More than 225 local businesses are taking over Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg during LocalShops1’s 10th annual Shopapalooza Festival. The event, previously held nearby at Straub Park, has been moved to the much larger, waterfront Vinoy Park, and expanded into a 2-day extravaganza that celebrates local arts, local music, and the local vibe that makes St. Pete such a special place.
Shopapalooza Festival takes place 10 am to 5 pm Saturday Nov 30 and Sunday Dec 1, making it the biggest Small Business Saturday (and Sunday!) celebration in Florida, possibly even the biggest in the entire country.
Admission is free and open to the public. Registration is not required, but those who do sign up are entered into a free drawing for a $500 shopping spree. There will be one winner each day.
The event, co-sponsored by the City of St. Petersburg, is family-friendly (keep reading for details on the kids zone!) and well-behaved pets on leashes are welcomed.
“Shopapalooza Festival celebrates and spotlights the great independent businesses that make Tampa Bay such an amazing place. It gives consumers the opportunity to kick off the holiday shopping season by shopping locally!” says Ester Venouziou, LocalShops1 founder. “This year the city moved our festival to Vinoy Park, and that gives us even more space for more artists, more small businesses, more food, more entertainment, and more surprises. It’s going to be 11.3 acres filled with pure local awesomeness.”
Here is what you will find at Shopapalooza Festival this year:
• More than 225 local artists, makers and small businesses, featuring gourmet food products, home decor, handcrafted jewelry, clothing and accessories, health and beauty products, fair trade goods, vintage finds, pet treats and toys, books, candles and much more. For an updated list of vendors please see https://www.shopapaloozafestival.com/the-map.html
• Entertainment throughout the day includes the Main Music Stage, near the Food Hall, north end of the park), with host Pat Largo, of Comedians Uncorked. The lineup for Saturday includes Paul Fournier (11 am-12:45 pm), Dean Johanesen Duo (1-2:45 pm) and Kimi Tortuga & LaRue Nickleson (3-5 pm). On Sunday: Scott Bihorel Yañez, Mylon Shamble & Nelson Mariscal (11 am-12:45 pm), Steve Connelly & Ed Woltil (1-2:45 pm) and Veronica Naumova & Rick Bales (3-5 pm).
At the center of the stage, the St. Petersburg Music Factory’s lineup includes Spoon Goblins (10:30 am), Anika Sky (12:30 pm), Part Time Models (2:30 pm), and Burning Days (4:30 pm) on Saturday; and Key of G (10:30 am), Wave Check (12:30 pm), Lucent (2:30 pm) and Reactants (4:30 pm) on Sunday.
Additionally, there will be strolling performances both days, at the south end of the park, by Tampa Bay Ukulele Society and Thrill St Pete.
• Expanded Food Hall featuring snacks, entrees and desserts for everyone. Selections include options for vegans and carnivores! Here is just a small sampling of what you’ll find in the Food Hall: Mexican corn, Caribbean, Cuban, Thai, BBQ, sandwiches, churros, Mexican corn, empanadas, ice cream, waffles, kettle corn, vegan hot dogs, and more.
• More food + Drinks will be scattered throughout the park, including roasted nuts, gourmet popcorn, cupcakes, Italian ice, energy drinks and more. You’ll even find a human-powered frozen beverage machine!
• Activity Zone, sponsored by WannaGo St Pete, includes cycling, running and yoga classes; aerial yoga and belly dancing performances; wall climbing; and even a pop-up beach volleyball game or two. Coast Bike Share will be on site to provide free valet parking for bikes.
• Christmas Trees Display sponsored by the Council of Neighborhood Associations. CONA member organizations from Disston Heights, Euclid-St. Paul, Historic Old Northeast
St. Pete Heights, Historic Uptown, Central Oak Park, Riviera Bay, Meadowlawn, and Harris Park are each putting up a decorated tree and the public gets to vote for their favorites. We’ll also have celebrity judges on site, including St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman.
• Kids Zone features several crafts and learning stations sponsored by Great Explorations Children’s Museum, St. Petersburg Museum of History, and Chart 411. We’ll have a face-painter there, too.
• Seating Lounge, sponsored by Treehouse Gallery, is a 1,000 square-foot outdoor living room, so you’ll have plenty of places to relax in between shopping sprees.
• Live Painting and Sketching features artists from Creative Clay and St. Petersburg High School’s Visual Arts program, at the center of the park. And along the waterfront, you’ll find dozens of artists at work, through a collaboration with St Pete muralist Derek Donnelly and Public Art Project.
Shopapalooza Festival is a LocalShops1 Signature Event, co-sponsored by the City of St. Petersburg and made possible with the support of our partners and sponsors, including Chart 411, WannaGo St. Pete, Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA), Moorman Photographics, Treehouse Gallery, and St. Petersburg Music Factory.
For list of vendors and other information, go to ShopapaloozaFestival.com.