance
| Weekend | Vinoy Park | Spa Beach and the Pier | Bayshore Drive and Albert Whitted | Elsewhere downtown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6 to 8 | SAVOR St. Pete, Nov. 7 to 8 | St. Pete Yoga Fest, Nov. 7 | Open | First Friday on Central Ave., Nov. 6 |
| Nov. 13 to 15 | Open | Florida Fin Fest, Nov. 13 to 15 | St. Pete Run Fest, Nov. 13 to 15 | Mahaffey shows Nov. 13 and 14 |
| Nov. 20 to 22 | St. Pete Country Fest, Nov. 20 to 22 | Open | Open | Tampa Bay Holiday Market at The Coliseum, Nov. 21 to 22 |
| Nov. 27 to 29 | Shopapalooza, Nov. 28 to 29 | Holiday lights begin Nov. 28 | Santa Parade starts at Albert Whitted, Nov. 28 | Tree lighting at North Straub Park, Nov. 28 |
The Saturday Morning Market runs every Saturday underneath all of this, at 100 1st Ave. SE beside Al Lang Stadium, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. during its October-through-May season.
Vinoy Park's three tenants
The first tenant is SAVOR St. Pete on November 7 and 8. It is a 21-and-over food and wine festival. VIP entry opens at noon, general admission runs from 1 to 4 p.m. both days, and tickets are listed at $135 general and $165 VIP. On its Visit St. Pete-Clearwater listing, SAVOR points guests to Sundial Garage, SouthCore Garage or the Al Lang surface lot. That same Saturday, the Al Lang lot is right next to the morning market. If you're headed to both, park once and walk the waterfront between them.
After a week off, the park changes over for St. Pete Country Fest from November 20 to 22. Gates open at 1 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the festival says amplified music ends at 10 p.m. If you live within earshot of the park, those are your three evenings of live music this month. The festival also names SouthCore Garage for parking, says paid street parking outside the festival footprint is limited, and recommends rideshare.
The last and largest tenant is Shopapalooza on November 28 and 29, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Admission is free and the organizer lists more than 350 vendors. This is the one weekend when the park changes how you move around the area. Bayshore Drive in front of Vinoy Park is closed to traffic both days, so GPS will get you close but not to the park entrance.
Bayshore Drive takes its turn as a racecourse
The weekend Vinoy Park sits empty, the action moves a few blocks south. St. Pete Run Fest runs from Friday, November 13 to Sunday, November 15. The expo and packet pickup are Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday starts with the 10K at 6:45 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30 a.m., and Sunday's half marathon starts at 6:45 a.m. The PeliKids race for children starts Saturday at 10:30 a.m. All four start on Bayshore Drive near the Dalí Museum. Post-run parties are at Albert Whitted Park, from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The half marathon covers far more of the city than the waterfront. According to the Run Fest half marathon page, it goes through several central districts and through Old Northeast and Snell Isle before finishing by the Mahaffey Theater. The 10K uses Central Avenue and a stretch of the St. Pete Pier on its way to the same finish. If you live on the half marathon route, the course map on that page is the one to check before you plan a Sunday morning drive.
For race mornings, St. Pete Now's Run Fest guide lists the Mahaffey lot and garage at $10 cash on Saturday and Sunday. It also lists SouthCore and Sundial as options and asks visitors not to park on Beach Drive.
On the same weekend, Spa Beach hosts Florida Fin Fest from November 13 to 15. The Education Village is open noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, and the concert area runs 2 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Put the races and Fin Fest together and Saturday, November 14 fills the waterfront from before sunrise to 10 p.m., even though Vinoy Park itself is quiet that weekend.
Earlier that week, on Wednesday, November 11, the City's 13th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony takes place at 9 a.m. at Albert Whitted Airport, 107 8th Ave. SE.
Why SouthCore Garage keeps coming up
Read each organizer's parking advice and the same address keeps appearing. SAVOR, Country Fest and Shopapalooza all name SouthCore Garage, and the Run Fest guide includes it too. Shopapalooza gives it a direct connection to the park. A free trolley leaves SouthCore about every 15 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on November 28 and 29, and the trolleys have wheelchair lifts.
