This week, catamarans from the A-Class fleet are launching off Point Beach at Davis Island Yacht Club for the 2026 A-Class World Championship. Racing is scheduled through Friday, November 13. Saturday, November 14 is held as an alternate race day, and the Awards and Closing Ceremony follows. Once the visiting sailors leave, the island's calendar goes back to the people who live on it. From Thanksgiving morning to mid-December, every event on the Davis Islands Civic Association calendar is run by neighbors. That includes a walk that starts at a coffee bar, a toy drive two sisters started in 2000, a market put on by a neighborhood nonprofit, and a parade of golf carts decorated in residents' own driveways.
This year the market moved. In 2025 it ran on Small Business Saturday, the weekend after Thanksgiving. For 2026 it sits on December 12, the day before the Golf Cart Parade, so the island's two largest holiday gatherings now share one weekend in the Village.
The season at a glance
The civic association posts the calendar and notes that times and places can change, with updates on its Facebook page.
| Date | Event | Starting point | Where updates live |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 26, 8:30 a.m. | D.I. Turkey Trot, a 3-mile walk | DI Coffee, 214 E. Davis Blvd. | DICA calendar |
| Sunday, Dec. 6, 4–8 p.m. | Davis Islands Toy Drive | Santa stops around the island | facebook.com/ditoydrive |
| Saturday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Holiday Market, possible street closure | Davis Islands Village | instagram.com/davisislandlife |
| Sunday, Dec. 13, 4:30 p.m. | Holiday Golf Cart Parade | Seaplane Basin Park, along West and East Davis Blvds. | facebook.com/davisislandsgolfcartparade |
Two of those four events can close streets in the Village, and both fall in the second week of December. The rest of this guide takes them in order.
The yacht club week comes first
The A-Class Worlds and the Admiral's Cup that came before them, held November 4–6, have put the most visiting boats of the fall at the club at 1315 Severn Avenue. According to the club's event page, competitors park their vehicles outside the club gates through the event.
That matters for anyone heading to the dog beach. The City of Tampa's parks and recreation page warns that parking at the dog park and dog beach may be limited during a yacht club regatta weekend. If you're planning a beach morning on Saturday, November 14, check whether the alternate race day is being used, or go after the fleet has packed up.
Thanksgiving morning starts at a coffee bar
The first neighbor-run event of the season is also the smallest. The D.I. Turkey Trot is a three-mile walk, not a race, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, from DI Coffee at 214 E. Davis Blvd. The same address keeps coming up in the island's December history. DI Coffee Bar hosted the Village holiday market in 2024, when it was billed as an outdoor market of artisan foods, handcrafted goods and local makers at that storefront.
An 8:30 start on a 3-mile walk puts most people back home by midmorning, with the rest of the day left for the kitchen.
Santa makes house calls on December 6
The Davis Islands Toy Drive is older than any other event on this list. The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2018 that sisters Jeanne Lavettre and Eileen Goldenberg started the idea in 2000. That year, the Times reported, Santa's sleigh made 23 stops at neighborhood homes where hosts held parties, and elves unloaded the gifts for sorting. The drive brought in more than 3,000 toys, bikes among them, for more than 15 local charities serving children and teens.
The format has changed with the years. In 2020, WFLA reported that the house visits became "Santa Stop Drops," with a separate toy collection at the Davis Islands Garden Club, 81 Columbia Drive, for toys, bikes and gift cards. In 2024, WFLA reported that the drive asked for new, unwrapped toys at designated community locations, including a collection at the Holiday Market in Fountain Square.
For 2026, the civic association lists the drive as "Santa Stops Around Davis Islands," from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 6. Stop locations and drop-off points have changed from one format to the next, so this year's route and donation instructions will be posted on the drive's Facebook page.
December 12 and 13 are the island's big weekend
The Village market has moved around. DI Coffee Bar's listing put it on Saturday, December 7, 2024. In 2025 it ran on November 29, Small Business Saturday. In 2026 it lands on Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the day before the Golf Cart Parade. The Village gets a market Saturday and a parade Sunday, back to back.
The market on Saturday
The market is run by Davis Island Life, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which promoted its 2025 edition as more than 50 vendor tents. FOX 13 covered that 2025 market as the nonprofit's third annual Small Business Saturday event, with more than 55 vendors. Proceeds went toward future community celebrations, cleanups and rebuilding. The station named Wild Thistle Lane Woodworking among the first-time vendors and L'Atelier among the Village businesses rebuilding after storm damage.
So what you spend at the market's tents goes back into the next round of island events. The civic association warns of a possible street closure in the Village that morning.
The parade on Sunday
The Golf Cart Parade steps off at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, from Seaplane Basin Park and runs along West and East Davis boulevards. Its 2024 edition was billed as the 12th annual, which would make this year's the 14th if it has run every year since. In its preview that year, That's So Tampa reported that more than 200 decorated carts typically take part, from strings of lights to full themes with sound effects and costumed riders. The 2024 route started at Seaplane Basin, 650 Severn Avenue, wound through the island and ended around 7 p.m. at DI Electric Vehicles, 340 E. Davis Blvd., with an after-party. The route changes every year. Tampa Latest reported the same start and finish that year, plus an appearance by the Wienermobile.
The 2026 route and any entry details will be posted on the parade's Facebook page.
Planning the weekend
With both events in the Village less than 30 hours apart, a few points are worth planning around:
- Saturday morning: expect a possible street closure in the Village from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the market tents are up.
- Sunday afternoon: the parade gathers at Seaplane Basin Park and steps off at 4:30 p.m., using West and East Davis boulevards.
- Sunday evening: in 2024 the parade ended around 7 p.m. on East Davis with an after-party, so if the route is similar, the Village stays busy after dark.
- Decorating a cart: two weekends earlier is a good time to check your lights, since the market and parade no longer have a free day between them.
Downtown's boat parade comes a week later
The season's last big event is across the channel. Friends of the Riverwalk lists Tampa's Holiday Lighted Boat Parade for Saturday, December 19, 2026, starting at 6:15 p.m. near Sparkman Wharf, running through the Convention Center Basin and finishing at Armature Works. Sparkman Wharf also offers ticketed VIP viewing from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with dinner, dessert and drink tickets, per the Riverwalk's event page. The Riverwalk's tree lighting comes before it, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, November 29, at the Tampa Convention Center and Sail Plaza, with December 4 as the rain date.
That makes the downtown tree lighting the Sunday after the Turkey Trot and the boat parade the Saturday after the golf carts. The island's own events fill the weeks in between.
If you're hosting family this season and they start asking about the island's streets and homes, or you're thinking about your own next step on Davis Islands, the team at 360 Realty knows the neighborhood well and is glad to talk it through. Contact Us anytime, and enjoy the parade.
