ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — First Friday could become a part of St. Pete history, with organizers citing rising costs and dwindling sponsorships.
Kristen Lee and her team at Nightlife Productions took over First Friday when the event returned following the pandemic. Lee said over the last few months she’s had to dig into her personal accounts to help pay for the monthly block party style event.
What You Need To Know
Event organizer says invoices from the city of St. Pete for services have risen 37-57% per event
Biggest increase was to sanitation, police costs
Roughly 30-40 police officers staff each First Friday
Organizers say sponsorships have declined while costs increase
“Our company itself does not make a profit on any of this,” she said. “We’re paying out of pocket to make sure all the bills are paid and we stay current with everything.”
Lee said on March 12, Nightlife Productions received four months of bills for services from the City of St. Pete. She said when reviewing the bills that ran from September-December of 2025, they were substantially higher than previous months.
“The city bills have risen 37-57% per event which is considerable at this point,” Lee said. “There was no notice…no notice at all.”
The costs, Lee said, that have increased are for sanitation and off-duty details from the St. Pete Police Department.
Asst. Chief Michael Kovacsev with the St. Pete Police Department says on an average First Friday they staff anywhere from 30-40 officers. The officers are a mix of off-duty details hired by Nightlife Productions, off-duty details hired by some of the individual bars, and their officers who patrol the streets are part of their usual shift.
Five Bucks Drinkery sits on the busy stretch of Central Avenue in St. Pete where First Friday is held (Angie Angers).
“They are strategic too,” he said. “If we see larger crowds or things we need to address they’ll put the officers out on the corners to be seen more. High visibility tends to deter things.”
Lee agrees that the police presence is vital to having a successful First Friday.
“When you have large groups of people come together — especially younger people — and they’re drinking and making poor decisions sometimes you have things crop up. For the most part… they’re usually one offs and we try to address those,” Kovacsev explained.
Lee said it’s possible that April could be the final First Friday, at least for now, if she can’t get additional sponsors to help offset the rising costs.
“After First Friday ends, everybody goes somewhere and usually into the surrounding businesses,” she said. “But some of them don’t consider us important.”
First Friday began roughly 30 years ago by a volunteer group called the Breakfast Optimist Club.
They started it as a way to bring attention to a once-quiet St. Pete entertainment district.