By Peter Roos
Discover the latest St. Pete events in January 2025! From exciting Pinellas County festivals to concerts in Clearwater and the newest local business highlights in St. Petersburg, this month is packed with must-attend activities. Stay in the know with Tampa Bay travel updates and community tidbits to make the most of your Gulf Coast experience.
On Jan. 9, Guitarist Nate Najar and Brazilian music star Daniela Soledade will transport you to tropical Rio de Janeiro with an intimate program of Bossa Nova music. The concert will include numbers by composers Antonio Carlos Jobim, Cole Porter and Ary Barroso, all enhanced by the excellent acoustics of the Peace sanctuary at Memorial Presbyterian Church, 110 S Ft. Harrison Ave. (at Pierce), Clearwater. Seating is first come, first served. No ticket needed, but donations to help defray future performance costs are requested ($5-$10 minimum suggested donation). Doors open at 2:30pm. For more info, visit www.peacememorialpresbyterian.org or call Timothy Belk at 800-479-8846 or Beth Daniels at 727-461-1818.
The Tampa Bay Barbecue Festival & Competition is returning to Vinoy Park with a weekend of delicious food, drinks and music, taking place Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 11 & 12. The Eighth annual festival (formerly the St. Pete Bacon & BBQ Fest) is a sprawling celebration of great local food, live local music, and cold local beer. There will be more than 100 BBQ dishes available for purchase from award-winning pitmasters – from rich and smoky brisket to thick crispy bacon cheeseburgers and fall-off-the-bone ribs. VIP one day tickets, $60 day of event are $49 in advance include sampling briskets and beer, the best seating and more. General admission is $9. www.TampaBayBarbeque.com
Thomas Pugh, a 15-year resident of downtown St. Pete, an athlete, engineer and entrepreneur, founded Journey into Fitness, a 24-hour gym, coffee shop and personal fitness training facility, at 1799 Central Ave., offering personal and strength training, yoga and more in a veteran-owned environment, friendly to families, seniors and those of the LGBTQ persuasion. Their high energy fitness classes are being offered 3 for $30 as an introductory special. Visit www.JourneyintoFitness.club or call 727-346-5035 for more info.
Tampa Airport News Frontier Airlines began in December offering daily flights to Boston (BOS), Washington Dulles (IAD) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Portland, ME (PWM) and to Burlington, VT (BTV) three days each week. June 4, Air Canada will launch nonstop flights from TPA to Vancouver (YVR). This route will be offered year-round instead of seasonally, giving Tampa Bay travelers unparalleled access to British Columbia. For passengers looking to travel beyond Vancouver, the airport offers convenient roundtrip links to Air Canada’s Asian network, with connections to cities like Osaka, Tokyo and Seoul. Delta Air Lines has confirmed that its already-popular nonstop flight from TPA to Amsterdam will be extended four times weekly into October.
Looking for old Florida vibes and food? In Pass-a-Grille, The Wharf Restaurant & Sports Bar is known for its seafood, burgers, Reuben sandwiches, gumbo, Tuesday fish fry, yummy appetizers (wings, shrimp 10 ways) and specialty cocktails. New is live music Wed.-Sat., 6-9:30pm with Rob Tyre on The Wharf’s Starlight Stage outdoors and in January, an expanded menu. Watch all your favorite teams here and enjoy the Happy Hour Mon.-Fri., 3:30-6pm (bar only). The bar is open nightly, the kitchen stops serving 9pm Mon.-Thurs. Last year, The Wharf spruced up its dining room and popped out the wall for a windowed door that slides open for fresh air and is in the process of upgrading their docks and back patio.
The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners adopted a supplemental bond resolution and approved the form of documents for the financing of a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium. In a 5-2 vote, the Board agreed to move the stadium deal forward, with recognition that the Rays must meet specific criteria by March 31 for bonds to be issued.
The Board held the line on previously agreed-to terms and requested continued project updates moving forward so both the Board and residents can stay informed about progress.
