This Week in Tampa Bay: Comic Con, Chance the Rapper, and a Labor Day Weekend Worth Leaving the House For (September 2-8, 2026)

This Week in Tampa Bay: Comic Con, Chance the Rapper, and a Labor Day Weekend Worth Leaving the House For (September 2-8, 2026)

Labor Day weekend lands smack in the middle of this week, and Tampa Bay is not treating it like a long weekend to sleep through. Concerts, comic books, rodeos, adult science nights, and a few options for people who just want to be outside without a plan. Here's what's worth knowing.

Tampa Bay Comic Con (September 4-6) | Tampa Convention Center

The fall edition of Tampa Bay Comic Con runs Friday through Sunday at the Tampa Convention Center. Tickets are $30 and cover all three days of celebrity guests, vendor tables, cosplay contests, and gaming. Sunday features the Kids Market, where young entrepreneurs set up their own tables and sell their own stuff, which tends to be one of the more genuinely fun things to walk through.

If you're going, go early. The floor gets crowded by mid-afternoon on Saturday and parking in the convention district is what it is.

Chance the Rapper (Saturday, September 5) | The Ritz Ybor

This one is the headline of the weekend. Chance the Rapper plays The Ritz Ybor on Saturday night at 6:00 PM. The Ritz is an intimate venue for an artist this size, which is either exciting or a logistical headache depending on your tolerance for packed floors. Worth it either way.

Ybor on a Saturday night around a show like this is not a quiet scene. Plan for it or build in some time before doors.

Tampa Bay Rodeo & Family Festival (September 4-5) | Hillsborough County Fairgrounds

The first fall edition of the Tampa Bay Rodeo runs both Friday and Saturday at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds. $25 to get in. It's a genuine rodeo, not a fair with a roping ring in the corner. Good option if you've got kids or just want something completely different from a bar or a concert hall.

Science After Dark (Friday, September 4) | MOSI

MOSI hosts Science After Dark on Friday from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. $40 per person. Adults-only, food samples included, and you get to wander the museum when it's not full of field trip groups. If you haven't been to MOSI as an adult, it hits differently.

Emo Night Brooklyn (Friday, September 4) | Orpheum Tampa

Emo Night Brooklyn comes to Orpheum on Friday at 8:00 PM. DJ set, dancing, the whole My Chemical Romance-to-Paramore catalog, people in band shirts they've had since 2007. Tickets are around $23. Low commitment, high entertainment value.

Labor Day Weekend Pool Parties and Rooftop Events (Saturday-Monday)

If your version of a holiday weekend is a pool or a rooftop, there's no shortage this year.

The Labor Day Rooftop Party on Saturday goes from 7:00 to 11:00 PM, white attire, live DJ, cocktails. TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete runs their Red, White, and Boozy Labor Day Party all day Sunday at the Cabana Bar. Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel has a 21+ daytime pool experience on Sunday from noon to 5:00 PM ($100). Lower Deck hosts a free singles party Saturday night starting at 9:00 PM.

None of these require much planning. Pick one or don't, that's sort of the point of Labor Day.

A Few Other Things on the Calendar

The Tampa Bay Rowdies host Brooklyn FC on Saturday at 7:30 PM if soccer is your thing. Comedian Marcus D. Wiley (viral special "Marriage Is Major Surgery") runs at Funny Bone Friday and Saturday. April Macie is at Side Splitters Thursday through Saturday with multiple sets each night. The Tampa Tarpons are wrapping up their home series against the Dunedin Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field Wednesday and Thursday.

The Soft Pitch

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Enjoy the weekend.

On Point

Web design, SEO & AI chatbots for local businesses in Pinellas & Pasco County, FL.