Driving to Saturday’s Bradenton Area River Regatta? Here’s where to park
Downtown Bradenton and Palmetto are sure to be busy places throughout the day for Saturday’s sixth annual Bradenton Area River Regatta.
While organizers encourage attendees to either car pool to the event or find alternative means like mass transit, historically speaking parking isn’t impossible to find.
With the previous five years under the event’s proverbial belt, history has shown the regatta can accommodate the estimated 100,000 or so attendees due in part that the crowd size ebbs and flows throughout the day. That makes parking challenging, but not impossible.
The new City Centre parking garage will be available for its first regatta and the parking will be free, but there are some things to know about the garage that sits along Third Avenue West just south of the Bradenton City Hall.
“We welcome regatta visitors to use the City Centre parking facility on the top three floors,” said Jeannie Roberts, communications coordinator for the city. “Please enter from the 10th Street entrance, utilize the two-way ramp and follow all garage rules, most notably not backing into parking spaces and following posted speed limits.”
The first floors of the garasge is reserved for guests staying at the Spring Hill Suites on Old Main Street.
Roberts said all downtown city lots will be open for free parking.
For visitors, that can get confusing as there are many privately-owned parking lots, but many are opened for the regatta and allow charitable organizations to charge a small parking fee as a fundraising opportunity.
Signage will be posted to help visitors to the regatta find their way to available parking lots.
There are also two other parking garages that provide easy walking access to downtown. The Judicial Center parking garage is located at 615 12th St. W. and the Manatee County Administration parking garage is located at 414 10th St. W.
A city-owned parking lot is also located at the U.S. Post Office located on Manatee Avenue West between Eighth and Ninth streets.
Other parking lots are scattered throughout the downtown area. Visit cityofbradenton.com/parking for more locations, but signage will be displayed on the day of the event to help avoid confusion.
Parking in Palmetto is ample, but scattered, as well. Signage will be provided to help visitors locate several public parking lots that are within walking distance to the event.
That includes parking at the Palmetto City Hall, 516 Eighth Ave. W., which offers plenty of overflow parking and is the most ideal, according to Amber LaRowe, assistance city clerk who said it’s the first lot she advises to try.
Remember that it doesn’t matter which side of the river you park, free trolleys across the Green Bridge will run throughout the regatta.
Visit bradentonarearegatta.com for all of the event details and bradenton.com leading up to the regatta for all the latest information.