Beach Drive: The Weekender 2/13-2/16


Finally, another long week is over and a weekend of awesome events is here! If you need your to-do list, we’ve got you covered with these DTSP highlights. From the French Fry Fest to live music and more, there’s something for everyone!

THURSDAY 2/13

Fine Art after 5PM: reduced admission to The Dali Museum, MFA & Imagine Museum

Fine art can be pricey. Thursdays after 5PM, visit the Dali for just $10, the Imagine Museum for $5, and the MFA for $10. Have a glass of wine and stroll the museums for the perfect Happy Hour.

More Dali Museum information can be found here.

Museum of Fine Arts information can be found here.

Imagine Museum information can be found here.

Royal Palm Market

Enjoy live music, food, shopping and craft cocktails every Thursday at 6PM under the royal palms of St. Pete! This weekly night market is located right next to Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails and features local artists, boutiques, handmade goods, leather goods, wood burning, clothing & accessories, specialty dog treat vendors, soaps, candles and so much more! Bring the whole family including your pets to this free, weekly event.

Geri-X Thursdays at the Ale and the Witch

Check out the Ale and the Witch for a night of live music by Geri-X each Thursday in February! From 8PM to 10PM, enjoy the original songs of local singer-songwriter Geri-X as she performs an anthology of her work over the month’s course. Geri was also the first musician to perform at the Ale and the Witch almost ten years ago! Find out more about her here.

Poetry at the Dali

Poetry at The Dalí is an ongoing series hosted by St. Petersburg Poet Laureate, Helen Wallace. Occurring on the second Thursday of each month through May 2020, each evening will feature Wallace joined by selected poets. Following the presentation, there will be an audience Q&A. This free event starts at 6PM. Parking is free for members, as available; $10 parking for nonmembers; free after 5PM on Thursdays, as available.

ABBA Mania at the Mahaffey

ABBA’s timeless melodies and catchy hooks live on with ABBA Mania. Hear your favorite tracks from the Swedish ‘Supergroup’ the way they were intended; LIVE! For the last twenty years the show has been selling out venues around the world including Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and of course, the United States with two hours of uplifting, dance inducing music and world class staging, lighting and effects. ABBA Mania is for all ABBA fans, new and old, and features hits such as “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia,” “Take A Chance on Me,” “Fernando” and many more! If you’re looking for an excuse to party, reminisce or simply be entertained, take a chance on ABBA Mania! The show starts at 7:30PM. Tickets start at $29.50 and can be purchased here.

FRIDAY 2/14

Friday Night Clay at Morean Center for Clay

Spend your Friday evening playing in clay at the Morean Center for Clay! Be prepared to get dirty for two hours from 7-9PM. of wheel throwing and hand building. Bring a towel, your favorite beverage, and a group of friends or a date for a fun get-together. You’ll get to select your favorite piece at the end of the night and they will bisque and glaze it for you to bring home. Purchase your tickets for $25 online today.

Friday Nights at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club

It’s not just for the older generation anymore! Join the fun at the world’s largest shuffleboard club to see why this pastime has regained its popularity in the Sunshine City. Free every Friday night from 7PM-11PM, locals and visitors alike flock to this private recreational club. If you’re not sure how to play, have no fear as volunteers are on hand to give you a lesson or two. Bring your own snacks and beverages – local craft beers tend to be a popular choice. There’s often live music or a DJ on-site to keep you shufflin’. Children are welcome and so are well behaved dogs.

Cocktails and Oysters at Intermezzo

Modern Brine and Intermezzo are teaming up to offer a special valentine’s day event! Intermezzo will be offering 4 unique cocktails, while Modern Brine will be featuring oysters paired with various aphrodisiacs. Each oyster will have its own unique pairing with the option of purchasing 6 oysters for $18 or 12 for $33. This offering will be available to purchase as a walk in on the night of but buy tickets early and get a substantial discount as the prices will go up to $22 for 6 and $42 for 12! Please note the ticket does not include any drinks and there will be no reservations for this event. There is a substantial amount of table seating. However, it will be first come, first serve. This event happens 5PM to 11PM. Tickets here.

Shen Yun at the Mahaffey – 7:30PM

Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the incredible art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends come to life. Shen Yun makes this possible by pushing the boundaries of the performing arts, with a unique blend of stunning costuming, high-tech backdrops, and an orchestra like no other. Be prepared for a theatrical experience that will take your breath away! Buy tickets here.

