What you need to know about Downtown events:
The LDDA owns and operates First Friday, Downtown Farmers Curb Market, Tasty Tuesday, Night Markets, and partners with the city on Friday Night Live.
The Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market was established in 2004 and enjoys between 3500 and 5500 customers each Saturday (depending on weather and season). Participation in this Market is by application only and the Market is carefully curated. TO learn more click HERE
Please be aware of social media scammers. We will NEVER sell tickets via Facebook or Messenger or solicit vendors via Facebook or Messenger. We will never ask for payment via Facebook or Messenger. We INVOICE vendors via our SQUARE account and invoices will always come from Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, not an individual person. All event applications are available via this website, DowntownLKLD.com.
First Friday (6-9p) has a Makers Market where craft/artisan vendors can pay to sell. Space is very limited, and we have many more vendors who wish to participate each month than we do space. Applications for each First Friday event open the Monday immediately following a First Friday event for the FOLLOWING First Friday. Space fills up quickly. Makers Market sign up information is here: https://
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Special First Friday Sign ups:
- MARCH FIRST FRIDAY FOODIE FEST –
For our March 6, 2026 event, “Foodie Fest,” we are inviting brick-and-mortar restaurants, mobile food tent vendors, bakers, and other food creators to sell their wares. We are looking for you to sell at least one “small bite at a small price”–small plates or items priced at $5 or less to encourage visitors to sample from lots of different vendors. You can sell higher-priced items in addition to your one small bite. There is limited space available for this event. Applications will be evaluated on the value of the $5 offering as well as product type. If you are interested in this special opportunity, please sign up below.
Applications open in January 2026 - OCTOBER FIRST FRIDAY COOKIE CARNIVAL –
We are inviting cookie creators to First Friday October 2, 2026 to promote their businesses and sell their cookies (as well as other baked goods) in Munn Park at our First Friday Cookie Carnival. We ask that you offer 100 small samples of one signature cookie to our cookie judges (members of the public who sign up).
First Friday has an Exhibitor area where businesses promote and market. (Think of this like a trade show.) Businesses are not allowed to sell items. The types of businesses you’ll find in the Exhibitor area are those who are trying to generate leads for their businesses. (Examples: real estate, healthcare, dental, solar, fence, churches, gyms, etc.) First Friday Exhibitor sign up information is here: https://downtownlkld.com/firstfridaysubscription/
The Downtown Farmers Curb Market (Saturdays 8a-2p) is a curated event. That means we carefully balance the type of products we have and have a much higher standard for inclusion in the Farmers Curb Market than we do the Makers Market at First Friday. Many product categories are closed. We do not allow FOOD TRUCKS or TRAILERS for the Farmers Curb Market and are very limited in the kinds of food we will allow so as to not directly compete with our restaurants and other existing market food vendors. Applications open twice a year in the months of June and December. Click here for the Downtown Farmers Curb Market application.
Munn Park Pop Up Events: From time to time, we add “pop up” events to Munn Park in conjunction with the Farmers Market. Below are planned events. You can learn more about them in the calendar on this web site.
Fall Plant pop Up – October 11, 2025
Holiday Craft Bazaar – November 29, 2025 – Applications closed
Tasty Tuesday (Third Tuesday each month 4:30-9p) does not have outside food vendors or craft vendors. This event is specifically for Downtown bars and restaurants.
Friday Night Live (FNL) is a partnership between the city of Lakeland and the LDDA to bring live music to Munn Park. The series is once per month in February, March and April from 6-9p. Vendor participation is very limited (10-15 vendors) and is by invitation only. We limit the number of vendors because crowd size (estimated 500+) for Friday Night live is significantly smaller because the focus is on the live music in the park.
FNL 2026 dates: Band announcements to come
January 30, 2026
February 27, 2026
March 27, 2026
Night Markets are 3 times per year. The next three event dates are as follows:
Valentine Night Market – Saturday, February 14, 2026 from 5-9p. APPLICATIONS OPEN
Fall Night Market – Saturday, October 24, 2026 from 5-9p APPLICATIONS OPEN August 1, 2026
Holiday Night Market – Saturday, December 12, 2026 from 5-9p APPLICATIONS OPEN September 1, 2026
We will post all night market applications on the DowntownLKLD.com web site calendar when they are available.
All other events that happen in Downtown that have vendors are not LDDA events. Each event is sponsored or produced by various organizations and there is no one single place to “apply” to participate in these events. You just need to watch for event announcements and contact those organizers individually.
Here are some event contacts that we have that may be helpful to you:
Lakeland Food Truck Rally contact information:
CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Michael Blasco, Tampa Bay Food Trucks | Orlando Food Truck Catering
Office: 813-767-6924
Mobile: 813-464-5600
www.tampabayfoodtruckrally.com
www.facebook.com/tampafoodtruckrally
City of Lakeland events:
Red, White & Kaboom – 863.834.6264 lakelandparkrec@lakelandgov.
SnowFest – Contact: – lakelandparkrec@lakelandgov.
Christmas Parade – lakelandparkrec@lakelandgov.
OTHER EVENT CONTACTS: (some of these events may be discontinued)
Mayfaire-by the Lake – Mother’s Day Weekend – mayfairebythelake@polkmuseumofart.org
Polk Pride Festival (June) – https://polkpridefl.org/
Lake Mirror Classic Car Show – https://lakemirrorcarshow.com/about-the-lake-mirror-car-show/. robert@lakemirrorcarshow.com
Spring Obsession March 14, 2026 Plant vendors and home/garden decor – Springobsession@gmail.com, SpringObsession.org
Hispanic Festival – macuatromusic@gmail.com 787-525-5213
Live Green – jwcoflakeland@yahoo.com
Punk Rock Flea Markets – thelastchad@hotmail.com
Polk Pride Festival – http://polkpridefl.com/contact-us/
Swan Derby – Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine 863.688.5846
Snow Fest – City of Lakeland Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department – 863.834.2283
Buena Markets – hey@buenamarket.com