The Gasparilla Festival of the Arts closes its weekend on a seven-hour Sunday. The fair runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2027, at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in downtown Tampa. Admission is free. Seven hours covers the art. A bag, a change of clothes and an evening flight need a room.
The Sunday hours, as the organiser publishes them
Two pages of gasparillaarts.com carry the 2027 edition. About the Festival reads Saturday, March 6, 2027, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, March 7, 2027, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It puts estimated attendance at 30,000.
Overview for Artists repeats both clocks and adds the venue line: Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, Tampa, FL.
Event Overview still serves the previous edition, with February 28 and March 1, 2026 on the same hours under the label 55th Annual. Take the hours from the two pages carrying 2027.
What fills the seven hours
The home page counts 250+ artists under a February 28 to March 1, 2026 banner. Overview for Artists describes hundreds of artists from around the country and abroad showing to 25,000+ art enthusiasts. The mediums listed: ceramic, digital, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood.
Prize money is up to $92,000 on the About page. Event Overview puts it at nearly $100,000 in prize money and scholarships, including the $15,000 Raymond James Best of Show Award.
The free shuttle, and the fifteen-dollar lot
The Parking and Transportation page runs free shuttles Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Three stops: the northwest corner of Poe Garage at Cass and Gasparilla Plaza, E. Twiggs St. and Ashley Dr. at the Rivergate Tower Garage, and the park stop at 1001 N. Boulevard.
Poe Garage carries a flat pre-paid event rate of $10, set by the City of Tampa. Rivergate Tower publishes no rate.
Blake High School sells parking at $15 just north of the park, and the proceeds go to the Blake High School Booster Club. Free street parking sits west of the park. Accessible tags use the North and South Lots on a first-come, first-served basis.
Walkable options on the page: Doyle Carlton Dr. street parking at 0.2 miles and about five minutes, the Barrymore Hotel at 0.3 miles and seven minutes, and the Royal Street Regional Lot at 0.5 miles and ten minutes.
The Pirate Water Taxi stops at Curtis Hixon Park and just north of the park, 0.2 miles from the Ft. Brooke Garage. Schedules and rates sit on piratewatertaxi.com. DASH costs $2 a person. Bike valet is free at the tennis courts.
The last Sunday shuttle leaves at 6 p.m., an hour after the fair closes.
Day rooms, priced on the 22 October 2026 read
The dayuse.com Tampa page returned 13 priced cards on this read. Three sit downtown. Each figure below is the day rate plus the booking fee. The page states no average day-room price.
Aloft Tampa Downtown: $116 all in, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 0.6 straight-line miles from the park. Le Meridien Tampa, The Courthouse: $138, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., 0.6 miles. Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown: $148, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 0.5 miles. The Westin Tampa Waterside: $138, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1.3 miles, filed under Southeast Tampa on the page.
Nightly rates on the same cards read $250, $305, $240 and $330.
Which window fits a Sunday departure
Aloft and The Westin close at 4 p.m., an hour before the fair. Hotel Flor runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and holds the whole Sunday. The Le Meridien 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. window covers the last three hours of the fair and a shower before an evening flight.
Arrive on the 9 a.m. shuttle and no downtown room is open. No downtown card in the set opens before 10 a.m.
The eight a.m. cards
Five cards open at 8 a.m. and none is downtown: Quality Inn and Conference Center Tampa-Brandon at $66, Quality Inn and Suites Tampa near Fairgrounds and Casino at $71, Clarion Pointe Tampa-Brandon Near Fairgrounds and Casino at $71, Sleep Inn near Busch Gardens at $100, and TownePlace Suites Tampa Westshore/Airport at $139. Each figure includes the booking fee.
Florida and the booking path
hotelSlots.org publishes its limit in the FAQ on its home page: A few states (FL, HI, IA, WA) restrict day-use bookings under state travel laws. Its Florida directory page answers 404 with a two-byte body, and so does its Tampa page.
The windows and fees above come from the Dayuse Tampa page. Confirm Hillsborough County availability with the property before the trip.
What to book for the art Sunday
Land before 9 a.m. and the free shuttle from Poe Garage reaches the park at the open. Hotel Flor at $148 covers 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the only downtown window that holds the whole fair.
Arrive at midday and stay for dinner, and the Le Meridien window at $138 runs three hours past the close.
Leave on the 6 p.m. shuttle and either window finishes before it. Leave on a late flight and 8 p.m. is the latest downtown hour in the set.
