Eat and drink to your heart's content with the help of these five weekend events.
Kick off the weekend’s speedy festivities with a Grand Prix Bock Party. Starting at 9 p.m. Friday and running till midnight Sunday, the three-day bash along First Avenue South — where the Avenue Eat + Drink, Proper Kitchen & Cocktails and Park & Rec connect — has drink specials (think $4 Coors Light drafts and $6 Crown Royal), live music, a photo booth, visits from Grand Prix drivers, and race cars planned for partygoers. Free, money for food and drink. 330 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 727-851-9531.
Matter of fact — go celebrate the return of a Netflix favorite while you’re at it. The Bends’ Stranger Things 2 event, a late-night ’80s costume and dance party, also kicks off at 9 p.m. Friday. Stranger Things fans enjoy fun character masks, mixed new wave/synth tunes from the Shadow_Run/Brothers and the series projected on the bar’s back wall. Free, money for food and drinks. 919 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg, 727-202-8931.
Local food trucks and vendors are set to dish swoon-worthy creations from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Ybor City Food on a Stick Festival, held at Picker Place Vintage Market, where the twice-yearly Junk Fest is also taking place, offers all sorts of portable bites from spots like Craving Donuts, Inside Scoop and Dave's Jukebox Diner. Free, money for goodies. 1402 E. Second Ave., Tampa, 813-952-4672.
Feeling groovy? Get to Six Ten Brewing for Sour Power & Tie Dye before Tampa Bay Beer Week is over. Guests jam out to live ’60s and ’70s sounds from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday while sipping sour beers on draft and creating a tie-dyed T-shirt to take home. Each ticket comes with a beer token, shirt and supplies. Mortar & Pestle food truck will be on-site as well. Tickets are available online. $25. 7052 Benjamin Road, Tampa, 813-866-0610.
From 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, brunch it up. The Booze Cruise Brunch allows Gaspar’s Grotto diners to feast on a spread — which includes an omelet and waffle station, tropical fruit juice bar and chocolate fondue — more than 50 feet long. Unlimited Champagne and mimosas come with brunch, as does the first carafe of vodka for the restaurant’s Bloody Mary bar. The service has two seatings — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. — and reservations are strongly suggested. $39.95 for adults, $17.95 for kids ages 10 and under. 1805 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa, 813-248-5900.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2017.