Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg: Hours, Rentals and Parking

Vinoy Park opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes at 11 p.m., but an undated city notice, still posted on October 15, 2026, says a portion of the park is closed during an improvement project that will last several weeks.

The City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation Department lists the park at Bayshore Dr. NE and 5th Ave. NE, with a street address of 701 Bayshore Dr. NE in ZIP code 33701 (City of St. Petersburg, Downtown Waterfront Parks). The park page posts the closure notice under a PARK UPDATE heading: Vinoy Park is undergoing a large park improvement project, and a portion of the park is closed while the work runs (City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, Vinoy Park). The notice gives no start date, no end date and no description of the work, so the administrative office at 727-893-7441 is the place to confirm which part of Vinoy Park is open on a given day.

The 11 p.m. closing is later than the citywide norm. The Parks and Recreation rentals page says most City of St. Petersburg parks are available from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, depending on location and event (City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, Parks and Preserves Rentals). Vinoy Park and North Shore Park both post the later 11 p.m. closing on their city park pages (City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, North Shore Park).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation website.

Vinoy Park is a bayfront park with scenic views and a waterfront recreation trail, named for the Vinoy Park Hotel that once stood beside it.

The city lists only two features for Vinoy Park: scenic views and recreation trails, which carry walkers, runners and bikers along the water (Vinoy Park). There is no playground, pool, shelter or sports court on the Vinoy Park listing, a contrast with North Shore Park to the north, which the same department tags with a pool, a dog park, a sports complex and restrooms (Downtown Waterfront Parks). Visitors who need restrooms or a playground plan around that difference.

Vinoy Park sits in a chain of city parks along Bayshore Drive and North Shore Drive. The city list of Downtown Waterfront Parks gives North Straub Park at 400 Bayshore Dr. NE, South Straub Park at 198 Bayshore Dr. NE and Spa Beach Park at 615 2nd Ave. NE, plus the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum at North Shore Dr. and 11th Ave. NE, Elva Rouse Park and Flora Wylie Park at 13th Ave. NE and North Shore Dr., and North Shore Park at 901 North Shore Dr. NE (Downtown Waterfront Parks). Every one of those parks, like Vinoy Park, carries a Recreational Trail tag on that list.

Vinoy Park is booked through City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, which requires the application at least 15 calendar days and no more than six months before the event (Parks and Preserves Rentals).

The city calls Vinoy Park a popular place to rent for festivals, concerts and sporting events (Vinoy Park). The department posts one rate card for a Park Permit Reservation, shown below; the page does not list a separate Vinoy Park price, and all fees are subject to state and local taxes, with added fees for holiday dates.

Additional Services are required once a St. Petersburg park rental has more than 50 people in attendance, use of electricity, use of an inflatable, use of a generator or other equipment (Parks and Preserves Rentals). Events open to the public may need insurance, Risk Management approval and police services arranged through the St. Petersburg Police Department. Admission charges, alcohol and vending are cleared through the city special events office at 727-892-5197 or 727-892-5018, or [email protected].

Fitness businesses need their own paperwork on the Vinoy Park lawn: City Code Section 21-34 bars selling goods or services in a city park without a permit, and the city says that covers a boot camp or training program, which needs a Private Instruction in the Park Permit (Parks and Preserves Rentals). Holiday rentals are booked by phone at 727-893-7441, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Vinoy Park anchors the north end of the St. Pete Pride parade route, which in June 2026 ran from Albert Whitted Park north along Bayshore Drive to Vinoy Park (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 St. Pete Pride Weekend guide).

The city guide to the 2026 Pride weekend set the schedule: the Trans March stepped off from Vinoy Park at 5:15 p.m., followed by the St. Pete Pride Parade at 6 p.m. Bayshore Drive from Albert Whitted Park north to 5th Ave. NE closed for staging at 1 p.m. and stayed closed through the end of the parade (2026 St. Pete Pride Weekend guide). For getting in and out, the city called North Straub Park and Vinoy Park ideal rideshare drop-off and pick-up spots, since the parade route itself was closed to traffic.

Outside Pride, the city calls Vinoy Park a popular place to rent for festivals, concerts and sporting events (Vinoy Park). The city says St. Petersburg hosts more than 1,000 annual downtown events, many with a free shuttle on the St. Petersburg Trolley between parking and event sites (City of St. Petersburg, Parking Information).

On-street meters in St. Petersburg cost $1 to $1.50 per hour, per the city parking page, and the free PSTA Downtown Looper stops at the corner of 5th Avenue Northeast and Beach Drive East (City of St. Petersburg, Parking Information; PSTA, Downtown Looper).

Downtown St. Petersburg meters take a credit card, coins or the ParkMobile app, and enforcement days and hours vary from meter to meter, and the city says to check the meter for enforcement hours and days (Parking Information). Registered ParkMobile users can also pay by calling toll free 1-877-727-5714. The city says its downtown garages and lots offer daily, monthly and special event parking.

The Downtown Looper is run by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and is free to ride, seven days a week (PSTA, Downtown Looper). PSTA lists service from 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on weekends, until 10:00 p.m. every day, with a bus every 15 to 20 minutes. Its counterclockwise timetable includes a stop at 5th Ave. NE and Beach Dr. E., and the route also serves the Dali Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts and the St. Pete Pier, according to PSTA. The Looper stops running at 10 p.m., an hour before Vinoy Park closes.

Two things are changing around Vinoy Park: the current city improvement project on the park itself, and the long-range Downtown Waterfront Master Plan that governs the whole St. Petersburg bayfront (City of St. Petersburg, Downtown Waterfront Master Plan Review and Update).

The master plan was adopted on June 4, 2015, and City Code Section 16.08.060 requires a review and update at least every seven years. The plan splits the public waterfront into six Character Districts running from Coffee Pot Park on the north end to Lassing Park on the south end, and it rests on five Dimensions of the Waterfront. The 2022 review went to City Council for public hearings on May 19, 2022 and June 2, 2022 (Downtown Waterfront Master Plan Review and Update).

Two cautions on the official pages as checked on October 15, 2026. The Vinoy Park closure notice carries no date, so it is unclear when the several weeks began; the page refers questions to 727-893-7441. And the two city pages differ on the address: the Vinoy Park page gives only a street corner, Bayshore Dr. NE and 5th Ave. NE, while the downtown waterfront list gives 701 Bayshore Dr. NE (Downtown Waterfront Parks).