St. Pete French Fry Festival at Straub Park

Join Gulf to Bay Food Truck Association for food, fun, and live entertainment during St. Pete’s annual French Fry Festival! For two delicious days on February 14 & 15, food trucks will be lined up serving up specialty French Fries as well as offering their normal cuisine. Check out the Facebook event page to see the full lineup. This event happens 6PM to 11PM.

SATURDAY 2/15

Saturday Morning Market

The Saturday Morning Market is the largest weekly fresh market in the Southeast US, serving around 10,000 customers a week. The market includes 130 vendors, offering everything from fresh produce to homemade soaps to ready-to-eat food from 15 different cultures. The free-to-enter market runs from 9AM to 2PM every Saturday at Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Pete.

St. Pete Walking Mural Tour

Hear the inside stories of the making of more than 30 murals found in the Central Arts District in downtown St. Petersburg. The four-block tour begins at Florida CraftArt, 501 Central Ave., each Saturday morning at 10AM and concludes at 11:30AM. Call 727-821-7391 or email gallery@FloridaCraftsmen.net to book a tour, which costs $19 for adults and $11 for children. A portion of the proceeds from the tours will be used to fund future murals.

Poolside Yoga and Brunch

If there weren’t enough yoga options for you already, here’s another: poolside yoga at the Hollander Hotel at 8:30 followed by brunch. Salute the sun with Allison Moonbeam Archer then cool off in the Hollander Hotel Downtown St Petersburg’s beautiful pool. All levels are welcome for this slow flow class and mats will be provided as needed. $5 Body Electric monthly and annual members; $10 pre-registered; $15 at the door.

Drag Brunch

Head to the Iberian Rooster’s SubCentral for a morning of food and entertainment! This weekly event starts at 11AM. Drag queens Adriana Sparkle, Nicole T. Lane, and Juno Vibranz bring the fun while you bring your appetite. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here.

Shen Yun at the Mahaffey – 2PM, 7:30PM

Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the incredible art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends come to life. Shen Yun makes this possible by pushing the boundaries of the performing arts, with a unique blend of stunning costuming, high-tech backdrops, and an orchestra like no other. Be prepared for a theatrical experience that will take your breath away! Buy tickets here.

St. Pete French Fry Festival at Straub Park

Join Gulf to Bay Food Truck Association for food, fun, and live entertainment during St. Pete’s annual French Fry Festival! For two delicious days on February 14 & 15, food trucks will be lined up serving up specialty French Fries as well as offering their normal cuisine. Check out the Facebook event page to see the full lineup. This event happens 6PM to 11PM.

Free Yoga at the Sundial

Rise and shine! Wake up with free yoga at the Sundial Courtyard on the third Saturday of each month at 9AM. Check-in begins at 8:30AM Don’t forget to bring your yoga mat or towel!

Whiskey 101 at Flûte and Dram

Whiskey lovers, rejoice! This Saturday, February 15th, 2020, Flûte and Dram hotsts Whiskey 101 event as a part of the 101 series.
This event will explore the distilling process, and open your mind & palette to a whiskey adventure. The chef & whiskey flight pairing offered is $50, and the education is free. Reservations are not required. Come join for this informative and provocative whiskey experience! Live music provided by Jeremy Thomas, Frankie Raye, and the Walker Smith Group. This event happens from 2PM to 4PM.

SUNDAY 2/16

Yoga at The Dali

Come with your yoga mat and get ready to be inspired! Join Lucky Cat Yoga at 10:30 AM every Sunday at The Dali Museum for yoga. Classes are held in the Raymond James Community Room or outside in the Avant-garden, both with incredible views of the waterfront. The cost to participate is $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased at the Member’s desk.

Mimosas & Masterpieces: Brunch at the Dali

Raise a glass to an artistic take on Sunday Fundays at Café Gala with Mimosas & Masterpieces! Enjoy a Catalan-inspired brunch, visit the galleries, stroll the grounds, contemplate the Avant-garden, browse the Museum Store and soak in all the brilliance of the world-famous Dali Museum. Enjoy this inspired brunch between 11AM to 4PM. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Shen Yun at the Mahaffey – 2PM

Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the incredible art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends come to life. Shen Yun makes this possible by pushing the boundaries of the performing arts, with a unique blend of stunning costuming, high-tech backdrops, and an orchestra like no other. Be prepared for a theatrical experience that will take your breath away! Buy tickets here.

