St. Pete Pier celebrates five years with month-long festival featuring drone show, fireworks, live music, ice cream festival, and more

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St. Pete Pier celebrates five years with month-long festival featuring drone show, fireworks, live music, ice cream festival, and more

Five years ago, the City of St. Petersburg unveiled the long-anticipated St. Pete Pier and its sprawling 26-acre district, reconnecting downtown to the waterfront. Today, it has become a signature landmark, drawing millions of tourists and residents each year.

To celebrate the Pier's five-year milestone, the City of St. Petersburg is hosting PierFest—a month-long series of family-friendly events every weekend in July. Festivities will include live performances by local bands, sand sculptures, a drone show, fireworks, and more at the St. Pete Pier District, located at 600 2nd Avenue NE.

The celebration kicks off on July 4th with the annual St. Pete Pier Run, a 4-mile course that begins near Spa Beach, winds along the scenic waterfront, and finishes at the Pier.

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Foxtail Coffee Co. to open at Liberty Yards in downtown Largo

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Foxtail Coffee Co. to open at Liberty Yards in downtown Largo

Foxtail Coffee Co. will soon bring its signature craft coffee and cozy aesthetic to downtown Largo, becoming the first tenant announced for Liberty Yards, a modern two-story retail and restaurant development set to rise at the southwest corner of 4th Street Southwest and West Bay Drive.

Atlanta-based real estate investment firm The Ardent Companies, which acquired the site last year for $1.85 million from The Liberty Worship Center across the street, is behind the 11,175-square-foot project.

The development’s name, Liberty Yards, pays homage to the church and reflects Ardent’s intention to create a community-focused destination.

The Winter Park-based brand has expanded rapidly since launching in 2016 and now operates 88 locations across Florida and several other states. The coffee chain currently operates two other Pinellas County locations at 730 4th Street in St. Petersburg and 13501 Icot Boulevard in Clearwater.

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PSTA approves $4.8 million federal grant to restore Cross Bay Ferry service between St. Pete and Tampa

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PSTA approves $4.8 million federal grant to restore Cross Bay Ferry service between St. Pete and Tampa

The Cross Bay Ferry, which has linked passengers between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa since 2017, could once again sail under a new operator.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), which operates the Clearwater Ferry, is now leading efforts to restore ferry service between St. Pete and Tampa after Hillsborough County recently ended its contract with HMS Ferries.

The termination came after HMS proposed replacing the current ferry with a slower vessel that would more than double one-way travel time from 50 minutes to two hours.

When the county canceled its contract with HMS, ending the Cross Bay Ferry operations on April 30th, it left $4,863,280 of unspent Federal Transit Authority (FTA) dollars on the table, which can be used towards the purchase of two new ferry boats for the Tampa-to-St. Pete service.

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First Look at St. Pete Athletic: The massive 45,000-square-foot sports and social club coming to St. Pete

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First Look at St. Pete Athletic: The massive 45,000-square-foot sports and social club coming to St. Pete

A 45,000-square-foot industrial space tucked in St. Pete's Warehouse Arts District will become a massive urban country club featuring 14 pickleball courts, a private social club, bars, and much more.

Construction workers are actively building the new bougie paddle sports club dubbed the St. Pete Athletic Paddle & Social, located at 680 28th Street South inside The Factory, a 90,000-square-foot arts and culture hub situated on the Pinellas Trail.

The club, as first reported in 2024, is slated to open later this year to both members and the public. It will occupy 30,000 square feet of existing space on the west side of The Factory property and 15,000 square feet in a new building to accommodate more pickleball courts.

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V-Roll Vietnamese Rolls and Bowls to take over Golden Dinosaurs spot in Gulfport

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V-Roll Vietnamese Rolls and Bowls to take over Golden Dinosaurs spot in Gulfport

V-Roll Vietnamese Rolls & Bowls, a fast-casual Vietnamese restaurant offering customizable spring rolls, rice bowls, and more, is set to open in mid-July at 2930 Beach Boulevard South, the former home of vegan favorite Golden Dinosaurs.

Designed with convenience and freshness in mind, V-Roll follows a build-your-own model similar to Chipotle. Guests will first choose between a bowl, spring rolls, steamed bao buns, or bánh mì (a Vietnamese baguette sandwich).

Next, they select a base—jasmine rice, vermicelli rice noodles, or mixed greens—followed by one of six proteins: lemongrass pork, chicken, beef, simmered shrimp, or five-spice tofu.

Diners can then customize their meal with vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, chives, tomato, mint, and basil; choose from ten toppings including roasted peanuts, fried onions, and green onion–infused oil; and finish with one of six house-made sauces like peanut, citrus garlic, tangy soy, and sesame.

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