Boom By the Bay is Tampa Bay's Independence Day celebration. This year they celebrated early in…read moreJuly 1, 2023. It was held at Julian Lane Park in Downtown Tampa. In previous years, they held it at different parks through out Tampa. I really liked this better. That way fireworks were all in one place. These fireworks were amazing. The park is huge so it's nice and spacious for everyone. They had some food trucks, they had a stage and when we were there they had country music which I don't like, but I wasn't there too long before fireworks happened. The one bad thing was the fireworks were so close the ashes fell on top of us. But for real amazing fireworks and so happy we left St. Pete Beach early to see them.

Totally worth it! I mean seriously it is free! Can't beat free fun! We did not have tickets. We…read morecame right before 7. They let us know to sit on the side while the 7pm people came. Once they did, she accumulated extra tickets for us to go in. Once inside the wait seemed forever. They would let a certain number of people in a group each time. We finally got in around 7:20pm! For sure jumping in is hard when you are bare footed. You can easily get stuck under. It's like drowning, but a bunch of balls instead of water! The most fun or most difficult is trying to get out! Phew! I felt so happy and free after playing around for a bit! What a great fun concept. Those were the days of Chuckie cheese ball pits! Here it is again!

What an awesome event! And it was completely free! Huge thanks to the Vinik Foundation for bringing…read morethis amazing experience to Tampa! I didn't expect to have so much fun in a ball pit... nor did I expect it to be so physically challenging! The first time I fell, I needed help to get back up, and just walking through the balls was hard! The *shore* with lounge chairs & umbrellas was a nice way to catch my breath. Due to my kids' work & college schedules, Sunday was really the best day for us to go together. I ordered our free tickets online several weeks before the multi-week event began, and 5pm 8/21 was the only slot still available for a group of 6... That's how popular this event was, sight unseen! Once I realized The Beach Tampa would be closing at 6pm on Sundays, I was concerned our time would be limited. However, worrying was not necessary. At the entrance outside, we queued up to enter precisely at our ticketed time. Then inside, we waited again as staff monitored the number of people inside the actual *beach* area for safety and enjoyment, allowing people to enter as others left. The line moved quickly at this point, but we still weren't able to go in until after 5:30. Luckily, staff had already announced to everyone that even the very last person to enter would get a minimum of 45 minutes to enjoy The Beach. I really hope The Beach returns to Tampa!

All costs were not shown at time of registration. Found out after registering that there was a $20…read moreparking fee plus $5 packet pick up fee.

This 5k run was held at the Florida State Fairgrounds on 6/27/15. Blacklight asked people to get…read morethere at 6p to help with traffic flow, promising plenty of food and drink venders while waiting for the race start time of 9p. In reality, there was one food truck and one drink bar for the 14,000 registered runners! There was a hidden fee of $5 to pick your swag bag up on race day, and most people didn't live anywhere near the early pick up location in Bradenton. I travelled two hours from Gainesville on race day so early packet pick up wasn't possible. I stood in line an hour on the hot blacktop with no shade provided just to get a bib and T-shirt. Even getting there early, the parking was a nightmare and there was an additional fee to park. The race started at 9 and there were still hundreds of people waiting over an hour that hadn't even made it into the fairgrounds. Eventually, the police got involved to handle traffic. I didn't even stay for the race, although I saw several posts on the Facebook event page saying the course was dangerous, they didn't have water stations or staff on the dark course. The event page is gone, erasing thousand of complaints and demands for refunds. What a waste of my time, gas, registration fee, packet pickup fee and parking fee. Hey Blacklight! I'll give my T-shirt back for a refund of my $31+ dollars! Totally frustrating and most disappointing 5k I've ever attended. Stay away from Blacklight events.

The Bank of American Marathon and Half Marathon is one of the more popular Florida races and one…read morethat people from the southeast part of the US flock to...those who run anyway. This race is more well known as the Gasparilla Distance Classic and runs throughout the Tampa bay area. The scenery is beautiful for the most part and keeps your mind and eyes occupied during your run. If the weather is nice and the sun is up, you're bound is have a good, flat run. However, if it's windy and rainy, as was the case when I ran it, you're run may not be as smooth. Being that you do run by water, the wind seems much stronger than usual and if it's raining, you probably won't be a happy camper. As is usual, there are water stop and gatorade stops every 2 to 3 miles with port-o-potties nearby. Gu or gel is given out at various points during the race as well...which ends up all over the street, so be careful if you choose to run this race. Crowd support is awesome. Most people just stake out in front of their homes and cheer the runners on. Hoards of people await you at the finish line and hoot and holler as you cross. Columbia Restaurant sponsors this race and, as a result, provides the post-race food. It's the perfect recovery meal with lots of chicken, beans and rice. Overall, a fun race to run!

