Dade City, Florida County seat since 1889
Welcome downtown.Stay a while.
Shops, kitchens, live music and a 1909 courthouse, a few blocks apart. Here is what is open and what is happening.
20 businesses are open right now
Photo: Kirk Riollano
Coming up downtownWhat is happening
Coming up downtown
Dade City Spooktacular
Saturday, October 31, 10 AM to 1 PM
Bring the family downtown for an action-packed Halloween celebration with a trick-or-treat chalk trail to participating businesses, a Painted Pumpkin Patch at CraftED, and live local performances at Agnes Lamb Park by Bl
- Family
Kids and Pets Trick or Treat, Saturday, October 31
10 AM to 3 PMParticipating merchants in Historic Downtown Dade City
- CommunityDowntown tradition
Dade City Cruise-In, Saturday, November 7
12 PM to 5 PMAround the Historic Courthouse
- Market
Mistletoe Market, Saturday, November 21
9 AM to 2 PMGFWC Dade City Woman's Club
- FamilyDowntown tradition
Dade City Christmas Parade, Friday, December 4
7 PM7th Street, MLK Boulevard to Church Street
- Dade City Spooktacular, Saturday, October 3110 AM to 1 PM
- Kids and Pets Trick or Treat, Saturday, October 3110 AM to 3 PM
- Dade City Cruise-In, Saturday, November 712 PM to 5 PM
- Mistletoe Market, Saturday, November 219 AM to 2 PM
- Dade City Christmas Parade, Friday, December 47 PM
- Dade City Cruise-In, Saturday, December 512 PM to 5 PM
What Dade City has to offer
40 downtown businesses and places, 20 of them open right now. One directory, kept current by the owners themselves.
40 downtown businesses and places, 20 of them open right now.
Thinking of opening a business here?
A few of the people behind it
See all 40
Elizabeth Rose Boutique
Children's Clothes
ShopOpens tomorrow 10 AM
The Twisted Oak
Live music venue and guitar shop
MusicDrinkOpen until 10 PM
Boost Lab, Inc.
Turbo rebuilds and injector service since 2008.
ServicesOpens tomorrow 9 AM
Out of Our Hands Gallery
Local art gallery and classes
ArtsOpens tomorrow 11 AM
Orange Blossom Tattoo
ServicesOpens tomorrow 11 AM
The Music House
ShopOpens tomorrow 10 AM
All of it within a short walk
Downtown fits around one courthouse square. The map shows every listed business, what is open right now, and the landmarks worth a detour.
Downtown fits around one courthouse square.
- Walking directions from where you stand
- Open now, in Dade City time
- The 1909 courthouse, the 1912 depot and more
County seat since 1889
A railroad town that became the heart of Pasco County, and kept its courthouse, its depot and its brick storefronts.
Downtown has been arranged around it ever since.
1889
County seat, for good
Voters choose Dade City as the permanent seat of Pasco County in an April 11 special election, certified on April 16, and on June 5 the Legislature incorporates it as a city.
1909
The courthouse rises
The Pasco County Courthouse opens on Meridian Avenue: red brick, Classical Revival, designed by Edward Columbus Hosford. Downtown has been arranged around it ever since.
1987
Main Street begins
Downtown Dade City Main Street is founded to revitalize and preserve the flavor of small town life. For a quarter century it runs promotions and events and administers facade grants in the redevelopment district.
1998
The first Kumquat Festival
The chamber of commerce holds the first Kumquat Festival downtown. It becomes the town’s biggest day of the year, on the last Saturday of every January. The restored courthouse is rededicated the same year.
2026
Main Street returns
The City Commission directs City staff, led by its Community Redevelopment Agency, to re-form Main Street Dade City. An interest meeting at City Hall on June 4 starts the work toward a new board, a paid executive director and the Main Street Approach.
The big days, every year
The festival, the cruise-in, the parade and the stroll. What each one is, and when it comes around.
Photo: Kirk RiollanoLast Saturday of January
Kumquat Festival
Downtown’s biggest day: hundreds of vendors, kumquat pie, music and the whole county on 7th Street. Free admission and parking.
First Saturday of the month, September through May
Dade City Cruise-In
Classic cars parked around the historic courthouse. Walk the rows, talk engines, stay for lunch.
First Friday of December
Dade City Christmas Parade
Floats, bands and lights down 7th Street from MLK Boulevard to Church Street.
Second Saturday of December
Country Christmas Stroll
Santa, carriage rides, carolers and late shopping on a December evening downtown.
Friday evenings through the season, dates announced by the host
Dade City Street Bash
A family night market on 7th Street: vendors, food trucks, live music, a kid zone and local cars.
- Photo: Kirk Riollano
Last Saturday of January
Kumquat Festival
First Saturday of the month, September through May
Dade City Cruise-In
First Friday of December
Dade City Christmas Parade
Floats, bands and lights down 7th Street from MLK Boulevard to Church Street.
Second Saturday of December
Country Christmas Stroll
Santa, carriage rides, carolers and late shopping on a December evening downtown.
Friday evenings through the season, dates announced by the host
Dade City Street Bash
A family night market on 7th Street: vendors, food trucks, live music, a kid zone and local cars.
A full-time advocate for downtown
Main Street is a national method for bringing historic downtowns back to life, used by towns across the country. Dade City had a Main Street from 1987 to 2013. It is being re-formed now, and the work comes in four parts.
Main Street is a national method for bringing historic downtowns back to life, used by towns across the country. Dade City had a Main Street from 1987 to 2013. It is being re-formed now, and the work comes in four parts.
Economic Vitality
Help the businesses we have grow, fill the empty storefronts, and give new owners a reason to open here.
Design
Care for the buildings, sidewalks and signs that make downtown look like nowhere else.
Promotion
Tell the story of downtown and give people reasons to come back every week, not only on festival day.
Organization
Build the volunteers, partners and funding that keep the work going for the long haul.
- How Main Street works
For downtown businesses
Everyone on the same page
Running a shop leaves little time for meetings. Every downtown business gets a private place to catch up on its own schedule: what the board decided, what is coming, and a say in what happens next. Free with a listing.
Running a shop leaves little time for meetings. Every downtown business gets a private place to catch up on its own schedule: what the board decided, what is coming, and a say in what happens next. Free with a listing.
Main Street checks each listing first, so everyone inside is a real downtown business, sponsor or board member.
Announcements
Official word from the board. Press Got it, and the board knows it reached you.
Meetings
The agenda before, the recap, decisions and minutes after. Send a question if you cannot come.
Polls
Quick votes, so every business gets a say, not just whoever was in the room.
Forum
Ask your neighbors, plan a late night, split an ad, find a good sign painter.
Chat
Quick live messages along the street, like a group text that stays organized.
Shared files
Vendor maps, forms and guides from Main Street, in one place.
Downtown needs a few good neighbors
A couple of hours, a sponsorship, a gift, or a seat on the founding board. Every one of them shows up on the street.
Get involved- VolunteerWork a festival booth, water the planters, take photos, help with a mailing. A couple of hours counts.
- SponsorPut your name behind an event, a banner program or a season of the newsletter, and reach everyone who comes downtown.
- GiveGifts of any size go to downtown programs: events, beautification and support for small businesses.
- Join the founding boardThe new board needs 12 to 15 people willing to give 15 to 20 hours a month in the first year. Merchants, property owners and neighbors all belong here.
Put your name on downtown
Sponsors of the new Main Street appear right here, with their logo and a link, from the day they are confirmed.