Photos: Andrea Bocelli showcases his timeless-as-ever voice in Tampa
For most professional singers, performing “Nessun Dorma” at the Olympics Opening Ceremony is a lifelong dream. For Andrea Bocelli, it’s just another day. 11 days after doing exactly that in his home country, the 67-year-old Italian tenor, with a little help from 2011 “American Idol” contestant Pia Toscano, returned to Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena to…
Tampa Bay’s best things to do February 26-March 1
There’s a ton of stuff to do in Tampa Bay this week, including Eckerd’s environmental film fest, Lucy Sparrow’s Sugar Rush exhibit at FloridaRama, Grand Prix of St. Pete, Gasparilla Festival for the Arts and Her Way’s Galentine’s R&B party.
The Tampa Bay Times is now publishing AI-generated stories
A new reporter is working at Florida’s largest daily newspaper, one who doesn’t need a desk or health insurance. The Tampa Bay Times AI News Engine has been covering beats like high-end real estate transactions and breaking news about extreme weather since September. Readers who don’t check bylines may not have noticed. There was no…
Daikaiju stages Magnanimous Brewing debut this weekend
By now, any self-respecting rock & roll fan in Tampa should have experienced a Daikaiju show. This is, however, the first time anyone will see the combustible Alabama instrumental outfit at Magnanimous Brewing in Seminole Heights. The brewery has become a go-to for promoters seeking places to host shows, and it’s booked a rager thanks…
The secret to a close-up, cheap Grand Prix of St. Pete experience
The Sunshine City becomes an international IndyCar track for the Firestone Grand Prix this weekend, thanks to local manpower.
Before St. Pete concert, Paul Janeway talks St. Paul & the Broken Bones: ‘A lot of bands would have probably broken up’
After the success of its debut record in 2014, St. Paul and The Broken Bones looked at its music the way many young artists do. It had to be complex, it had to be groundbreaking, and it had to make a statement. Several years and a few albums later, two events occurred that began changing…
Architects offer floating design lessons aboard Tampa’s Pirate Taxi
On March 13, local architects and urban designers will lead a floating seminar on how the city came to look the way it does, and where it might be headed next.
Her Way celebrates Tampa Bay’s Black millennial sapphics
Her Way aims to create an inclusive space where queer women and nonbinary people in their late 20s and up can party and flirt without having to sort through a crowd of college students and gay men to find one another, and where Black queer and trans people can feel welcomed.
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns to Tampa this weekend
Now in its 56th year, the no cover event also includes live music and interactive art experiences—not to mention the host and MC is Tampa Bay’s favorite weatherman, Dennis Phillips— at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park.
Photos: Everyone we saw cruising through Winter Pride’s drag race
‘Drag Race’ star Jan Sport provided play-by-play commentary while her fellow Ru girl Plasma guest judged alongside Tampa Bay Arts Passport editor Avery Anderson, WFLA’s Farron Hipp and 2025 Best of the Bay winner Alice Marie Gripp.
Following fatal Ybor City police chase, Tampa proposes lowering speed limit on 7th Avenue
Tampa officials are making changes to Ybor City that they hope will help slow traffic after a driver killed 4 in the area in November. Officials presented changes to the Tampa City Council last week for the pedestrian-heavy entertainment district. City officials plan to reduce the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph on 7th Avenue, install…
Hillsborough Republican sponsors bill critics call a ‘death knell’ for rural lands
A bill creating an independent stewardship district in South Hillsborough County is set to go to the House Floor – but there are concerns about developing the rural area. According to the news site Florida Politics, a Land Reserve Stewardship is a special district designed to plan, finance, and manage infrastructure and public services. The proposed…
Florida Legislature poised to defund land conservation program
GOP lawmakers would direct hundreds of millions of dollars to the Rural and Family Lands Protection program, which allows agricultural landowners to permanently preserve their land from development.
Paralegal Tres Rodmon wants to be Tampa’s first openly-trans mayor
Tampa’s 2027 mayoral election is getting crowded, and a paralegal who works at the same firm as presumptive mayoral front-runner Bob Buckhorn wants to make history in the race. Tres L. Rodmon—paralegal at Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick LLP where former mayor Buckhorn is a consultant and executive vice president—told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that long-standing…
Recent freezes cause more than $3 billion in Florida agriculture losses
With farmers caught shorthanded and with crops not ready for harvesting, a pair of winter storms at the beginning and end of January potentially inflicted more than $3.17 billion in losses to the state’s agricultural industry. Winter storms Ezra from Dec. 30 to Jan. 1 and Gianna from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4 brought freezing…
Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak files paperwork to join Tampa mayoral race
Voters can stop asking Lynn Hurtak if she’s running for mayor. This morning, the Tampa City Councilwoman—appointed in 2022 then elected to her seat in 2023—filed paperwork to join what’s projected to be a competitive race for the most high profile job in city hall. She filed her documents with campaign staffer Bradley L’Herrou in…
There’s still time to get some of Lucy Sparrow’s ‘Sugar Rush’ felt sweets in St. Pete
After debuting the candy shop at Art Miami Fair in December, Lucy Sparrow brought her sweets across the state for their second showcase at FloridaRama last month. Organizers told CL Tampa Bay that the sweet exhibit will run through May.
