Tampa’s Riverfest returns for 2024: Here’s a guide to the big event

This weekend brings the annual Riverfest to Tampa’s iconic Riverwalk. And what might be most remarkable is that this is only the eighth year for this celebration.

In the span of just a decade, the makeup and vibe of downtown Tampa have been transformed by a linear park that invites people to stroll, bike, skate and linger on 2.6 miles of pathway along the Hillsborough River.

Riverfest runs Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, and this will be the first time the event has a headliner in Grammy-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development. It will also have a market of local vendors and artists, a hot air balloon glow, a Wiener Dog Derby, paddleboard races, a water ski show, yoga on the lawn, a parade of lighted lanterns, a Friday night Taste of the Riverwalk and Saturday’s Taco Fest.

The transformative Riverwalk was first envisioned in 1975. It started as a small waterfront walkway that opened in 1987, but it took six mayors and 40 years before the biggest section connecting MacDill Park under the Kennedy Boulevard bridge to Curtis Hixon Park opened in 2014.

Harbour Island resident John Fitzgibbons, a Tampa attorney, jogs along the Riverwalk trail three or four times a week. Having lived here since 1991, he was eager for the Riverwalk to be completed.

The change in the community mindset is astounding, he said.

“Tampa didn’t know it had a waterfront,” Fitzgibbons said. “Getting the Riverwalk has just been transformational. A decade ago it was a different town.”

The biggest change, he said, is the sense of community.

“It’s a real mix of people. You hear a lot of different languages and you see families with their kids and then an exercise class in the park. Then the river brings you all these boat parades and concerts on the lawn in front of Armature Works and boat shows. It’s our living room now,” Fitzgibbons said.

Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was at the helm when decades of Riverwalk plans from his predecessors were finally completed. He said it was like a light switch was turned on.

“Tampa had been a working waterfront town for generations. We turned our back on the river, literally,” Buckhorn said. “We were slow learners.”

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“Now I’m looking forward to when it gets expanded to the west side of the river,” Buckhorn said, “because it will transform the west side.”

One of the Riverwalk’s most popular events by far is Riverfest, which is expected to attract more than 20,000 people.

Most of the festivities this weekend are free, though some, such as the paddleboard races, require $50 registration at thetampariverwalk.com. Parking is available at multiple garages and lots within a few blocks of the event, and the TECO Streetcar has a free shuttle every 15 minutes from Ybor City. See tecolinestreetcar.org for a map and times. Here’s a schedule of events.

Friday, May 3

Live music: 5-10 p.m.

Beer tents, food trucks: 5-10 p.m.

Taste of the Riverwalk (sampling wristbands $20-$25): 5:30-9 p.m.

Hot air balloon glow (weather permitting): 8:30-10 p.m.

Saturday, May 4

Curtis Hixon Park

• Live music: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wiener Dog Derby: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Beer tents, food trucks: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Taco Fest (sampling wristbands $20-$25): 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
• Hot air balloon glow (weather permitting): 8:30-9 p.m.
• Arrested Development concert: 8:30-10 p.m.

Water Works Park

• Urban Kai paddle invasion and races: 8:30 and 8:45 a.m.
• Yoga on the lawn (Armature Works): 9:30-10:30 a.m. (donation based)
• Tampa Bay Pride Band Spring Concert: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• Beer tents, food trucks: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
• Riverfest Market: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Water ski show: 4-5 p.m.
• Lantern workshops ($20-$25 for lantern kit): 6-8 p.m.
• Riverfest Lantern Parade: 8:30 p.m.