St Pete is celebrating culture this weekend with a five-day festival called Et Cultura. If you've never heard of Et Cultura before, it could be because the festival is only a year old. Colin Lyman of Green Bench Brewing founded Et Cultura in 2016 to support St. Petersburg's cultural revolution. The festival combines film, art, music and interactive events for a well-rounded experience of St. Pete's cultural scene. They've packed a lot of events into this weekend, so we thought we'd provide you with an overview, along with some other things to do while you're in the area.

1. Start your weekend with a great concert

Waxahatchee playing at The Sinclair in May 2015. Credit: digboston, via Wikimedia Commons

You've got a couple of great options here. Waxahatchee (with special guests Ought and DieAlps!) is playing at the State Theater and the Florida Bjorkestra will be at Jannus Live. Both concerts begin at 7pm Friday night. You'll need the $75 Et Cultura festival pass to get in (It's only $50 if you're a student, teacher or veteran), or a $45 rush ticket and some good luck.

Here's a helpful video from Et Cultura on how to get your concert tickets:

2. De-stress with some yoga

This week’s generic yoga photograph. Credit: Cedric Lim, via Pexels

The Body Electric Yoga company is hosting some morning yoga on the main stage at 10:30 am Saturday and 11 am Sunday. And it's set to live music. You can yoga to the sounds of Mark Etherington Saturday morning or Billy Mays III Sunday morning. Free.

3. Spend a day at the theater

The movie theater Credit: Jedi94, via Wikimedia Commons

Saturday is the day to enjoy Et Cultura's film component. They're showing five feature-length films at Sundial AMC 20's Theater 6 that day and 10 hours worth of short films in Theater 5. You can see them all with an Et Cultura festival pass.

4. Play Exquisite Corpse at The Gallery

Exquisite corpse drawing by Noah Ryan and Erica Parrott Credit: Ericaparrott, via Wikimedia Commons

Exquisite Corpse is a drawing game invented by surrealists in the 1920's. Take a look at the results and it makes sense. The drawings are the work of several artists, each performed in sections. Each artist draws one section, then passes the drawing over to the next artist to draw the next section, and so on and so forth. Now here's where things get interesting: You only get to see a small portion of the previous artist's drawing as you draw your section. At The Gallery Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Free.

5. Talk a walk down Baum Avenue…

Chalk drawing outside the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, D.C.. Credit: Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

…because there will be chalk drawings along the route. It's called the Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts (TBBCA) Chalk Walk, and it's free. Saturday, Nov. 18, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

6. Shop 'til you drop

Buy local Credit: Porapak Apichodilok, via Pexels

There's no shortage of holiday shopping opportunities this weekend. You can pick up some original artwork and crafts at the EtC StP Street Market on Saturday, from 12-6 p.m. and Sunday from 2-7 p.m., on Baum Ave. Or…

Here are some more shopping options:

Tampa Bay Holiday Market at the St. Petersburg Coliseum, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
The CraftArt Festival, between Central Ave. and 5th St., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Shopapalooza in South Straub Park, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday
Bananas Music's Holiday Bazaar at Bananas Music, 12-5 p.m. Saturday

7. Catch a Free Concert on Baum

Loose Talk playing at Et Cultura 2016. Credit: Linda Rhodes, via Et Cultura St Pete

You know what else you can do on Baum Avenue? You can catch a free concert on the main stage outside Green Bench Brewing Saturday night, starting at 8 p.m. Have Gun Will Travel, Loose Talk and Haunted Spacesuits are playing.

8. Take a bacon-themed bus tour

This has absolutely nothing to do with Et Cultura, but maybe you've had enough culture and you just want to go eat some bacon. If this sounds like you, then you might want to check out Downtown Crawler's You Bacon Me Crazy 4-Bar Fun Tour. The Crawler party bus will take you to four different downtown St. Pete bars, where you can enjoy bacon-inspired food and drink specials. Meets at the Hofbrauhaus at 2 p.m. Saturday. $25.

9. Go to one (or more) of Et Cultura's Music Showcases

Because nothing says folk music like an acoustic guitar in the grass. Credit: picjumbo.com, via Pexels

The Florida Folk Scene showcase is on Saturday from 12-6 p.m. and Sunday from 2-5 p.m., and the New Granada Records Showcase is Sunday, 7-9 p.m. Free.

10. See more photos at Carousel #7

Just a photo of photos…and a camera. Credit: congerdesign, via pixabay

Like photography? Probably, if you're a fan of this column. See the results of a community project to photograph Tampa Bay. At Green Bench Brewing Sunday night, 7-9 p.m. Free.

Have fun and see you next week!

Jen Ring is filling in for Cathy Salustri, who is taking a much-needed vacation, where she expects to pet her dog, cook a whole bunch of stuff, practice Ashtanga, read books and pour Baileys in her morning coffee. She'll return in December.

This article appears in Nov 16-23, 2017.