Tampa’s hot chicken king just wants to be Joe again
Depot 303 is easy to miss. There’s barely any signage on the Mulberry food hall. Its building is tucked away from the main roads, with nothing but a white walled, black steel beam exterior. It’s a simple, inconspicuous, and modest building—just the kind of place Joe Dodd wanted for this new food concept, Chicken and…
‘Premier League Mornings Live’ will broadcast from Tampa this spring
On nearly every Saturday morning in America, a bunch of fanatic Anglophiles get up during graveyard hours to watch Premier League football in their pajamas. The ones that live in the Tampa Bay area are actually gonna have to put on some clothes come April. NBC’s “Premier League Mornings Live” is making its 12th appearance…
Gasparilla Music Festival 2026: GZA, Drive-By Truckers, Jai Wolf and East Nash Grass among nearly 40 new bands on lineup
Late last month, Gasparilla Music Festival unveiled the lineup of headliners for its 2026 return—and promised that more than 50 more acts would be announced soon. The nonprofit founded in 2011 mostly made good on that promise last week when it added more than three dozen artists to the weekend concert set for April in…
Tampa Bay’s best live music happening February 20-26
Tampa Bay’s live music weekend is back, and it’s reuniting with old friends (Mountain Holler and Billy Mays III), dripping head to toe in Prada Sport (Model/Actriz), in a love-hate relationship with Florida (Nep), and fighting for immigrants rights (benefit show at Seminole Heights’ American Legion). Those shows and more are part of this listing…
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Union nurses protest ICE in Largo [Photos]
Dressed in bright colors and costumes, nurses held signs reading “Nurses say Abolish ICE” and “ICE not welcome here” while waving at cars driving by the hospital.
Bob Buckhorn’s mayoral PAC has more than $1.4 million—and most of it comes from development and investment interests
Bob Buckhorn swears he’s entering the race to succeed term-limited Jane Castor (just six candidates are registered in the race so far). Winning that contest is going to involve cash—and the man who’s already had two terms as mayor has a lot of it. To support the campaign, Buckhorn’s political action committee, Friends of Bob…
Ahead of next month’s new album, Juvenile returns for St. Pete concert
The world’s been backing its azz up for 26 years now, and Juvenile is still making music. Last month, the 50-year-old icon of Louisiana hip-hop shared a new single (“BBB”) and plans to release his first new solo album in a decade, Boiling Point (stylized all-caps) on March 26. Last fall, the Hot Boy told…
Ahead of big birthday concert, Trombone Shorty returns to Tampa
In April, Trombone Shorty is throwing one hell of a birthday concert alongside Leon Bridges, Eric Church, Joan Jett and more. For now, he’s playing as many shows as possible before turning 40. Set to play Miami’s Montreux festival later this month, the brass prodigy plays a hyper-intimate gig at Tampa’s local casino. Tickets to…
Nobro is the reason to get to Descendents St. Pete concert early
U.K’s prince of anthemic pop-punk, Frank Turner, is always in good company, and this mid-week gig is no exception. Descendents, elders of the scene, top the bill, but get there early for Nobro. The Montreal punk outfit has one of the most raucous live shows on the continent and plays a nostalgic hybrid of ‘70s…
Florida will give $50 million to local law agencies for immigration enforcement
The State Board of Immigration Enforcement (SBIE) is set to approve another $53 million in awards for local law enforcement agencies. About half of those funds are being allocated to only one county. While $14 million of the funds are for new awards, the other $39 million is for 12 law enforcement agencies that are…
Donations from Tampa punk concert will benefit Miami-based immigrant justice nonprofit
Big Sad’s “Black Umbrellas” is one of the best protest songs to come out of the Bay area. On it, frontman Dave Decker (in full disclosure, also Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s senior photojournalist) sings about Portland protests and “Feds flanked to the right like it’s World War 3.” The punk band opens this bill at…
Mountain Holler and Billy Mays III come home for one-off concert in St. Pete
Two longtime St. Pete musicians since moved away come home and play together for one-night only. Billy Mays III—aka Infinite Third, son of the pitchman and a purveyor of ambient, looped guitar—collides with the cosmic-folk of siren-voiced songwriter Mark Etherington (aka Mountain Holler). The venue invites guests to bring blankets, pillows, yoga mats and even…
Cigar City Tattoo Fest tops list of Tampa Bay’s best things to do February 19-25
There’s a ton of stuff to do over the next week in Tampa Bay, like getting some fresh ink at the Cuban Club.
Jewish Food Festival brings lox of fun to Clearwater this weekend
Beyond the food, the festival at Temple B’nai Israel doubles as a community gathering, with local vendors, Jewish organizations, a kids’ play area and a live music stage filling the synagogue grounds.
St. Pete Zine Fest highlights underground artists and media makers
This weekend, St. Pete Zine Fest contributes to nearly 100 years of freaky, punk, gay-as-hell zine history.
Art Week Tampa offers a deep dive into the city’s creative scene
The party starts downtown on Wednesday with programs at Tampa Museum of Art and University of Tampa. The rest of the week includes an Ybor arts tour on Thursday, a full Friday of USF and Seminole Heights tours, a Saturday Ybor City walkable fiesta and a Kress Contemporary printmaking workshop on Sunday.
