Tampa Bay Black Heritage Music Fest

Tampa’s Black Heritage Music Fest is set for April 25-26 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, with two days of live music and a vendor marketplace. (tampablackheritage.org) The festival site lists gates opening at 12 p.m. both days at 600 N. Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa. The City of Tampa calendar lists Saturday’s event hours as 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and a $40 starting cost with advance registration required. (tampablackheritage.org) (tampa.gov) Organizers split the weekend by sound. Saturday’s lineup includes Rick James Stone City Band, Tina P & Friends, Trill 6attle, Piarry and Oriol, while Sunday features Althea Rene, Stokley, LeoNell and Teape. (tampablackheritage.org) Beyond the stage, the festival is selling space to food, dessert and merchandise vendors and promoting Black-owned businesses as part of the event footprint. The official site calls the two-day music fest its signature event for “music, food, art and entertainment.” (tampablackheritage.org) (tampa.gov) The event sits inside a larger Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival calendar that also includes business seminars and other community programming. On its website, the organization says those seminars focus on networking, professional development and entrepreneurship in the Black community. (tampablackheritage.org) The group also says the festival has been selected by the Southeast Tourism Society as one of its Top 20 Events six times during its run in Tampa Bay. Visit Tampa Bay lists this year’s music fest as the 26th annual edition. (tampablackheritage.org) (visittampabay.com) That’s So Tampa’s event listing describes the weekend as a mix of R&B, jazz and gospel with a marketplace of local food and artisan goods. For downtown Tampa, the pitch is straightforward: two afternoons and evenings of concerts, vendors and community gathering on the riverfront. (thatssotampa.com)