Every Monday from 7 to 9 p.m., local DJs set up on the St. Pete Pier for Movement Mondays. It's a free, weekly, sober, family-friendly night of music, flow arts and dance that has run since July 2023. It's the most frequent event on the Pier's calendar. It is also part of a larger pattern. Most of the Pier's free programming repeats on fixed days of the week, and the 2026 holiday events land on that same grid. Once you know the grid, the busiest waterfront nights of the season are easy to spot weeks in advance.
The Free Calendar Repeats Every Month
The Pier's calendar for November and December shows six free series. Each one is tied to a weekday and a week of the month.
| Series | When it repeats | Time | Next dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Movement Mondays | Every Monday | 7 to 9 p.m. | Nov. 16, 23, 30; Dec. 7, 14, 21, 28 |
| Sunset Yoga with The Body Electric | First Wednesday | 7 to 8 p.m. | Dec. 2 |
| Pilates on the Pier with Rare Body Pilates | Second Wednesday, Family Park | 6 to 7 p.m. | Dec. 9 |
| F45 Training Bootcamp | First Friday, Family Park | 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. | Dec. 4 |
| Flicks & Food Trucks | Third Friday or Thursday | 6 to 8 p.m. | Nov. 19, Dec. 18 |
| Barre with Freebird Fitness | Last Saturday | 8:30 to 10 a.m. | Nov. 28, Dec. 26 |
Sunset Yoga with The Body Electric describes its class as practiced "as the sun sets over downtown St. Pete," with plenty of modifications offered. Freebird's barre session is a free 45-minute mat class, so bring a yoga mat, a towel and water. November's Flicks & Food Trucks lands on Thursday, Nov. 19, with La La Land. December's falls on Friday, Dec. 18, with Home Alone, free at Family Park.
Every holiday event this season lands on or between these dates.
This Weekend, Spa Beach Takes Over
The first big break from the routine starts Friday, Nov. 13. Florida Fin Fest runs Friday, Nov. 13, through Sunday, Nov. 15, at Spa Beach. Friday and Saturday require tickets, and kids 12 and under get in free with a paying guardian. Sunday is a free Family Fun Day. The festival centers on ocean conservation and education, and its St. Pete lineups have included Grammy-nominated artists like Moon Taxi, John Oates and Flipturn.
Visit St. Pete-Clearwater's event listing names this year's Friday performers as Fitz and The Tantrums, Plain White T's, Vundabar, Beach Weather, Hotel Fiction, Dani Rucker and Rohna. Saturday brings Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, Sun Room, Bay Ledges, Evening Elephants, Tounds, Shevonne & The Force, Speak Easy and The Annie Dukes. Ticket tiers range from general admission to Premium VIP, and prices vary by day, so check the Fin Fest site before you buy.
The following week brings a quieter local tradition. On Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the St. Petersburg Museum of History throws its Two-Headed Calf Festival for Half & Half's 101st birthday, with free admission all day. The festival's address is 335 2nd Ave. NE. Activities and a scavenger hunt start at 10 a.m., the petting zoo runs 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a live mermaid appears from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., cake is at noon and the raffle is at 1:30 p.m. The museum notes that the schedule may change.
Nov. 28 Opens the Season on a Barre Saturday
The city's holiday season begins on the last Saturday of November, which is also Freebird's barre morning. The day starts on the Pier at 8:30 a.m. with a mat class. That evening at 6:30, the 98th Annual Santa Parade & Tree Lighting begins at Albert Whitted Park, and the tree lighting at North Straub Park follows the parade.
The holiday lights go up the same day. From Nov. 28 through Jan. 1, the city decorates North Straub Park, South Straub Park, Pioneer Park and the St. Pete Pier. That makes the Pier the northern end of a lit waterfront walk that starts down at Albert Whitted for parade night. Any Monday from Nov. 30 on, Movement Mondays takes place under those lights.
The first week of December keeps both calendars running side by side. Sunset Yoga is Wednesday, Dec. 2, and the F45 bootcamp is Friday, Dec. 4. On Saturday, Dec. 5, the city holds Snowfest at North Straub Park from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening it screens Christmas with the Kranks for free at Huggins-Stengel Field, with holiday activities starting at 6:30 p.m. and the movie at 7.