I ran this marathon the first year they had it and it was great! Over the years the run went down…read morehill. I ran it for the final 10th marathon and true to form, it sucked. The course when it initially started was great. The course is ok now. Not the best. The support on the run is not so great. Also, the food at the end is terrible. You are lucky if anything is left. I am glad this race came to an end. I hear the Gasparilla run is better to run so we will see!

I grew up in a town where St. Patty's Day was a big event amongst the adults and college kids. When…read moreI moved down here it seemed a little weird to me that it wasn't as celebrated like we were used to up in the north. Over the years things seemed to pick up around here with the tradition was started in 2012 by former Mayor Bob Buckhorn. It now is an annual St. Patrick's Day festival in downtown Tampa that features the historic coloring of the Hillsborough River green, live entertainment, food trucks, and activities. The event is free, kicks off the St. Patrick's Day holiday, and includes performances, kids' activities, and the official river dyeing ceremony led by the mayor. It takes place at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. The green water goes north and south of the park as well as this year we decided to avoid the huge crowds of the park and went up to Ulele. This is a great free event to be able family and friends too and it just so happened to take place while I had my friend from Michigan in town. To my knowledge she has never ventured over to Chicago to see the original place the green river dying takes place. Though I gotta say, we do have beautiful weather to go along with our river dying vs it being very cold in Chicago in March.

This Event Took Place This Year on Saturday, March 16, 2024 from 11am-6pm. Surprisingly for me,…read morethis was a first for us. Reason is I know the parking is always a shit show, and it sure was. So many meters that were there were covered up, & not able to be used. Parking lots were $30. We finally got on the other side of town closer to the river by Armature works and thankfully that was the free side to park. The River looked pretty cool decked out for St. Patrick's Day. Everyone was walking around joyfully in Green. This was fun for the whole family with lots of festivities, music, & vendors. They even had a dog costume contest which I wanted to see yet we were too busy looking for parking. After the fest, the parade started. It was an hour long and was fun at first then too long for me. They threw lots of beads and goodies out. It was a fun way to celebrate. Afterwards, music at Armature Works. This is cool and everything, & lucky enough to get the parking that we did, but a one and done for us. All these festivities non stop around Curtis Hixon and the river with UT as a view are stunning, but parking is atrocious, & unorganized.

This event was put on so well! The food trucks were yummy, the entertainment was enjoyable and the…read moreboat races had me on the edge of my seat! The emcee was hilarious and kept everyone informed but also interested, even 3 hours in!

Very well planned event, couple Djs playing all day n night. My Sister in law was playing among…read morethem. The dancers did a phenomenal job. The crowd love them. Pepper maché took the stage and lit it up along DJ Marisol. Together they hit #1 on latin charts! Very proud of my lady friends. The activity picked up later in the evening. I totally took a nap on the artificial grass and woke up during the night time! Lol they had more queens out and more music. Right about the 8:45pm window they ended the show with a spectacular firework show. Right next to the stage. And with the closing? Everybody skidadle, like when u turn the lights in the kitchen and the critters run away lol no joke, like 90% of the crowd ninja their asses out of there. There were a handful of us picking our own garbage. Events are like that, its sad. You would think people be more responsible. Overall? The event is actually family friendly. Just mayor heads up, way to many people brought dogs with them. If you got allergies? It may be a problem next year. Lots a families showed up and thats actually good. It forces people to keep it family friendly. I kept hearing one of the event photographers scolding one of the gentlemen to "remember there are kids near by". The mayor of Tampa came to talk to us with her wonderful wife to. Both game a nice speech n motivation to go out and vote. i can recommend this for next year, if ya curious and want a mellow version of Ybor diversity parade and or St Petersburg pride? This is it. It never hit the adult content notes, it kept staying in family friendly. Best part was that Armature works was there so u had plenty of options for food n drinks. Plenty of space to sit on the food court or outside on the shaded tables. Bye bye thank you for reading and have a blessed night.