Tampa Bay Bridal Show

Catering? Photography? Day of Planner? Not sure where to start on your wedding planning? The Tampa Bay Bridal Show is here to help. Join us to meet with nearly 100 bridal professionals from all around the Tampa Bay area. We will have tons of food to sample, beautiful flowers, gowns and more, all ready to help you with your special day. Tickets available through Eventbrite. Admission is just $5.00! Purchase your tickets before the event – skip the line for speedy a check in!

Central Arts Sunday Social: Block Brunch

Come see what the fuss is about on the 600 Block, the most charming collection of small businesses in St. Pete!  Stroll along with your friends or family at our first-ever Sunday Social, featuring the Central Arts District shops and a few of our special neighbors (like RockShop Fine Gems & Jewelry, Cycle Brewing, St. Petersburg Distillery and PAINT NAIL BAR St. Pete) too. Over 23 businesses will roll out the red carpet for you! Enjoy freebies (like the Fromosas over at Brutique and the Dole Whip at Pacific Counter!), delicious brunch foods, sales, discounts & specials from all of the neighborhood shops, live art from special guests such as Derek Donnelly, ZuluPainter, John Suarez, Reid Jenkins, John Gascot, Robert Riedel, Scott Hillis, and Vince Pompei, and live music from Mountain Holler, Wyatt Norton, Sebastian Tenorio-Vallejo, Matt Walker, Penn Johnson and Tate Leigh! To attend, please check in at Bishops Cuts/Color at 689 Central. You will receive a wristband and map to participating businesses, plus a special gift from Bishops. Visit ten or more businesses, make at least one purchase, and return your map for a swag bag AND chance to win a valuable original art piece or a huge prize basket filled with block goodies! The event is free, open to the public, family-friendly and rain or shine! This happens 12PM to 4PM.

MUSEUMS

Beaches, Benches and Boycotts

Beaches, Benches and Boycotts” is an original exhibition of The Florida Holocaust Museum. The focus of most Civil Rights history is written about places like Alabama and Mississippi, as if few challenges occurred elsewhere. Tampa Bay remained racially segregated at the dawn of the Civil Rights era and many local institutions and establishments held out on integration for several years after Brown vs. the Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under “Jim Crow” every aspect of African American life in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and their surrounding cities was segregated. Restricted covenants were in place that segregated residential neighborhoods. African American children had to attend segregated schools that were under-funded and often in disrepair. Blacks could only be cared for at “Black only” hospitals, and other public and private establishments like restaurants and beaches were often segregated – if blacks were allowed in at all. The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay may have had characteristics similar to other areas of the South but its stories are its own. This exhibition will illuminate our region’s struggle with racial equality and shine a light on the local leaders who changed our cities. This exhibit runs through March 1st.

Midnight in Paris at the Dalí

When Salvador Dalí & Luis Buñuel’s film Un chien Andalou premiered in the City of Light, Paris was an avant-garde hothouse rife with artistic conflict and friendly rivalry. Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929 immerses visitors in this particularly rich and vital creative era by examining the works, friendships and clashes of Jean Arp, André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Alexander Calder, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and others. This exhibit runs through April 5th.

Art of the Stage: Picasso to Hockney at the MFA

The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is the first museum in the country to host this exhibition culled from the McNay Art Museum’s prestigious Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts since it closed December 29, 2019 at the McNay in San Antonio, Texas. The traveling exhibition features a stunning variety of over 100 scene, costume, stage and program designs created by noted artists from the nineteenth century to the present day. The works of artists presented in the exhibition, such as Henri Mattise, Natalia Goncharova, Pablo Picasso, David Hockney, Robert Indiana, and Lesley Dill, innovated the productions of some of the world’s most famous opera and ballet productions. To truly bring the art of the stage to life, the MFA is collaborating with several local and national arts organizations to present live performances on a theater built inside the gallery, as well as performance spaces throughout the museum. The museum will be animated with performances of classical music, opera, dance, theater and poetry throughout the run of the exhibition, along with special lectures and film screenings.

About the author

Gina Marks

Gina is a graduate of the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, with a love of all things writing and St. Pete-themed. Originally from Grand Rapids, MI, she moved with her family to Florida in 2009 and has been in love ever since. When she's not studying or working, she spends her time reading, writing, and working on her fashion blog, ellisfashionco.com.


Leave a Reply