Village of the Arts Bradenton: A Guide to First Weekends

"This gives me the slower period of the summer to get over there and get some work done so we can be ready for season," Dave Shiplett told The Bradenton Times in July. He was talking about moving Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen out of the Village of the Arts.

Season is here now, and the Village has a different shape than it had a year ago. Its best-known evening spot now sits off Tamiami Trail. The brewery on 9th Street West is closed until February. The Italian restaurant on 13th Avenue West only cooks for booked groups. What's left inside the Village grid is mostly a daytime place built around the first weekend of each month, and that calendar starts Friday, Nov. 6, with the Festival of the Skeletons.

What moved, what paused and what changed format

The Village's own directory still lists some of these businesses at their old addresses, so here is where things stand going into November.

Cottonmouth played its last Village show on Saturday, July 11. Bay Area blues musician Damon Fowler played solo. The Bradenton Herald reported that Motorworks posted its closing notice on a Tuesday afternoon, with the line "We hope to reopen on February 1, 2027, under new ownership and new management, with a refreshed space and an exciting new chapter ahead." Ortygia's site now offers in-house private dinners for groups of 15 or more, other dinners for groups of 10 or more, hands-on cooking classes and wine dinners. A walk-in table on a Friday night isn't part of that lineup.

All three changes cut into the Village's evening options. The first-weekend gallery hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., are unchanged.

Where the evening went

The live music didn't leave the area. It moved about a dozen blocks south to a bigger room. Flamingo Bay Brewing Co. sits right off Tamiami Trail with on-site parking, a taproom and a dog-friendly beer garden, and it now serves Cottonmouth's food and music. Shiplett told The Bradenton Times the finished space would have a proper stage, with room for 200 people outside and 120 inside. Cottonmouth's site says local Village artists still have work on display and for sale at the new location.

At the north end, Old Main got a late-night addition. Ballerz Pinball Café at 412 12th St W stays open until midnight Wednesday through Saturday and until 10 p.m. the other nights. It serves coffee and hot dogs, and an unlimited-play day pass for the pinball and video arcade games costs $12.50. Discover Bradenton featured it on Oct. 18, covering its themed machines and tournaments.

So on an ordinary weeknight, the places drawing people are at the two ends of the district. Flamingo Bay is to the south on 14th Street West, and Old Main is to the north. The Village grid sits between them.

What's still open inside the grid

The Village's own Art Walk guide still names these stops inside the grid. They're listed as open, but there have been no recent announcements about them either way:

• Arte Caffe, 930 12th St W, a café and restaurant at the Old Main end
• The Village Patio, 1213 13th Ave W
• Adobe Kava, 1302 13th Ave W, for kava, coffee and botanical teas
• Jerk Dog Records, 1119 12th St W, which posts hours seven days a week
• The Village Seamstress, an alterations studio that keeps Saturday hours

Hours change more often than listings get updated, so check before you make a special trip. On first weekends, though, the Village schedule is reliable. Themed Art Walks run the first Friday and Saturday of each month, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Galleries and studios open their doors, and there's live music and handmade goods.

The first-weekend calendar, November through mid-December

This is where the Village still draws a crowd, and the calendar is packed from now through mid-December:

1. Fri., Nov. 6, 6–9 p.m.: The 22nd Festival of the Skeletons opens at the Village of the Arts, 1227 12th Ave W. This is the evening session, with food trucks and live music.
2. Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.: The festival's daytime session, when the gallery altars are easiest to see. It also falls on November's first-weekend slot.
3. Every Saturday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.: The Bradenton Public Market on Old Main Street, produced by Realize Bradenton, runs October through May.
4. Fri.–Sat., Dec. 4–5: The regular first-Friday-and-Saturday Art Walk pattern puts December's Art Walk on these two days.
5. Sat., Dec. 5: Realize Bradenton's Winter Wonderland on historic Old Main, with holiday performances, local vendors, food and a snow slide. Hours haven't been posted yet.
6. Sat., Dec. 12: The Manatee River Holiday Boat Parade. The organizer calls it the county's largest holiday event of the year, with a fleet of decorated boats touring up the Manatee River. No start time has been posted yet.

Dec. 5 is the day to plan around. A Saturday morning at the market, an afternoon at the Art Walk and an evening at Winter Wonderland all happen within a few blocks of 12th Street West.

This year's Festival of the Skeletons

Discover Bradenton's festival guide lists a few changes for the 22nd year. Last year's Community Village Shrine honored the people who built the Village, led by founding father Herbie Rose. This year's shrine is dedicated to Frida Kahlo, and organizers are asking guests to come in their favorite Día de los Muertos attire.

• Friday ends earlier. The evening session closes at 9 p.m., half an hour earlier than the 9:30 close in 2025.
• Arrive early. Free festival goodies go to the first 300 guests.
• Bring a photo. The Community Shrine and Memory Wall are open to anyone who wants to remember a loved one. Many galleries also build their own altars inside.
• Parking. Street parking is free throughout the Village, plus the open lot at 13th Avenue and 12th Street. The City of Bradenton's free garage at 615 12th St W is a short walk away.
• Cost. Admission is free. Food and vendor purchases are extra.

The guide sums up the difference between the two days well. Friday is the after-dark session with music and food vendors, and Saturday is the daylight session for the altars and the art.

Why 9th Street West fills back up in February

The quietest stretch around the Village this fall is its east side along 9th Street West. Motorworks is dark at 1014 9th St W. A few blocks south, crews have been working on the City Park expansion at LECOM Park, at 9th Street West and 13th Avenue West, since May.

Both projects have target dates in the same week. The city's construction agreement sets substantial completion of City Park's phase one for Feb. 5, 2027, and final completion for March 5. Motorworks is aiming to reopen on Feb. 1. Phase one covers a synthetic-turf baseball field, an observation tower, a batting cage, a batter's-eye structure, field lighting and new landscaping, under a partial guaranteed maximum price of $16,728,293.31. The Bradenton Herald put the overall project at roughly $30 million in April.

The later phases matter more for the Village. The city's project page describes a public park, a splash pad, food and beverage concessions, and space for art, community events and public markets, with full buildout expected in mid-2028. That plan would put a second event space a short walk from the galleries. The only construction traffic notice so far was a one-day lane and sidewalk closure on 13th Avenue West on Aug. 24, which has already ended.

Until February, the Village's busiest days line up with the first weekend of the month, the Saturday market and the holiday events on Old Main. For more around town, see our Bradenton neighborhood guide or our look at West Bradenton's shaded walking loop.

If you live within walking distance of the Village and wonder how a new City Park next door might affect your home's value, the Echo Belser Team is glad to talk it through. Start with a free, instant home valuation, and we'll follow up with what's happening on your own block.