The Tampa Bay area doesn’t exactly lack for things to do on a Saturday. Between the waterfront, the museums, the restaurants, and the general fact that the weather in May is not yet trying to actively kill you, weekends around here tend to fill themselves. And yet, somehow, somebody looked at all of that and said, “You know what this region still needs? A full-scale celebration of Italian culture, complete with exotic cars, wine, and an obscene amount of pasta.” Again: correct.
The St. Pete Italian Fest returns on Saturday, May 16, at Vinoy Park (701 Bayshore Dr NE), running from 11 am – 7 pm. Eight hours. Think about that. Eight full hours of Italian everything, right on the waterfront. The organizers aren’t throwing a little get-together. They’re staging an event with the energy of someone who just watched The Godfather for the first time and immediately called their friends. Tickets are available here.
Photos via St.Pete Italian Fest
What’s on the agenda? Authentic Italian food from local vendors, live music and performances by top Italian bands, a stunning Italian car show featuring exotic and vintage vehicles, art exhibits showcasing Italian culture and heritage, wine tastings, craft cocktails, and family-friendly activities and games. That lineup covers basically every conceivable category of a good time. If you leave this festival unhappy, that’s a personal problem, and we say that with love.
Let’s linger on the car show for a moment, because it continues to be the most audaciously fun element of this whole operation. Someone, years ago, decided that a food and culture festival needed a display of Italian automotive excellence parked right alongside it. Not a food truck lot. Not a bounce house. Italian exotic and vintage cars. That decision deserves a round of applause and possibly a small trophy.
Photos via St.Pete Italian Fest
And then there’s the food, which is really the reason most people show up and nobody admits it. Pizza, pasta, lasagna, cannoli, and gelato. The full roster. Eating your way through an Italian festival at Vinoy Park while live music plays in the background and a vintage Ferrari sits twenty feet away is the kind of afternoon you’ll describe to people for years, with increasing embellishment each time. “And then the gelato,” you’ll say, staring into the middle distance. “I’ve never been the same.”
Tickets are $15 and $20 at the gate, with kids under 10 getting in free. This is, by any reasonable measure, a deal. Eight hours. Live music. Wine. Cannoli. Italian cars. A gorgeous park setting. The math works out strongly in your favor.
Three years in, the St. Pete Italian Fest has graduated from a promising new event into something this city genuinely looks forward to. It’s got the food, the culture, the entertainment, and the cars. It’s got a waterfront setting and a ticket price that won’t make you feel guilty. It’s got, in short, everything you’d want from a Saturday in May.
Mark the calendar. Bring your appetite. And maybe, just maybe, brush up on a little Italian before you go. “Magnifico” covers a lot of ground. Mamma mia!