Exclusive Absolution Fest Hotel Rates
Hampton Inn Ybor City
We’re excited to offer Absolution Fest guests a special discounted rate at the Hampton Inn Ybor City, located in the heart of Tampa’s historic entertainment district.
Staying in Ybor means you’ll be right in the center of all the post-show nightlife, late-night dining, clubs, and the energy that keeps going long after the show ends.
The hotel is approximately 9.3 miles from the venue. Travel times vary based on rush hour traffic so plan accordingly! Ride sharing is encouraged.
Rooms are limited, so we recommend booking early to secure the special rate!
Parking Information
Parking at the venue I can be limited, so we strongly encourage planning ahead. Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are highly encouraged to help reduce congestion and make arrival easier.
Our friends at Ravens and Rockers have generously offered all-night parking for Absolution Fest attendees. To use this option, you must stop inside the store and obtain a parking sticker before leaving your vehicle.
Why park there?
It’s only 2.5 miles from the venue, making it a quick rideshare trip. As an added bonus, the plaza also has a great Mexican restaurant and a pizza spot—perfect if you’d like to arrive early, grab food, and then head to the festival stress-free. Its also THE place for last minute shopping to find your perfect fit and accessories for the show!
We highly recommend taking advantage of this option, as venue parking will fill quickly!!
Ravens & Rockers is located at 14815 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33613. They are open from 12PM to 7PM on all nights of Absolution Fest.
Shopping
Ravens & Rockers
Ravens & Rockers is a family operation run by the mother and daughter team of Shelley & Sheena, both retailing alternative fashions online and dressing the famous and infamous around the world since 1998! Along with a great staff, RnR delivers unique fashion finds and great deals to the scene they know and love! R&R dresses everyone, every age, for any event from stage to street!
Another unique feature of RnR is quality, pre-owned alternative fashions for amazing prices from barely used new styles to eccentric vintage finds! Although our new items are at discount pricing, our pre-owned items are even more insanely affordable and perfect for any budget! It is THE goth store in Tampa!
Dysfunctional Grace Art Co
Dysfunctional Grace is one of Ybor City’s most famous destinations—a darkly whimsical oddities shop, art gallery, and curiosity cabinet on 7th Avenue. It’s the kind of place where goth culture, antique collecting, carnival weirdness, and Florida eccentricity all collide.
What they’re known for:
Taxidermy art and preserved specimens
Skulls, bones, insects, and natural history pieces
Vintage medical equipment and funeral artifacts
Metaphysical / occult-inspired items
Strange antiques and handmade art
Jewelry and one-of-a-kind collectibles
If you like witchy stores, dark art, punk culture, Halloween year-round, or weird museums, this is mandatory.
La France
La France is one of Ybor City’s most iconic and beloved shops—a legendary vintage clothing and costume boutique right on 7th Avenue. It’s been around since 1974, which is impressive in a district where businesses come and go.
Massive vintage selection – clothing, hats, jewelry, shoes, accessories, and costumes spanning multiple eras, from Victorian to 1970s glam.
Alternative / theatrical vibe – if you like goth, burlesque, retro pin-up, drag, rockabilly, steampunk, or old Florida eccentricity, this place is heaven.
Inclusive sizing – known for carrying a wide range of sizes.
Ybor character – walking inside feels like entering a time capsule mixed with a movie wardrobe department.
It’s also one of those stores that feels deeply tied to Ybor’s creative identity—old-school Tampa weirdness in the best way. The Tampa Bay Times recently highlighted it as a longtime go-to for “funky finds.”
If you visit Ybor and only go into one non-bar, non-cigar shop, this is honestly a strong choice. It’s a classic.
Cemeteries & Sightseeing
Cemeteries, ghost tours, and more that we think are worth visiting. It hopefully goes without saying that should you visit the cemeteries, be respectful of the graves as they’re quite fragile due to weathering and, in some cases, vandalism.
