The Festival
Booker Creek Arts Festival
Overview
An immersive cultural experience
The inaugural Booker Creek Arts Festival, debuting Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15, 2026, will transform the historic EDGE District in St. Petersburg into a four-day immersive arts experience celebrating creativity, culture, and community. Inspired by Booker Creek, the historic urban stream that winds through downtown St. Petersburg, the festival will feature juried works by hundreds of Florida artists displayed throughout participating venues.
The EDGE District will be transformed into a destination where art, culture, business, and community intersect in dynamic and unexpected ways.
Residents, tourists, collectors, and families will experience the EDGE District as a walkable living gallery featuring visual art, live mural painting, glass blowing, dance, music and children’s activities woven throughout the district. Artists will compete for up to $50,000 in jury-awarded prizes, among the largest prize purses for an inaugural arts festival in the region, while visitors participate directly by voting for the People’s Choice Award.
The festival is expected to attract cultural travelers from across Florida and beyond, encouraging visitors to experience the broader Pinellas County area as part of a long-weekend arts and cultural getaway. In addition to showcasing artists, the event is designed to support hotels, restaurants, galleries, and independent businesses throughout the district and surrounding community.
Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase original works directly from participating creators. By bringing artists and audiences together throughout the district, the festival aims to inspire creativity, strengthen community connections, and create lasting cultural and economic impact for the region.
Our Namesake
About Booker Creek
The EDGE District, and the greater City of St. Petersburg, owe their history to Booker Creek. Flowing from the NE corner of the EDGE District, Booker Creek is one of the last visible remnants of this area’s earliest origins.
The Creek was the epicenter of our earliest settlements, first by the Tocabaga Indians more than 400 years ago, and then, in the 1880s, by the pioneer settlement building the first railway into this area, the Orange Belt. The railway was built along Booker Creek, and terminated at the SE corner of what is now the EDGE District. From that terminus grew what would eventually become the City of St. Petersburg.
Booker Creek supplied critical natural resources for that development. Lumberyards, livestock barns, and other industries were built along the Creek and relied upon it, as did the City’s first municipal services, such as the first full-time fire station and a power plant.
Today, Booker Creek preservation and beautification measures are at the forefront of the EDGE District’s and City’s master planning. These plans include green space and multimodal pathway development along the Creek through the EDGE District and surrounding neighborhoods.
When
Nov 12–15, 2026
November offers a perfect blend of sunshine, gentle breezes and warm temperatures that make spending time outdoors a pleasure.
Where
The EDGE District runs along St. Pete’s Central Avenue between 9th Street (MLK) and 16th Street, and outward to both 1st Ave North and 1st Ave South.
Explore
St. Petersburg
Enjoy a cultural getaway in the Sunshine City, home to world famous museums and independent galleries.
Getting Here
Parking & access
The EDGE District is compact and walkable, and the festival is designed to be explored on foot from venue to venue. It has trolley stops, SunRunner stations, dedicated bike and sharrow lanes, free 2-hour parking, private paid parking, valet service and drop-off areas.
Plan Your Visit
Important links
For full details on trolleys, the SunRunner, parking, and bike routes, see the EDGE District’s Getting Here guide.
For the Venue Map, click here. The artist-drawn festival map is coming soon.
The District
Explore the EDGE District
Plan Your Visit
Four days of art
Thursday
Nov 12
Schedule coming soon
Friday
Nov 13
Schedule coming soon
Saturday
Nov 14
Schedule coming soon
Sunday
Nov 15
Schedule coming soon
Get in Touch