Between now and mid-December, downtown Panama City has three anchor events: six free Thursday concerts, a two-day songwriters festival and the 40th Boat Parade of Lights. All three happen within a few blocks of the Panama City Marina. Two of the musicians from the free concerts are also on the festival lineup. And on September 22, 2026, the City Commission awarded a contract to build new boat slips in the western basin next to Hotel Indigo, the same water the concert lawn faces.
So this fall's events are best read as one season on one stretch of shoreline. That shoreline is also a construction site that hasn't broken ground yet.
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursdays through Oct. 22, 7 p.m. | Backstage Pass | Marina Lawn | Free |
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | Fright Nights | Historic Downtown Panama City | See listing |
| Fri.–Sat., Nov. 6–7 | 8th Annual Panama City Songwriters Festival | Walkable downtown venues | $60 GA, $100 VIP, plus fees |
| Friday, Nov. 6 | Public Eye SOAR | Gulf Coast State College | See listing |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | 40th Annual Boat Parade of Lights | Panama City Marina and the bay west to Hathaway Bridge | Free to watch |
Three Thursdays left on the lawn
Backstage Pass started its six-concert run on September 17. Shows begin at 7 p.m. on the Marina Lawn, between Hotel Indigo and Harrison's Kitchen & Bar. Admission is free, and you bring your own chair. On rainy days, the organizers make the call by 4:30 p.m. and announce a makeup date if one is needed.
As of today, October 8, three shows remain:
- October 8: J and the Causeways
- October 15: Goodbye to Sunshine
- October 22: Cat Ridgeway and the Tourists
October 15 is also the night of Historic Downtown Panama City's Fright Nights, according to the Destination Panama City calendar. That makes it the busiest of the three remaining Thursdays.
The series is older than the lawn makes it look. According to Destination Panama City, it began as the Concerts in the Park series in 1986, started by Florida First Federal and the community leader Roger Schadd. Those free summer shows ran through 2008. During the recession, the series moved behind the Backstage Door of the Marina Civic Center in 2009 and charged $5 a ticket, which is where the Backstage Pass name comes from. Today it's back outdoors and free again. Bay Arts Alliance credits HMX Productions with keeping it going, and the sponsors are the St. Joe Community Foundation, ReliantSouth Construction Group, Destination Panama City, Innovations Federal Credit Union and the City of Panama City.
The free finale previews the paid festival
The October lineup and the November festival share musicians. Gage Cowart Band played the lawn on October 1, and Cat Ridgeway and the Tourists close the series on October 22. Cat Ridgeway and Gage Cowart are both on the artist lineup for the 8th Annual Panama City Songwriters Festival on November 6 and 7.
A free full-band show on the bay and a ticketed songwriter set in a small room are different evenings. The October 22 finale is a no-cost way to hear an artist before deciding on a $60 two-day pass two weeks later.
The festival's ticket page lists:
- General Admission, both days: $60 plus a $1.50 service fee
- VIP: $100 plus a $2.50 fee. VIP adds two drinks per day, VIP seating where available and after-party access on top of entry to every venue.
Destination Panama City says festival proceeds support youth music programs through the Bay Youth Music Association. The lineup also includes Great Aunt, Jessie Ritter, Stevie Jean, Reed Waddle and Lauren Frihauf.
A festival built for walking between rooms
The Songwriters Festival moves the season off the lawn and into the downtown grid. Its published schedule spreads sets across Panama City Center for the Arts, The Portal Downtown, Trigo, Downtown Boxing Ring, Lightroom and Atelier on Harris Avenue. Destination Panama City describes the venues as within walking distance of one another.
Sets overlap, so planning matters. Early-evening sets on the schedule are staggered by a few minutes:
- Corey Hall and Michael R. J. Roth at the Center for the Arts at 5:10 p.m.
- Garrett Jay Brown and Stevie Jean at Downtown Boxing Ring at 5:15 p.m.
- Becca Tremmel and Adia Clark Lay at Lightroom, also at 5:15 p.m.
- Chris Nelson and Sara Jean Kelley at Atelier at 5:30 p.m.
Picking a room each half hour works better than trying to hear everyone.
Opening night's start time is listed two ways. The organizer's ticket page says 5 p.m. on November 6. The Destination Panama City listing says 6:30 p.m. Check the organizer's site before you set out.
November 6 is also opening night for Public Eye SOAR at Gulf Coast State College, a two-night projection-art and performance event on the Destination Panama City calendar. If you want both, you'll have to split the evening between campus and Harrison Avenue.
December 12 brings everything back to the water
The season ends where it started. Destination Panama City is partnering with the City of Panama City on the 40th Annual Boat Parade of Lights. Here is the listed schedule:
- 4 to 7 p.m.: Marina Holiday Village at Panama City Marina, with themed vendors, music and Santa
- 5 p.m.: Drone show
- 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Boat parade
The route heads west from St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club. It passes Historic Downtown Panama City, Panama City Marina, West Beach Drive, St. Andrews Marina, Historic St. Andrews and Sun Harbor Marina, and ends at Hathaway Bridge. The event page suggests watching from the shoreline, either marina, or waterfront bars and restaurants. It lists parking at 8 Harrison Ave., 9 Harrison Ave., 36 Oak Ave., 413 Harrison Ave. behind the Martin Theatre, and 2–98 E. 6th St. The page has no publication date and uses a map image labeled from a prior year, so treat these details as currently listed and confirm them closer to the date.
The route connects the season to the construction. Both marinas the boats pass are being rebuilt or about to be. WJHG reported in June that bulkhead work was underway at St. Andrews Marina, with about 18 months estimated to completion and a permit that expires at the end of July 2027.
What the city has committed to in the downtown basin
The downtown project is earlier in the process, and the paperwork is specific. On September 22, 2026, the City Commission voted to award the Downtown Marina Boat Slips contract, Invitation to Bid No. PC26-021, to H.G. Harders & Son, Inc. The city's August 25 agenda request describes the project as 50 slips in the western basin nearest Hotel Indigo, and asks the commission to accept the lowest conforming bid of $3,616,356.05. The marine engineer's bid evaluation describes 49 slips and 21,343 square feet of fixed wooden dock. The city's documents haven't settled which count is right.
H.G. Harders & Son is the builder, but the money comes from the waterfront's neighbors. City documents identify JOE PCOZ, LLC as controlled through Joe QOZ Fund by The St. Joe Company. The company holds the ground lease for Hotel Indigo and the restaurant on marina property, and its prepaid rent would fund first-phase construction. WJHG reported on August 26 that the advance rent could reach $5 million and that construction was expected to begin by December 2026. The same report described a 60-day window to negotiate a marina-management agreement of up to five years.
None of the materials published so far confirm a start date. None say whether fencing will close any part of the Marina Lawn or the nearby lots, or how work might overlap with events. December is still an expected start, not a scheduled one. That puts the Boat Parade in the same month the work could begin, beside the basin the slips are planned for. Next fall's Backstage Pass would face that basin after construction has started, or after it's finished.
As of October 8, the waterfront still looks the way it has. J and the Causeways play the Marina Lawn tonight at 7, and Cat Ridgeway closes the series there on October 22.
If you have questions about how the downtown marina work could affect property near Harrison Avenue and the bay, Compass & Key follows the city's agenda packets as the project moves. We're glad to talk through what's been approved, what's still pending and what it could mean for property owners nearby. Let's Connect.