{"id":319770,"date":"2026-06-25T19:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/319770\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T19:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:33:17","slug":"largo-to-launch-open-container-entertainment-district-near-new-city-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/319770\/","title":{"rendered":"Largo to launch open-container entertainment district near new City Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New \"New New entertainment zone allows alcohol to-go<\/a> <\/p>\n

The city of Largo is establishing a specialized entertainment district that allows visitors to carry alcoholic beverages outdoors by the end of the summer. FOX 13’s Blake DeVine reports.<\/p>\n

LARGO, Fla. – The city of Largo<\/a> is establishing a specialized entertainment district that allows visitors to carry alcoholic beverages outdoors by the end of the summer.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County expansion <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

The upcoming “Sip and Stroll” program coordinates directly with Largo’s new $85 million City Hall development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visitors will have the option to buy alcoholic beverages from approved local establishments and walk with them freely across the designated district.<\/p>\n

Downtown business expectations <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Abner Morales, who owns Wepaa Puerto Rican Restaurant, has already started designing custom branded cups to prepare for the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morales noted that the local landscape has transformed heavily since he launched his business eight years ago when the neighborhood resembled a ghost town.<\/p>\n

“That’s awesome because we have like 16 employees. We want to keep running this business,” Morales said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Other workers see a path toward becoming a major nightlife center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cozy Smoke Shop employee Della Julian said the area could mirror New Orleans or develop into a top destination choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It could feel almost like Bourbon Street in New Orleans,” Julian said. “It could honestly become the new downtown St. Pete, where people prefer to go and have a night out.”<\/p>\n

Largo structural framework <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The open-container district will include the blocks surrounding Largo City Hall, which features integrated retail spaces tailored for bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n

The venue also features a dedicated community courtyard built to hold live entertainment, musical performances and neighborhood gatherings.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re hoping the entertainment district really solidifies downtown Largo,” Chris Tillett, the Largo director of economic development, said. “We\u2019re aiming to create a recognizable downtown.”<\/p>\n

Tillett added the city’s vision extends beyond allowing people to carry drinks outside.<\/p>\n

“While alcohol and open containers is a component, music venues, art in the park, movies in the park, these are all things that we’re really hoping to sort of showcase downtown,” Tillett said.<\/p>\n

District operation hours <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

The outdoor drinking zone will operate from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The weekend schedule shifts from 8 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday.<\/p>\n

Program beverage limitations <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Municipal leaders plan to have the entertainment zone completely running by the end of summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Visitors of legal drinking age may buy up to two drinks at a time from participating providers, which must be served in city-approved, shatterproof 16-ounce plastic cups.<\/p>\n

Unconfirmed program specifics <\/p>\n

What we don’t know:<\/p>\n

Officials have also not confirmed the exact security protocols or additional policing resources that will manage the expanded evening weekend hours.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story came from statements from the city of Largo, interviews with city officials, business owners and previous reporting on FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County<\/a>Business<\/a>Food and Drink<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New entertainment zone allows alcohol to-go The city of Largo is establishing a specialized entertainment district that allows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[558,47,4451,555,115,1157,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-319770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-business","tag-fl","tag-food-drink","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}