Downtown Panama City's Fall Runs Up Harrison Avenue and Back Down to the Water

Starting October 1, the Downtown Improvement Board's Saturday farmers market moves from the 200 and 300 blocks of Harrison Avenue back to the 400 and 500 blocks. It will run 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. there through December 31. That puts the market's first October Saturday, October 3, at the City Hall end of the street. Meanwhile the Thursday concerts are still playing at the bottom of Harrison by the bay. Over the next three months, downtown's calendar moves along that one street, block by block. In December it comes back to 1 Harrison Avenue, around the same time crews are expected to start building the first new marina slips.

So the address tells you more than the date. Downtown's fall events all sit on one north-south line. Which end of the line is busy changes from week to week.

October starts at the bottom of the street

The southern end gets the first night of October. Bay Arts Alliance's free BackStage Pass series runs Thursdays at 7 p.m. on the Marina Lawn, between Hotel Indigo and Harrison's Kitchen & Bar. Organizers suggest bringing your own chair or blanket. Destination Panama City lists the lawn at 7 Harrison Ave. Four shows remain:

• October 1: Gage Cowart Band
• October 8: J and the Causeways
• October 15: Goodbye to Sunshine
• October 22: Cat Ridgeway and the Tourists

The lawn is still open grass today, and it won't be the main attraction at this end of town for long. On August 25, Panama City commissioners gave Art Marine, LLC the phase-one contract for the first 50 wet slips in the downtown marina's western basin. WJHG reported that the slips will go in the basin closest to Hotel Indigo and Harrison's, with electric, water and sewer hookups. Construction is expected to begin by December. To pay for them, Joe PC LLC, the St. Joe Company entity that operates Hotel Indigo and Harrison's, offered to prepay up to $5 million in future rent interest-free. That avoids drawing on the city's $150 million Truist Bank "Hurricane Loan." The approval started a 60-day window to negotiate a contract for St. Joe to manage the slips for up to five years.

So this season's concerts are on a waterfront that's about to change. They play next to the basin the city has already contracted to rebuild.

The middle of October moves inland

Once the market shifts north, Saturday mornings center on the 400 and 500 blocks. The commission approved the rotation on March 10. The city has followed it so far. A city alert put the July 4 market on the 200 and 300 blocks, matching the summer phase. The schedule can also be suspended for big events. The city canceled the market on September 26 because Oktoberfest closed Harrison Avenue from West Beach Drive to 5th Street that day.

Several of this year's new businesses are on the blocks the market now covers:

• Grace O'Malley's Irish Tavern, 461 Harrison Ave., in the former House of Henry space. Florida business records show the LLC was established July 1, 2026. Panhandle Fork describes Irish pub food with a twist, a pirate-queen theme, rotating live bands, and Late Night Laughs comedy nights with Coastal Comedy Krew. In August the tavern was promoting karaoke every Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Its schedule is still settling, so check its current listings before you go.
• Tracy's Fine Jewelry and Gifts, 638 Harrison Ave., Suite 100, which opened May 1, 2026.
• Panama City Coffee Company, which held its downtown grand opening in January 2026. A News Herald preview from before the opening gave the address as 809 Harrison Ave.

The street itself is newly finished. The $15 million streetscape project ran from the downtown marina to Sixth Street, and Harrison fully reopened in November 2025. It brought wider sidewalks, new crosswalks, landscaping, and new water, sewer and stormwater lines underneath. But other downtown roadwork kept going into 2026. In March, WJHG reported detours across downtown and business owners asking customers to keep coming.

One Thursday puts three events within a few blocks

October 15 is the busiest night of the fall downtown, and it happens within a few blocks of the 400 and 500 blocks.

Fright Nights runs 6 to 9 p.m. on two stretches, October 15 to 17 and October 22 to 25. That makes October 22 a second double-booked Thursday. The last BackStage Pass show at the water starts an hour after Fright Nights opens at the Center for the Arts.

November stays in the core

In November the events stay among the downtown blocks instead of at either end. The Panama City Songwriters Festival runs November 6 and 7, from 6:30 p.m. on the 6th to 10 p.m. on the 7th. Its venues are within walking distance of one another downtown, and the listing gives 409 Harrison Ave. as the address. On November 12, the Center for the Arts holds a 5 to 7 p.m. opening reception for its ArtCityPC Local Artist Expo in the Main Gallery.

The Saturday market runs on the 400 and 500 blocks all month, so November weekends stay concentrated near City Hall.

December goes back to 1 Harrison Avenue

The holiday events start back at the marina. This year's Panama City Christmas Parade has a "Christmas Movies" theme and starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. Entries stage at the Downtown Panama City Marina, 1 Harrison Ave. The parade then travels north up Harrison through the historic district and ends at Tommy Oliver Stadium, at Harrison Avenue and 13th Street. Registration for nonprofits, walking groups, floats and vehicles runs through November 15. In one evening, the parade covers the whole stretch of street the season has moved along since October.

A week later the events move onto the bay itself. The 40th annual Boat Parade of Lights is Saturday, December 12. The Holiday Village at the Panama City Marina runs 4 to 7 p.m. with holiday vendors, music and a visit from Santa. A drone show over the marina starts at 5 p.m. The boats run 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., leaving St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club and heading west past downtown, the Panama City Marina, West Beach Drive, the St. Andrews Marina and Sun Harbor Marina to the Hathaway Bridge. Organizers list the marina, the shoreline and waterfront restaurants as viewing spots.

The marina will host both December events in the same month construction on the first wet slips is expected to start. The city hasn't said how the work will affect the holiday events.

What's announced for downtown but still in the future

Several downtown projects are moving forward but aren't open or finished:

1. The marina uplands. In an August 17 memo, the city still listed the promenade extension, utilities, parking and supporting infrastructure as planned work. It estimated upland utilities and the promenade expansion at about $3.18 million. WMBB reported that the city still needed a separate funding decision for the upland utilities. The parks, amphitheater, playgrounds, pavilions, event building and commercial buildings shown in the April renderings were planning concepts, and no commercial tenants had been named.
2. The fuel dock. The marina fuel dock reopened in March 2025. According to the city's April 2026 progress report, it closed permanently four months later because revenue didn't cover operating costs.
3. The Martin Theatre site. It's under construction as a three-building cultural and entertainment complex with a 488-seat theater, the Tennessee House banquet facility and the Ritz bar. Completion is forecast for September 2027.
4. Dat Cajun Pearl. This New Orleans-style fine dining restaurant is coming to the historic Mashburn Building, and the owner projects a spring 2027 opening. A rooftop bar is still being explored.

None of these projects changes this fall's calendar. Next year, though, the Martin Theatre and the Mashburn Building will add two more destinations in the downtown core, and the marina end will have new slips.

Downtown property values depend on which block a home is near and how that block is changing, from the slips going into the western basin to the theater rising on Harrison. If you're thinking about what those projects mean for a home near downtown, the team at Think Real Estate follows each block of Harrison as it changes and is glad to talk it through. Contact a Local Expert.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.