Top things to do for Memorial Day weekend in Tampa Bay: Concerts, festivals and memorials – Tampa Bay Times

by admin May 30, 2024

Holiday
Memorial Day: We have lots of fun ways to celebrate the long weekend, but don’t forget the reason for the holiday, with ways to remember those who died while serving. There’s a ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday at Bay Pines VA Center in St. Petersburg, a Stars and Stripes USO Show at the Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg at 8-11 p.m. Saturday ($30-$35). And a parade in Treasure Island that steps off at Treasure Bay at 9 a.m. Monday, 10315 Paradise Blvd., Treasure Island.

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Party
97X Barbecue Music and Arts Festival: After 10 years of throwing this Memorial Day weekend party, the alt-rock station’s annual spring festival has added a twist: Call it the 97X Barbecue Music and Arts Festival. In a nod to the local arts scene, muralists Michael Vahl and Sebastian Coolidge will create Instagrammable artwork on site. Other mixed-media artists and vendors will also be there. The music lineup is led by reggae-pop-rockers Dirty Heads, above, and alt-electronic band Awolnation, both familiar faces at previous BBQs and Next Big Things. Other 97X vets include AJR, Judah and the Lion, Robert DeLong and Sir Sly; newbies include Moon Taxi, Lovelytheband and the Young Something. 11 a.m. Saturday. Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. $29 and up, with free passes available at ticket drop locations through Friday. See 97Xonline.com for details.

EDM
Sunset Music Festival: After two fans died from drug overdoses at Tampa’s largest annual rave in 2016, organizers heightened security across the board, yielding a markedly safer event in 2017. Saturday’s headliner Marshmello has hits including Wolves with Selena Gomez and Friends with Anne-Marie, and that night’s undercard Rezz is one of the most buzzed-about women in all of EDM. Sprinkled throughout are big names like Excision, Illenium, NGHTMRE, Borgore, Hippie Sabotage, A-Trak, Yo Gotti, Zomboy, Alan Walker, San Holo and 3LAU. And for the first time, SMF is adding two additional stages for a total of five per day. Tickets are $104.95 and up per day, $189.95 and up for the weekend. smftampa.com.

Music
Florida Orchestra: Patriotic Salute: Jeff Tyzik conducts the Florida Orchestra’s final concert of the year with a Memorial Day theme that features some of America’s most popular composers, from John Philip Sousa to John Williams. Starts at 8 p.m. Friday at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa; and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. $15-$45. (727) 892-3337. floridaorchestra.org.

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Boaters
Floating Sandbar Concert: It’s the ultimate pop-up show: a blues-rock concert that appears in the waters off St. Petersburg every Memorial Day and Labor Day, drawing thousands of boaters, kayakers and beach-bum hangers-on. For more than a dozen years, organizers Hal and Terri Hammer have organized the free Floating Sandbar Concert at a sandbar off “P” Channel in Riviera Bay, between Weedon Island and St. Pete’s Tanglewood neighborhood. Ken Keller and RedHawk, Hal Hammer Jr. and the Cross Creek Blues Band, Jimmmy Shelton and Vic Sherman and the Chicago Express will perform on a pontoon stage starting around noon Monday, “weather and tides permitting.” facebook.com/sandbarconcertpchannel.

Drink
Tampa Bay Margarita Festival: This year, there are twice the bartenders and a new RFID wristband system for less waiting at the two-day Tampa Bay Margarita Festival with a margarita flavor for every taste. Music headliners are the Wallflowers and Plain White T’s (Saturday) and Everclear and Fastball (Sunday). There will also be cool zones and beer or wine for the nontequila fans. $35, $40 at door (if available) for two-day tickets; $20-$30 single day; $100-$225 VIP. Grand Tequila Tasting (2-6 p.m. Sunday) additional $25-$30. Noon-11 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. Curtis Hixon Park, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa. (727) 452-6984. tampamargaritafest.com.

Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays: On Saturday, just as Solo: A Star Wars Story storms into theaters, the Tampa Bay Rays will be giving away a free Kevin Kiermaier Star Wars pop vinyl figure when the team plays the Baltimore Orioles at 4:10 p.m. Also, Sunday is Family Fun Day and cars with four or more people get free parking and kids get games and can run the bases. 1:10 p.m. Tropicana Field, 1 Tropicana Drive, St. Petersburg. Toll-free 1-888-326-7297. mlb.com/rays.

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Theme park
Busch Gardens Summer Nights: Busch Gardens kicks off its annual summer party early starting this weekend with extended hours to 10 p.m. Though it doesn’t include a fireworks show like in years past, new are a foodie feature and party zone called the Backyard BBQ at the Bird Gardens with live music and Americana food twists. The park also brings back the Fiesta party zone in Cheetah Hunt Plaza and a village of international and domestic beer selections and food in the Stanleyville area. And did we mention free beer? Busch Gardens has brought back the perk of two free 7-ounce beers for the summer and so has its sister park, SeaWorld. Included with admission. $89 and up at buschgardens.com.

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Dating
Nintinder: You might not think of the Replay Amusement Museum as a romantic spot, but the new meet-up for singles called Nintinder aims to help gamers. A sly reference to the dating app Tinder, the meetup helps gamers find each other at the arcade of retro pinball and video games on the last Friday of every month. Women play free and it’s $10 for men, with signups beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. There’s a high-score contest at 7 p.m. (So many joystick jokes we could make, but we won’t.) Also planned June 29 and July 27. 119 E Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs.

Art
Benny Andrews: Mix Master: An award-winning artist known for his innovative use of collage in his paintings and works on paper, Benny Andrews was also an activist and advocate for African-American artists. A selection of his work opens Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. On Sunday, Katherine Pill, curator of contemporary art, will give a gallery talk on his work from 2-3:30 p.m. A reception will follow in the Bayview Room. Both are included with museum admission, $17, $15 seniors and military, $10 students with college ID, kids 6 and younger free. $5 after 5 p.m. Thursdays. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.org.

Stage
Porn Stars Are Comedians: This show extends the concept of the podcast Porn Stars Are People (“the only podcast with porn stars where we don’t discuss porn or the business of porn”), hosted by Dan Frigolette at a local “adult playground.” Comedian Mia Faith Hammond, who won last year’s Make Me Laugh Albany competition at age 19, co-hosts. Trying their hand at comedy are adult film artists Raquel Roper and Maria Marley, who makes videos about her feet. 8 p.m. Friday at 4 Play After Dark, 10387 Gandy Blvd., St. Petersburg. $25. (727) 577-3333. pornstarsarepeople.com.

Tribute
US Too: Odds are we’ll never see U2, Van Halen or the Police perform at Jannus Live or Skipper’s Smokehouse. But you can get a taste of what it might be like this weekend at US Too, a sprawling tribute organized by WMNF-FM 88.5. The two-day show will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the US Festival, organizer Steve Wozniak’s star-studded imagining of a world run by music and technology. Dozens of local artists and tribute acts will honor acts like David Bowie (Mark Alan’s Stardust Memories), the Clash (Ricky Wilcox and Moonsnakes), the Cars (Talk to Mark) and Talking Heads (Row Jomah). 6 p.m. Friday at Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa; and 5 p.m. Saturday at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. $15 per day, $25 for both. wmnf.org.

Celebrity sighting
Redneck Riviera Whiskey Tasting: Country hitmaker John Rich of Big & Rich will be at Gaspar’s to host a whiskey tasting and bottle signing of his Redneck Riviera Whiskey. A percentage of sales will go to Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to children and spouses of fallen and disabled military. 8448 N 56th St. Tampa. 3-5 p.m. Friday.

Comedy
Jon Reep: The Last Comic Standing winner is probably best known as the “That thing gotta Hemi?” guy from the Dodge commercial. He performs at Side Splitters Comedy Club, 12938 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. (813) 960-1197. 8:30 p.m. today, 8 and 10:15 p.m. Friday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. $18-$20.

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Contact Sharon Kennedy Wynne at swynne@tampabay.com. Follow @SharonKWn.
Events, Family and Travel reporter
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