The two days the festival publishes
The 57th Annual Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts runs Saturday, March 6, 2027 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 7, 2027 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The About the Festival page prints those clocks, the Overview for Artists page repeats them, and the volunteer page gives the address as 1001 North Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607.
The same block publishes free admission, an estimated attendance of 30,000 and prize money of up to $92,000. The Overview for Artists page puts the award count at up to 40 awards, with 30 Awards of Merit at $1,300 each.
The home page runs the prior cycle: February 28 to March 1, 2026, with 250+ artists.
What the price list covers
Admission costs nothing on either day. Three published charges sit on the parking page: $15 at Blake High School, a $10 flat pre-paid event rate at Poe Garage, and $2 per person on DASH.
The Blake lot sits just north of the park, and the page states that all proceeds support the Blake High School Booster Club. It prints $15 without a period attached, so a second day is a question for the lot.
The Poe Garage line names its authority. The page reads that the flat rate for pre-paid event parking in the Poe Garage is set at $10 by the City of Tampa.
The gap between the two published lot charges is $5.00. The $10 side carries a free shuttle stop at Cass Street and Gasparilla Plaza.
DASH at two dollars a person
DASH is the downtown hub-to-hub service. Rides are requested through an app and priced at $2 per person. A party of two pays $4.00. A party of five pays $10.00, which matches the Poe Garage charge. A party of eight pays $16.00, which sits $1.00 above the Blake lot.
The fare scales with the party. The lot and garage charges stay flat.
The shuttles and the published walks
Shuttles run Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the page heads the block Free Shuttles. Three stops are listed: the Poe Garage, the Rivergate Tower Garage at E. Twiggs St. and Ashley Dr., and a park stop at 1001 N. Boulevard along the southwest boundary.
Three walks carry distances. Doyle Carlton Drive sits .2 miles out at about a 5 minute walk. The Barrymore Hotel sits .3 miles out at about 7 minutes. The Royal Street Regional Lot sits .5 miles out at about 10 minutes. Free street parking runs west of the park, and accessible parking sits in the North and South Lots on a first-come basis.
The page disclaims responsibility for the pricing each garage and lot charges. Two of the three garage names carry no figure.
The one hotel the festival names
The Barrymore Hotel appears twice on the site: under walkable parking at .3 miles and about a 7 minute walk from the gate, and in the 2026 winners list as the Barrymore Hotel Award of Merit at $1,300.
The festival pages read here carry no room rate, no room block, no nightly figure and no discount code. The Overview for Artists page tells participating artists that logistical information will be e-mailed closer to the festival.
The nights the weekend needs
A stay that holds the room through Sunday runs Friday March 5 to Monday March 8, three nights. A Friday to Sunday stay runs two nights and releases the room on the Sunday morning.
The volunteer page adds an earlier window. It states that some volunteer activities take place on March 4 and 5, the days preceding the festival, and that some run outside the hours the event is open to the public. March 4, 2027 is a Thursday and March 5 is a Friday, so a Thursday arrival covers the full run.
The VIP ladder runs a cycle behind
The ticketed product publishes a full ladder for 2026: $125 for early bird through December 31, 2025, $150 from January 1 to February 27, 2026, and $175 for festival weekend. Each pass covers both days and includes the awards presentation at 6:30 and the showcase at 7:30. No 2027 VIP price appears on that page.
Where the request goes
Florida sits on the restricted list at hotelhaggle.org. The seller-of-travel page, last updated October 22, 2026, records that the company is not registered as a Florida Seller of Travel under Chapter 559, Florida Statutes. The notice covers requests from residents of, or for travel to, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington. The same page lists grouprooms.org, hotelhaggle.org, hotelslots.org, bookmyteam.org and partners.hotelhuddle.com.
A Tampa buyer sends the request straight to the property. Questions on the rule go to compliance@hotelhuddle.com.
The record to hold
Four figures are published and dated for the 2027 weekend: free admission, a 30,000 attendance estimate, up to $92,000 in prize money and a $10 flat pre-paid garage rate set by the City of Tampa. From October 22, 2026 the Saturday sits 135 days out.
Ask a downtown property what two nights from Friday March 5, 2027 cost with the room held through Sunday, ask for the parking charge as a separate line, and ask for the cancellation date in writing. The festival publishes the gate price and the garage price. The room price comes from the property.
