Economy

Largest employers

According to the City of St. Petersburg, Florida's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:^[105]

#	Employer	# of Employees	Industry
1	Raymond James	3,200	Investment
2	Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital	3,200	Healthcare
3	Home Shopping Network	2,200	Retail
4	Fidelity National Information Services	1,900	Financial Sector
5	Publix Super Markets	1,900	Retail
6	St. Anthony's Hospital	1,800	Healthcare
7	Bayfront Medical	1,600	Healthcare
8	Bright House Networks	1,600	Communications
9	Jabil Circuit	1,500	Electronics Manufacturing Services
10	Transamerica Life Insurance	1,200	Insurance

Arts and culture

The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with the then named Progress Energy Field in 2012

Events

One of the first of many major events of the year that takes place is the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, which is held in the month of January.^[106][107] The parade hosts many bands facing off in a Battle of the Bands, Drum Line Extravaganzas that has been duplicated throughout other cities.^[108] In March the city hosts the annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The annual Grand Prix is located in downtown St. Petersburg and is the first round of the IndyCar Series.^[109] The downtown race usually lasts three days with practice rounds, qualifications, and two main races.^[110]
Bluesfest is the earliest event which is hosted in the Vinoy Park.^[111] Bluesfest hosts multiple live blues artists, views of the Tampa Bay waters from the park, and providing drinks and free food.^[112][113] One of the many art festivals, called the Mainsail Art Festival, is free entry art exhibition which takes place at the Vinoy Park, which provides people quality art that they can purchase from local artists. The art festival also provides live music, awards, and food courts.^[114][115] The triathlon event which takes place downtown is hosted by St. Anthony's Hospital which involves a 1.5k swim through Tampa Bay, a 40k bike along the waterways, and a 10k run through the neighborhoods and onlooking spectators.^[116][117] One of the last major events is the Green Thumb Festival, a special event originating in 1986 to promote tree beautification and planting in the city of St. Petersburg which is currently located in Walter Fuller Park.^[118][119]
A major event that takes place in June is the St. Pete Pride weekend. During this weekend, the LGBT community and supporters come to celebrate in the streets with festivals, 27/82 concert, LGBT pride parade, pride in fashion, and so much more.^[120][121] The St. Pete Pride weekend also hosts a variety of block parties, food stands, DJ stands, art festivals, local hosted parties, and the LGBT welcoming center.^[122][123] In July, the 4th of July firework celebration invites the citizens to downtown St. Petersburg to watch the fireworks.^[124] In November, one of the last major music and food event hosted in St. Petersburg is the annual Ribfest located at the Vinoy Park.^[125] Ribfest hosts many festivities that include teams of award winning "ribbers" and other "yummies", family fun zones, drinking vendors, and two stages hosting many well known country music artists.^[126]
From the end of November through December begins holiday events. During this time, the city has a tree lighting ceremony to start celebrations. The first event of this holidays is the Santa Parade followed by Snowfest with "glice" skating, toboggan slides, Kiddyland, and other events.^[127] Kids are able to meet Santa and ice skate in the North Straub Park. North and South Straub park are decorated with holiday lights and decorations while the Vinoy Park is decorated with large Greeting cards created by the Recreational Centers in St. Petersburg.^[127] The city hosts an annual NCAA football game in Tropicana Field entitled the St. Petersburg Bowl every year in mid December.^[128] On December 31, St. Petersburg has its last event called the First Night St. Petersburg where people celebrate the arts from venues across the city.^[129]
Around the year, the American Stage in the Park hosts many different shows at the Demens Landing Park.^[130][131] St. Petersburg has also hosted the Miss Florida Pageant eleven consecutive years from 2004 to 2015 until it was moved to Lakeland, Florida.^[132]