The details matter if you've never used the shuttle. You enter the garage from 1st Avenue South between 1st and 2nd Streets. The pickup is on Second Street South between Central Avenue and First Avenue South, under the pedestrian bridge, at the same stop the Baseball Shuttle uses. The Vinoy Park stop is on the north side of 7th Ave. NE, just west of Bayshore Drive. Sundial Garage at 117 2nd St. N. and the Plaza Tower Garage on 1st St. N. are the other garages Shopapalooza lists. Accessible parking near the Northshore Park baseball field fills quickly.
November 28 is the busiest day of the month
The month ends with its heaviest overlap. Shopapalooza takes Vinoy Park all day Saturday, November 28. That evening at 6:30 p.m., the City's 98th Annual Santa Parade starts at Albert Whitted Park and leads to the tree lighting at North Straub Park. Shopapalooza's organizer says the parade setup mainly affects vendor load-out later in the day, and shoppers shouldn't notice much difference. The trolley runs until 6 p.m., half an hour before the parade starts, so a full day at the market can end with the parade without moving the car.
The City's holiday events page also lists waterfront holiday lights at Straub Park, Pioneer Park and the St. Pete Pier from November 28 through January 1.
Also that week, the Tampa Bay Holiday Market runs indoors at The Coliseum, 535 4th Ave. N., on November 21 and 22. Admission is free.
The weekly events that run all month
Not everything on the waterfront changes week to week. The Saturday Morning Market has live music at Al Lang Stadium every Saturday. The lineup is the Hot Rod Hornets on November 7, the Jimmy Griswold Band on November 14, Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones on November 21, and the Charlie Morris Band on November 28.
The St. Pete Pier's November calendar has free classes that don't depend on any festival. Movement Mondays run 7 to 9 p.m. on November 9, 16, 23 and 30. Pilates on the Pier is November 11 from 6 to 7 p.m., and Barre with Freebird Fitness is the morning of November 28 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. If you'd rather do the yoga festival version, I Love the Burg reports that St. Pete Yoga Fest takes over Spa Beach, 600 2nd Ave. NE, on November 7 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. According to the Pier's Yoga Fest listing, festival admission is free, and classes cost $20 for a drop-in or $60 for an unlimited pass.
A few blocks inland, First Friday St. Pete runs Friday, November 6 from 6 to 10 p.m. on Central Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The Mahaffey shows line up with the busy weekends. David Foster and Katharine McPhee play November 13 and UB40 plays November 14, which is Run Fest and Fin Fest weekend. A Magical Cirque Christmas on November 20 and Professor Brian Cox on November 22 fall during Country Fest weekend.
The next addition to the Vinoy Yacht Basin
There's one more planned use for this stretch of waterfront. The new Tampa Bay Ferry, run by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority with Hubbard's Marina as operator, will run between the Vinoy Yacht Basin and the Tampa Convention Center. St. Pete Rising reports the trip should take about 45 to 50 minutes, with a target one-way fare of $10. That's $2 less than the old Cross Bay Ferry charged in its final season.
The service will start with two used boats. The 250-passenger Bay Breeze was bought from San Francisco and is being refurbished at Tarpon Marine Services in Tarpon Springs. The 149-passenger Bay Clipper previously worked as a whale-watching boat in Seattle. PSTA also received a $16.5 million federal grant to build a third vessel. PSTA plans to run the ferry seven days a week.
In an October 12 interview with WUSF, Tara Hubbard of Hubbard's Marina said, "We're getting close to the finish line here and looking forward to getting this thing launched and getting people across the bay." WUSF reported that the service is targeting a launch by the end of the year. The Tampa Bay Ferry site is where launch details will be posted. Once the ferry is running, the yacht basin next to Vinoy Park will see regular traffic on ordinary weekdays too, not only on festival weekends.
If you live near the waterfront or are thinking about a condo within walking distance of Vinoy Park, I'm happy to talk through how event weekends, garage access and the ferry stop play out building by building. Reach out to Casey Franks. Let's Connect.
