ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Thousands of people celebrated St. Petersburg’s local businesses on Saturday as the nonprofit “Keep St. Petersburg Local” hosted its annual Localtopia in Williams Park. . 

What You Need To Know

 Localtopia, St. Petersburg’s largest community celebration of all things local, returned to St. Pete

 300 businesses and thousands of people filled Willams Park

 The St. Pete Chamber of Commerce said this event is crucial for local businesses

Businesses said the event was a great opportunity for exposure

It’s considered St. Petersburg’s largest community celebration of all things local.

It was a busy day for businesses.

Gallons of locally brewed beer were on tap at Localtopia

“Today we have on tap our Harold’s lager, which is a nice, light, easy drinking beer and our orange, which is a nice, easy drinking light beer as well,” said Dennis Decker, owner of Pinellas Ale Works

Pinellas Ale Works has been coming to Localtopia for about 10 years. Every year, Decker said they sell more beer. While Decker said they are pretty established, the event is still a great day for exposure.

“For a lot of the smaller businesses that haven’t been around a long time or don’t have a big advertising budget, this is a great way to show people what you do and what you have to offer,” he said.

There are more than 300 independent businesses and organizations at this year’s celebration of all things local. The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce said businesses need the help after spending most of last year recovering from 2024’s back-to-back hurricanes.

“We love our locals, we know that has made the difference. When people come to St. Pete and they feel the buzz, it’s the buzz of the love we have for that entrepreneur who’s got the courage to open up that shop and take care of the rest of us,” said Chris Steinocher, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

Steinocher said that St. Pete is open for business and encouraged people to shop local, not only on Saturday, but throughout the year.

“Now our economy is back and our tourism is back and our community is back. This is a year we want everybody to realize, we can get back to that normal sense of we have a lot of people here and we’re going to do a lot of good things,” Steinocher said.

And after Localtopia, Decker said people do just that, as the brewery usually sees some extra foot traffic

“I think this kind of event reminds people of their local businesses. They kind of forget with the ordering online and all that kind of stuff, they forget about local businesses, and I think this is a good showcase for local businesses,” Decker said.

Localtopia started in 2014 to celebrate art, music, food, drinks, and culture that St. Pete has to offer.