FIRST FRIDAY CAR SHOW
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE JULY 3 CAR SHOW:
The July 3 First Friday Car Show will have an ABBREVIATED FOOTPRINT and LIMITED number of participants. This will be a first come first serve event.
TIME CHANGE: The city of Lakeland will close all Downtown streets in the First Friday footprint at 4pm.
CAR SHOW LOCATION: The First Friday Classy Car Show will stage on N. Tennessee Ave between Main Street and Pine Street. Please see the linked map below.
CAR SHOW ENTRY: Car show cars will enter at Pine and Tennessee ONLY. NO CARS WILL BE ALLOWED IN AFTER 5PM.
CAR SHOW TIMES: Car will begin chevroning at 4pm. Lakeland Police will HARD CLOSE the entry and exit (using LPD vehicles and immovable water filled barricades) to the car show and will not reopen for cars to exit until after the fireworks. (approximately 9:15pm)
CAR SHOW CARS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EXIT THE EVENT AREA UNTIL AFTER 9:15PM.
LINK TO JULY 3 CAR SHOW EVENT MAP AND LOGISTICS.
CHANGES BEGINNING AUGUST 2026 >>
- The CAR SHOW has a dedicated footprint that will not vary from event to event. The CAR SHOW’s footprint is on N. Tennessee Ave from Main to Pine Street, S. Tennessee Ave. from Lemon St. to Main St. The Munn Park parking Lot is NOT part of the Car Show area. PLEASE SEE THE MAP BELOW.
- The car show begins at 5:30pm. No cars can enter the footprint after 6pm.
- The car show will officially end at 8pm, not 9pm as the rest of the First Friday event does.
- LDDA staff will lead cars out of the car show area and move the barricade to let them out. We will work on getting those folks out who want to leave from 8 to 8:30. Those who wish to stay will need to re-park in the parallel spaces as a regular car NO LATER THAN 8:15PM. We will open the street at 8:30. The remaining cars are now free to leave whenever they like. Cars who consistently want to leave at 8pm should be placed closer to the exits for safety.
- CAR SHOW participants will need to register their vehicle with the LDDA (just once PER YEAR, not every month). and LDDA will provide them a dash placard to ID them. The LDDA will request contact information to be able to communicate as needed with car show folks – event cancellations, etc. It is also imperative that we know who is participating in our event. Anyone who does not choose to register with us will not be allowed to participate in the First Friday classy car show.
We hope you will join us if you have never participated or continue with us if you are a regular participant. Please fill out the form attached. We will get your placard to you.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you!
First Friday Event Management Team – Lakeland Downtown Development Authority
863.683.2783 • FirstFriday@LDDA.org
We no longer have an online registration form. Only paper. Either download and print, or fill out at the event.
DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE REGISTRATION FORM HERE – FILL OUT THE FORM AND BRING IT WITH YOU TO THE EVENT.
PLEASE REVIEW THE ENTRY EXIT MAP AND BE MINDFUL OF THE START AND END TIMES OF THE CAR SHOW. ALL CARS MUST VACATE THE LANES OF TRAFFIC BY 8:15PM.
