ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It starts with a lemon, and then some liquid gold.

And tea brewing teen queens Stevie and Stephanie Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Sweet Tea are ready to open their doors for a festival of celebration.

What You Need To Know

The Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival is located at Carter G. Woodson African American Museum at 2240 9th Ave. S., in St Pete

The 2026 festival is scheduled for Saturday, February 14th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, during Presidents’ Day weekend and Black History Month.

Now in its ninth year, the free, family-friendly festival brings together over 18,000 attendees to celebrate Black culture, history, health equity, and community empowerment.

Free collard green plants, entertainment, marketplace, music, healthy collard recipes, line-dancing class to Motown, soul music

The 13-year-olds are prepping for Tampa Bay’s Collard Green Festival, in cooalition with a program for young entrepreneurs.

“We needed to figure out a way that our youth in this community who have businesses can benefit from this foot traffic,” said festival co-founder Samantha Harris.

The Fitzpatrick 8th graders are in their second year at the festival’s young business owner’s program.

Since 2018, The Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival works as a community driven nonprofit to transform lives with good food, joy, movement, and culture. 

Through student programs, school partnerships, and an annual city-defining festival, the Collard Green Festival addresses the root causes of poor health, limited opportunities, and social isolation, for one practical, sustainable change at a time.

We meet people where they are and walk with them toward better health, stronger connections, and a higher quality of life, not just for a day, but for a lifetime.

“I enjoy doing this because I get to meet new people and I get to experience different things,” said Stevie Fitpatrick.

They St. Pete duo are completing a 4-week online course studying topics like customer service and budgets. They earned food safety handling certificates and got a stipend.

The twins encouraged other young people to start thinking of starting a business, or supporting their community. 

“You could do anything you put your mind to, you just have to have the right mindset, and plan everything out, and budget,” Stephanie Fitzpatrick said.

Also look for an official taste tester — like a younger brother maybe? The girls have 8-year-old Steve. 

“This is the best sweet tea I ever tasted in my life,” said Steve, after taking one sip.