This monthly free event organized by the Tampa Downtown Partnership had a great crowd as their new location provide plenty of shade and a steady breeze. The May event benefitted the Tampa Bay Business Committee of the Arts. This event is still working to get its own identity. The original location was directly on Kennedy, and in front of the Tampa Police Department. Serving coffee and water, it was just not quite the event that had been hoped for. A move a block farther north on Franklin Street brought beer and wine and a slightly larger crowd. While the focus of the event has been to showcase Tampa’s downtown, the closed businesses and “for lease” signs didn’t help to give attendees a great feel about the downtown core. A third move farther north on Franklin Street has now given the event the a more landscaped location. However, this move has taken it away from the central business core and put it near the front of the popular Fly Bar restaurant and lounge. On a recent night in SOHO, someone asked me about the event, but instead of giving the Tampa Downtown Partnership credit for Downtown Live After Five, they referred to the event at “Fly Alive After Five”. This is usually a pretty nice event with a great opportunity to mingle and listen to some great music, but we can’t help but wonder if the original idea and objective of the event might have been lost along the way. At least on one Friday a month, part of downtown is somewhat alive.

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