The stadium agreement is separate from the city of St. Petersburg’s Gas Plant Redevelopment District agreement with the Rays and their development partner, Hines Group. Board action on the bonds has no contractual impact on the terms of that agreement. Earlier this year, the County Commission voted to invest $312.5 million in public financing for the stadium using Tourist Development Tax revenue to pay off the debt. By law, the use of tourist taxes is restricted and cannot pay for many Pinellas County projects or services such as law enforcement or roads.
St. Petersburg’s City council voted 5-2 to create a Local Historic District around Mirror Lake. The designation is the city’s first since 2021, the 10th overall, and the second in downtown. Residents and Preserve the ‘Burg teamed up to submit an application to the city earlier this year. A majority of district property owners supported the district via a city-mandated balloting process, and council received more than 300 messages, with 98% in support of passage. Mirror Lake still retains much of the St. Petersburg’s early feel. By the 1920s real estate boom, winter residents and visitors flocked to Mirror Lake to play shuffleboard, go to the library, dance at the Coliseum, as well as take up residence in one of the neighborhood’s many rooming houses or hotels. Today, the area around Mirror Lake is a dense, walkable, urban neighborhood, with one of the most intact collections of historic homes and small apartment buildings tucked away on small parcels along narrow courts or alleys. The newly created district extends roughly 200 feet from the lakefront, creating a cohesive boundary and adding a mechanism to ensure the compatibility of future development with the historic structures that front the lake.
Meanwhile, Red Apple Real Estate purchased, for $13 million, the Mirror Lake building site at 233 Fifth St. N, which had previously been approved for a 23-story tower with 285 apartments and 10,000sf of retail space. The Red Apple Group has topped out their 46-story Residences at 400 Central, the tallest yet on Florida’s west coast, scheduled for completion this spring. John A. Catsimatidis a Greek-American billionaire businessman, is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, the largest grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $700 million to $800 million in holdings in New York, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is also the chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group Subsidiary United Refining Company. Catsimatidis hosts a Sunday morning talk-radio show on a number of stations along the east coast, including Washington DC, and hosts a live radio program that airs in the New York City metro area. Catsimatidis was the runner-up to the Republican nomination for mayor of New York City in the 2013 election.
Julius Nasso, founder of The Big City Group and Big City Hospitality, is building out the San Valentino Italian Market, (think Mazzaros) which will debut soon at 2063 First Ave. S. The 12,082-square-foot building, located behind Trophy Fish seafood restaurant, was formerly occupied by Classic Architectural, a local cabinet and furniture fabricator. San Valentino Italian Market is expected to resemble a smaller version of Eataly, a popular chain of Italian marketplaces, restaurants, food and beverage counters, bakery, retail items, and cooking schools.
Four years ago, George Brooks found himself standing in a driveway with 800 books he had acquired from an Amazon seller. The books were headed for the dump before George intervened. Books should be rehomed or repurposed, not dumped, so Book Rescuers was born as George’s passion project turned full-time occupation.
The Book Rescuers’ new location at 8325 Ulmerton Road soft-opened on Black Friday, boasting 3 miles of shelves, over 100,000+ books. While still in its soft opening phase, Brooks plans a grand opening in January. By the grand opening, Brooks should have completed most of the finishing touches. Overflow Brewery should have craft beers available on tap, the coffee and tea bar should be open for orders, murals should appear on the walls, and food trucks should be able to plug right into the building.
The Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival (TBCGF) has turned this leafy green into a symbol of health, heritage, and hope. Co-founders Boyzell Hosey and Samantha Harris have grown the nonprofit behind it all into a powerhouse for social change. It returns Feb. 15, around 2240 Ninth Ave. S. (and throughout the Deuces). Full event details are available online. Vibrant programs and signature events, including the dynamic Greens 5K & Fitness Extravaganza during Black History month, bring thousands together to celebrate cultural heritage, champion health equity, and foster economic empowerment. Vending applications for the 2025 Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival are now open. www.tbcgf.org