The best-known event on the St. Pete calendar. An international racing weekend run on a 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit that loops through downtown and along the waterfront — part of it on public roads, part on the runways of Albert Whitted Airport.

The city closes a substantial part of downtown for it, so if you run a business in the footprint it is worth planning around well in advance.

Presented by Keep Saint Petersburg Local, Localtopia is the only festival in the city that exclusively features St. Pete–based businesses and nonprofits — more than 300 of them, across arts and culture, makers and merchants, food and drink.

Held at Williams Park, with 70+ food and beverage vendors including local breweries, live music on the bandstand, a Family Village and street performers. The organisers run it as a plastic- and Styrofoam-free event, with recycling and a free bike valet.

One of the longest-running triathlons in the country, drawing athletes from across the US to downtown St. Petersburg. The swim runs in Tampa Bay off the waterfront parks, with the bike and run legs through downtown streets.

Expect road closures around the waterfront on race morning.

Produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, SHINE commissions new large-scale murals across downtown and the surrounding arts districts each year. Since 2015 it has added close to 170 murals to the city — a big part of why St. Pete reads as a mural destination at all.

The festival includes artist talks, guided mural walks and live painting you can watch as it happens.

On the Sunday before Halloween, a long stretch of Central Avenue closes to traffic and fills with costumes, vendors and music. It is one of the larger street events of the year for businesses along the corridor.

St. Petersburg’s official Arbor Day event and its largest plant festival, held at Walter Fuller Park. More than 120 garden, plant and flower vendors and exhibitors, plus a flower show, plant clinics and free giveaways.

Run by St. Pete Parks & Recreation, and free to attend.

Created in 1973 by the St. Pete Downtown Business Association to support local businesses through the slower summer months, and still running more than fifty years later.

Doors open at the exact minute of sunrise — usually just before 6:45am — with dozens of locally owned downtown businesses offering one-day promotions and early-bird exclusives.

A free two-day festival at Vinoy Park on the downtown waterfront, timed to Small Business Saturday. More than 350 regional vendors, food trucks, live entertainment and family activities.

Organised by LocalShops1, and one of the largest small-business events of its kind in the country.

On the second Saturday of every month, galleries and studios across the Central Arts, Grand Central, Warehouse Arts, Uptown Arts and downtown Waterfront districts open together from 5–9pm, many with opening nights for new exhibitions.

Free to attend, and a free trolley loops between the districts.

Established in 2002 and now a fixture of the downtown week — local farmers, food makers, artists, nonprofits, live music and prepared food, every Saturday morning through the cooler months.

It moves to a summer location when the main season ends, so check before traveling out of season.

St. Pete Pride draws well over 100,000 people to the city each June, making it the biggest Pride celebration in Florida and one of the largest in the Southeast.

The program runs across most of the month, with the waterfront parade and festival as the centerpiece.

Two days of tastings at Vinoy Park bringing together local restaurants, chefs, wineries, breweries and distilleries. Named Best Food Festival in the Bay in 2025 by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

A St. Patrick’s celebration held in downtown St. Petersburg, with live music, food and drink.

A free public science festival on the downtown waterfront, with hands-on exhibits and demonstrations from local marine science, research and education organizations — St. Pete has an unusual concentration of them.