Bloom on Franklin - Pre-Gasparilla Bash - Outdoor Concert + A&E walk
Fri Jan 28, 7:00 PM - Fri Jan 28, 11:00 PM

Bloom on Franklin is a ceremonial art walk that celebrates creative talent through an elevated experience of visual and performing arts along the Franklin Street Corridor in downtown Tampa.

We believe that creativity and innovation determine the success of a community. Bloom on Franklin is built on the foundation of love, unity, and respect.

Music:

Djs:

Wally Clark

Kirtan Music at Gaze Yoga

+ more amazing guests TBA

Art

Closing Reception for Beyond Words at Mergeculture Gallery

Closing Reception for Epoch II - The Anatomy of Her at Cafe Hey

Food:

Red Hat BBQ

Essential Pizza

Cafe Hey

+ Pop Ups

Experiences:

There are many experiences throughout the block, which aren't announced yet, but RSVP for announcments. We got you.

History:

Since the 1940s, when General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil, and other petroleum-based companies conspired to remove the streetcar lines from Tampa, our neighborhoods have been disconnected and fragmented.

Subsequently, after the streetcar was removed, the interstate went right over Tampa’s historic neighborhoods, including the numerous minority-owned homes and businesses once found in these neighborhoods.

As a playbook written by Robert Moses, the infamous master-builder of highways in the State of New York who destroyed thriving neighborhoods in New York City to advance highway development for petroleum-based companies, State Departments of Transportation, including the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), have adopted and continue to deploy the destructive practices he authored for these companies to this day.

Franklin Street was the first paved street in the City of Tampa and historically was designed to be the main artery of the city - as the street is directly connected to the residential portion of the Tampa Heights neighborhood. Holiday decorations lined Franklin street through the 1960s.

The street used to host parades, and community events. The street was lined with Trolley tracks until 1942, when the auto industries lobbied, and paid the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) to remove the tracks (this happened in every city in the U.S.) - as mentioned above. The removal of Transit, in addition to the Inte