Tourism

The Mahaffey Theater is one of St. Petersburg's popular tourism spots

The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations), Museum of Fine Arts, and will soon host the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (expected to open in 2017),^[133] The St. Petersburg Museum of History (which has a full-size replica of the Benoist XIV seaplane and is located near the approximate spot by the St. Petersburg Pier where the first scheduled commercial flight departed),^[134] a Holocaust Museum, and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses the largest collection of Dalí's works outside of Europe, including a number of famous and large-scale paintings such as The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.^[135] The Chihuly Collection, located at 400 Beach Drive, houses some of the magnificent glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly.^[136] There are also various other smaller art galleries and entertainment venues, especially in the downtown area, which has seen a boom in development since the mid-1990s; these include the Mahaffey Theater complex, American Stage (an equity regional theater), The Coliseum, and Palladium Theatre, and the Midtown Royal Theater, The Arts Center, and the Florida Craftsmen Gallery.^[137][138]
The St. Petersburg Pier was a popular tourist attraction, which is now closed since May 2013.^[139] The Bounty, a replica of HMS Bounty that was used in the 1962 Technicolor remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, was permanently docked near the Pier for many years until the ship was sold to Ted Turner in 1986.^[140] The Bounty, however, sometimes visited St. Petersburg for the winter in the following years before its sinking in 2012.^[141] In 2010, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to demolish and rebuild the pier,^[142] which is set to open in 2018.^[143]
The city had a Madame Tussaud Wax Museum between 1963 and 1989.^[144]
Downtown is the location of the Sundial shopping complex which opened in May 2014.^[145] It contains an IMAX Muvico 20-screen movie theater, as well as many chain restaurants and retail shops, catering to more of a middle and upper class audience. The Sundial St. Pete has nightlife destination, although it is less well attended than the block surrounding Jannus Live, just south of Sundial St. Pete. Central Avenue, from the Yacht Club west to 8th Street, is also both more vibrant and "organic" the Sundial St. Pete with the exception of a couple underdeveloped blocks. Restaurants serving ethnic and domestic culinary specialties can be found throughout the downtown area. Every Saturday morning, from October to May, the downtown area hosts a farmers' market in the parking area of Al Lang Stadium (formerly Progress Energy Park). Local vendors sell the fruits of their labors (whether edible or decorative) alongside artists of all kinds including live music.^[146]

Dan Wheldon Way during the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

West of downtown on Central Avenue is the district known as 600 Block Arts District. The district contains art from Bohemian origins and clothing stores.^[147] The eve-N-odd gallery is located in the historic Crislip Arcade built in 1925.^[148] The refurbished shopping arcade is one of 13 original city arcades built in the city. Only three are left and only the Crislip arcade is still being used as a place for small businesses to set up shop.^[149] Further west is the Grand Central District located within Historic Kenwood District. It is known for its artistic community, LGBT presence, and hosting of the annual St. Pete Pride parade.^[150] Haslam's Bookstore can also be found in the Grand Central District. It is the largest independent bookstore in Florida with over 30,000 square feet.^[151] Like its name implies, Old Northeast is adjacent to downtown from the northeast. It is known for its historic status and eclectic architecture.^[152][153] St. Petersburg boasts two historic neighborhoods: Roser Park, located just south of the downtown area, and Grenada Terrace, in the Old Northeast Neighborhood. Both are known for stately architecture and together, comprise the urban core of St. Petersburg.^[154][155]

Williams Park with bandshell, one of the many public greenspaces in the area

North of downtown is the Great Explorations Children's Museum, an interactive museum featuring a Children's Village with giant pretend stores, fire house and pet vet clinic, and preschool, science, music, art, and water exhibits. The museum is located next to Sunken Gardens.^[156] 4th Street as a whole, from Downtown up to Gandy Boulevard, is home to many restaurants and bars running the gamut from fast food to haute cuisine. This area is called the "Garden District", although as of 2010 this name is not widely in use.^[157]
Boyd Hill Nature Park, located on Lake Maggiore, is a 245-acre (0.99 km²) preserve where one can see many of the endangered plants and rare wildlife of Tampa Bay.^[158] There is a bird exhibit which houses bald eagles, owls, hawks, and other species.^[159]
St. Petersburg is well regarded for its beaches. In 2005, Fort De Soto was rated the number one beach in America by the annual Dr. Beach rankings.^[160] TripAdvisor had the beach ranked number one in the nation for 2008.^[161] Also noted for its arts community, St. Petersburg regularly places top 25 in the nation among arts destinations.^[162] St. Petersburg has become known and regarded as one of America's most livable cities.^[16]
The area's main shopping mall is Tyrone Square Mall, constructed in 1972 and is located in the northwestern part of the city.^[163]

Cinema

St. Petersburg has been used as a filming location for films over the years including Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Summer Rental (1985), Cocoon (1985), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Loren Cass (2006), Dolphin Tale (2011), Magic Mike (2012), Spring Breakers (2013), and Dolphin Tale 2 (2014).^[164]