Dec. 12 Is the Night Everything Overlaps
Putt the Pier: Holiday Edition has a soft opening Thursday, Dec. 10, from 5 to 9 p.m., and a grand opening Friday, Dec. 11, from 5 to 10 p.m. The course sits at Nature's Walkway and includes holiday-themed obstacles, Christmas music, lights, a 6-foot Ferris wheel and overwater views. Tickets are $13 plus taxes and fees, and kids 3 and under play free with a paying adult. Tickets are limited per time slot, so reserving online is the only way to guarantee a tee time.
The next day, Saturday, Dec. 12, is the busiest night on the waterfront all season. Here is how the day stacks up:
- 11 a.m. Putt the Pier opens for its first full Saturday and runs until 10 p.m.
- 6 p.m. Meet Santa in the Park begins at North Straub Park and runs until 9 p.m. It returns Sunday, Dec. 13, and nightly Dec. 18 through 23.
- 6:30 p.m. The Downtown St. Pete Lighted Christmas Boat Parade leaves the St. Pete Municipal Marina. Admission is free, and viewing spots include the Pier, the Vinoy yacht basin, North Shore Park and Flora Wylie Park.
- 6:30 p.m. Holiday activities start at Vinoy Park before a free 7 p.m. screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The boat parade and the Vinoy Park movie start within half an hour of each other, a short walk apart along the same stretch of water. Pier Dolphin Cruises, one of the parade sponsors, posts parade updates on its Facebook and Instagram pages.
The following week, the grid takes over again. Pilates on the Pier on Wednesday, Dec. 9, comes before all of this. Then Friday, Dec. 18, brings Home Alone at Family Park, Putt the Pier until 10 p.m. and Santa at North Straub, all on the same evening. The year's last barre class is Saturday, Dec. 26, and the last Movement Mondays of 2026 fall on Dec. 21 and Dec. 28.
New Year's Eve closes out the year. NYE on the Pier runs from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and general entry is free. New this year is a kids' rave from 8 to 9 p.m., followed by kids' fireworks at 9. Putt the Pier stays open until midnight that night and keeps running through Sunday, Jan. 3.
Event Hours and Transit Hours Don't Match on Every Date
The parking rates follow the same weekday split. Pier lot rates change at 5 p.m. Friday, which is right when the holiday crowds start arriving. In the Dolphin and Pelican lots, weekday rates run from Monday at midnight to Friday at 5 p.m.: $2 an hour for the first four hours, $3 for hour five and $4 for hour six, capped at $15. Weekend rates run from Friday at 5 p.m. through Sunday: $2.50 an hour for the first four hours, then $3.50 and $4.50, capped at $18. Both lots have a six-hour maximum. Lot enforcement runs around the clock. That means Home Alone on Dec. 18 and Putt the Pier's Friday nights are all billed at the weekend rate.
Street meters near the Pier cost $2.50 an hour for the first three hours and $5 for the fourth, capped at $12.50. They are enforced daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Pier has more than 500 spaces, six EV charging stations and bike parking. Overflow parking is at Sundial Garage and the Al Lang Lot. On boat parade night, free street parking and some lot parking are available near North Shore Park and Vinoy Park.
The free Downtown Looper runs every 15 to 20 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. It does not run on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. Putt the Pier is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Christmas Day, so anyone heading to the Pier on Dec. 25 will need to drive, bike or walk. The Looper's 10 p.m. finish also comes before the end of NYE on the Pier and Putt the Pier's midnight close on New Year's Eve.
The Central Avenue Trolley, PSTA's free route between Grand Central Station and the Pier, is running on a detour. PSTA's Looper page says that since Aug. 16, 2026, and "until further notice," Central Avenue and Beach Boulevard to Bayshore are blocked for sewer work and directs riders to Central Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets. One more change for families: the Pier's site lists the Majeed Foundation Splash Pad as temporarily closed.
If you're planning a holiday visit for out-of-town family, or you'd like help working out which Saturdays will be busiest near your part of the waterfront, KT Tershowski knows St. Pete's calendar as well as its streets and is glad to help you plan. Let's Connect.
