This Week in Tampa Bay: Scallop Fest, Tarpon Springs Art Festival, and Summer Markets (July 8–14)

This Week in Tampa Bay: Scallop Fest, Tarpon Springs Art Festival, and Summer Markets (July 8–14)

Mid-July, and the calendar isn't slowing down. This week brings the final weekend of the Pasco Scallop & Music Fest, a full two-day art and craft festival at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Rays baseball, a jazz night at the Museum of Fine Arts, and enough weekend markets to fill your Saturday three times over. Here's what's worth getting out of the house for.

Pasco Scallop & Music Festival, Final Weekend (July 11–12)

The festival's been running since July 3, and this is the last call. SunWest Park in New Port Richey wraps up two weekends of live music and coastal seafood along the water. Entry is completely free. Parking is $5 or free with a Pasco County parks pass.

Gates open at 8am and the music goes until 11pm both days. Bring sunscreen and beach chairs. The organizers are quick to note that ticketing scams have been going around, so don't buy anything from third-party sites. It's free. Just show up.

Tarpon Springs Art and Craft Festival (July 11–12)

The Sponge Docks are already worth an afternoon on their own. Add 100-plus artists and crafters from around the region and it becomes a better day than you planned for. Free admission both days. Saturday runs 10am–5pm, Sunday goes 10am–7pm.

Tarpon Springs has a way of making outdoor events feel specific to this part of Florida, and the Sponge Docks set the backdrop for it. If you haven't been in a while, or if you've never taken the drive up US-19, this weekend's a good reason to go.

Art After Dark: Jazz Night at the MFA (Thursday, July 9)

The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete opens after hours Thursday night for live jazz with Fern & Friends. Doors open at 5pm and run until 8pm. Wine and beer are available at Café Clementine, and you get full gallery access while the music plays.

It's a good Thursday. If you've been meaning to see the current exhibitions, this is a better way to do it than a Tuesday afternoon in fluorescent light.

Makers & Shakers Night Market (Thursday, July 9)

Also Thursday: the second-Thursday night market at St. Petersburg Distillery runs 5–9pm, free to attend. Local artisans, food, live music, and distillery tours for the curious. It's an easy add if you're already in St. Pete for the evening, or a reason to head downtown if you're not.

Rays Baseball: Home Series vs. Seattle Mariners

The Rays have the Mariners in for a weekend run. Thursday's game is a day game (1:10pm), and Friday night tips off at 7:10pm. Saturday and Sunday continue the series. Tropicana Field in mid-July sells itself on one thing above everything else: it's air-conditioned.

Weekend Markets Worth Knowing About

Saturday has options across the county.

The Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete is the weekly one that doesn't need much explanation. It's been running rain or shine for years, 9am–1pm, free, with produce, local vendors, food trucks, and the whole spread.

In Dunedin, the Downtown Market at John R. Lawrence Pioneer Park runs 9am–2pm with 50-plus vendors and a dog-friendly setup. Worth pairing with a walk through downtown Dunedin if you've got the time.

Over in Clearwater, The Market Marie at Coachman Park goes 10am–2pm along the waterfront with more than 125 vendors. Coachman Park's location makes this one of the better settings in Pinellas for a Saturday market.

Three solid options, most of them free. That's the thing about Tampa Bay summers: the outdoors gets a lot of credit for being brutal in July, and it is, but the region doesn't shut down. The markets, the festivals, the games. They keep coming.

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