One of the city’s largest and longest-running cultural events returns this weekend along the downtown St. Pete waterfront, bringing hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of visitors to Vinoy Park.

The 51st annual Mainsail Art Festival takes place March 28th and 29th at 701 Bayshore Drive Northeast, with hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. 

Admission is free.

More than 250 juried artists from across the country will showcase and sell their work, spanning 13 mediums including ceramics, glass, jewelry, photography, sculpture, watercolor, wood, and mixed media. 

Roughly half of this year’s exhibitors are new to the festival.

Dust off your corsets, cloaks, and questionable British accents. The St. Petersburg Renaissance Faire is back.

The festivities return to England Brothers Park in Pinellas Park, running every weekend from April 4th through April 26th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

Opening ceremonies begin just before the gates open, setting the stage for a full day inside the immersive “Shire of Heyford,” a 10-acre village inspired by Elizabethan England.

The event brings together more than 100 costumed performances across nine stages, along with over 50 artisans and three pubs.

St. Petersburg’s annual celebration of nature, gardening, and environmental education will return next month for its 40th installment.

The Green Thumb Festival will take place at Walter Fuller Park, 7891 26th Avenue North, on Saturday, April 25th and Sunday, April 26th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

The weekend-long event is free and open to the public.

Hosted by the City of St. Petersburg’s Parks and Recreation Department, the two-day festival is the city’s official Arbor Day celebration and one of the largest gardening events in the Tampa Bay area.

More than 120 garden and plant vendors will participate in the event, offering everything from native plants and tropical flowers to trees, herbs, and landscaping supplies.

The festival also features environmental exhibits, educational workshops, and hands-on activities focused on gardening and sustainability.

St. Pete’s fourth annual celebration of all things Irish is coming back to downtown St. Pete. And this year, it’s bigger than ever.

Paddy Fest St. Pete returns to Williams Park March 13th – 15th, turning the heart of downtown into a three-day Irish music and cultural festival packed with live bands, traditional dance, food trucks, family activities, and plenty of Guinness.

Now in its fourth year, the festival has evolved into a full-scale Irish music festival with what organizer Pete Boland calls “concert-level production quality.”

“We really upped the caliber of the performances this year,” Boland says. “Our number one priority is attendee experience. We’re going to try to wow every person who walks through those gates.”

And the lineup backs that up.

Headliners include traditional Irish music legend Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones along with national Celtic rock favorites Seven Nations and the high-energy family act The Byrne Brothers.