Things to Do in Jacksonville, Florida

Leisure and entertainment
See also: List of attractions and events in Jacksonville, Florida
Gator Bowl Stadium, now TIAA Bank Field, where the annual Gator Bowl has taken place since 1946
Throughout the year, many annual events of various types are held in Jacksonville. In sports, the annual Gate River Run has been held annually since March 1977. It has been the US National 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) road race Championship since 1994 and is the largest race of its distance in the country with over 13,000 runners, spectators, and volunteers, making it Jacksonville's largest participation sporting event. In college football, the Gator Bowl is held on January 1. It has been continuously held since 1946. Also, the Florida–Georgia game (also known as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party"), the annual college football game between the rival Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs has been held in Jacksonville almost yearly since 1933. For six days in July the Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is held for fishermen of all skills. With $500,000 of prizes up for grabs, up to 1000 boats participate with almost 30,000 spectators watching. Jacksonville is also home of River City Pride which is Northeast Florida's largest Gay Pride parade. The parade and festivities usually take place over the course of the weekend, usually the first or second weekend in October in Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood. The first pride parade was held in 1978.

A number of cultural events are also held in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jazz Festival, held downtown, is the second largest jazz festival in the nation, while Springing the Blues, one of the oldest and largest blues festivals, has been held in Jacksonville Beach since 1990. The World of Nations Celebration has been held in Metropolitan Park since 1993, and features a number of events, food and souvenirs from various countries.

Hemming Park hosts a variety of cultural events throughout the year.
The Art Walk, a monthly outdoor art festival formerly on the first Wednesday of each month, was sponsored by Downtown Vision, Inc, an organization which works to promote artistic talent and venues on the First Coast. This Art Walk - renowned and attracted many art lovers and traditional artists alike participating from New York City and Los Angeles, California, used to be held at Hemming Park prior to 2017 before it was reduced in size and character, resembling somewhat like Central Park in New York City, and is now selectively held at MOCA at UNF indoors, in downtown Jacksonville after 2017.

Jacksonville is home to many breweries and a growing number of distilleries. Other events include the Blessing of the Fleet held in March since 1985 and the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair in November at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds and Exposition Center featuring games, rides, food, entertainment and livestock exhibition. One Spark is the largest annual crowdfunding event held for creators to showcase their ideas for a chance to win part of $300,000 in funding. Riverside Arts Market (RAM), an outdoor arts-and-crafts market on the Riverwalk, occurs every Saturday from March to December under the canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge. Holiday celebrations include the Freedom, Fanfare & Fireworks celebration on July 4, the lighting of Jacksonville's official Christmas tree at the Jacksonville Landing (now removed) on the day after Thanksgiving and the Jacksonville Light Parade of boats the following day.

The VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, opened in 2003, is a 16,000-seat multi-purpose arena featuring live sporting events that houses the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame. It is linked to Theatre Jacksonville and Players by the Sea, both non-profit theater companies, and attracts national and prominent local live theater performances. It replaced the outdated Jacksonville Coliseum, built in 1960 and demolished on June 26, 2003. The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has the second largest animal collection in the state. The zoo features elephants, lions, and jaguars, with an exhibit, Range of the Jaguar, hosted by the former owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Delores and Wayne Weaver. It also has a multitude of reptile houses, free flight aviaries, and many other animals. Adventure Landing is an amusement park with locations in Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach. The Jacksonville Beach location contains Shipwreck Island, Duval County's only waterpark.

Theatre Jacksonville, a once prominent non-profit and for-profit theatrical production company, was organized in 1919 as the Little Theatre and is one of the oldest continually producing community theaters in the United States. Alhambra Theater & Dining, opened in 1967 in Jacksonville as the Alhambra Dinner Theatre, is the oldest continually operated dinner theater in the United States. There are a number of other community theaters in Jacksonville, such as Players by the Sea near Jacksonville Beach, the 5 & Dime Theatre Co. in downtown Jacksonville, the Murray Hill Art Center was reopened in February 2012, and is operated by the Art League of Jacksonville, a nonprofit organization dedicated to arts education. The center is in the historic Murray Hill area and offers community arts classes.

Jacksonville has two fully enclosed shopping malls. The oldest is the Regency Square Mall, which opened in 1967 and is on former sand dunes in the Arlington area. The other is The Avenues Mall. It opened in 1990 on the Southside at the intersection of I-95 and US 1. There is a third indoor mall in the metropolitan area, The Orange Park Mall, but it is just outside of Jacksonville in Orange Park, Florida, in Clay County.

The St. Johns Town Center opened in 2005, on the south side of Jacksonville. River City Marketplace opened in 2006, on the north side of Jacksonville. Both of these are "open-air" malls, with a mix of stores but not contained under the same roof.

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