L'Unione Italiana Cemetery
This cemetery located just north of Ybor was purchased and founded in 1894 by The Italian Club in Tampa, and boasts some of the best examples of Sicilian funerary art you could find. There are gorgeous tiled monuments, above ground tombs, and most every grave displays a portrait of the deceased on it. Including a few with post-mortem photography. However, if crime history is more your thing, don’t miss the grave of Mafia Don Santo Trafficante Sr. who headed a Tampa mob and ran illegal numbers rackets in Tampa and beyond for nearly half a century.
Location: 2520 E 24th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605
Oaklawn Cemetery
Located just a few miles west of Ybor, Oaklawn Cemetery was created in 1850 as a final resting place for “White and Slave, Rich and Poor” and is one of the oldest desegregated cemeteries in the US South. This is a great place for a picnic and to enjoy a bit of historic calm in the heart of Downtown. But beware, the lovely open greenspace in the middle of the cemetery hides a secret. It’s the mass grave of countless Yellow Fever victims who were buried during an outbreak in 1887-1888.
Location: 606 E Harrison St, Tampa, FL 33602
Sulphur Springs Water Tower
The Sulphur Springs Water Tower is one of Tampa’s most recognizable historic landmarks, standing in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood just north of downtown. Built in 1927, the tower rises about 214 feet and originally supplied water pressure to the area while also serving as a bold symbol of growth and tourism.
The tower became a symbol of old Tampa and of Sulphur Springs’ era as a resort district with swimming, boating, and attractions centered around the spring.
It no longer functions as a working water tower, but it has been restored and preserved as a historic monument. It remains one of Tampa’s best-known neighborhood icons and a favorite for photographers and local history fans.
Location: 455-479 E Bird St, Tampa, FL 33604
The Official Ybor City Ghost Tour
A true “melting pot” of immigration, what began as an area populated largely by alligators and snakes grew to become home to tens of thousands of people within the span of just 40 years.
Along with the cigar workers who came from Cuba and Europe to make a new life in the New World, “Cigar City” hosted more than its share of villains, conspirators, Buccaneers, bandits and gangsters.
They arrived from all over the globe, and some have never left, despite slipping the bounds of their worldly forms. Tampa‘s famous “Latin District” has no lack of strange and creepy happenings. It is home to some of the most haunted buildings in America, and you can investigate them with award-winning guides.
The Official Downtown Tampa Ghost Tour
From the bones of Native Americans below the buildings to the Mass Graves of the Yellow-Fever pandemic, the streets of Tampa, FL are crawling with spirits. Stories of genocide, murder, mayhem, and mobsters in what was once called “The Wild West of The South.” Visit the famous and illustrious Tampa Theatre. Learn about the Mobsters and Movie Stars in The Sapphire Room at The Hotel Floridan. Finish with a close encounter of The Sacred Heart Church erected in 1860. Factual stories of history and horror await.
TECO Streetcar
The TECO Line Streetcar is Tampa’s historic-style electric streetcar system connecting Downtown Tampa, Channelside, Water Street, and Ybor City. It’s both a practical transit option and a tourist favorite because it links some of the city’s most popular entertainment districts. It is now FREE!
Find out more info here!
Roosters & Chickens
Ybor City’s famous chickens are free-roaming descendants of birds brought by cigar workers and immigrants in the late 1800s, many of whom moved from Key West to help build the neighborhood’s cigar industry. Over time, the chickens became an unofficial mascot of Ybor rather than livestock.
Today they wander sidewalks, cross brick streets, hang around patios, and are one of the area’s most photographed attractions. They’re legally protected under City of Tampa bird sanctuary laws, so harming, trapping, or harassing them is prohibited.
Locals tend to view them with a mix of pride, amusement, and occasional frustration (mostly the rooster crowing). But overall, they’re considered part of what makes Ybor weird, historic, and charming.
Follow the Ybor Chickens Society for more info!
Absolution Fest is committed to fostering welcoming, egalitarian, and accessible dark scene spaces in Tampa, Florida. We recognize the importance of inclusivity and diversity of experience to our scene, and endeavor to engage and address implicit and explicit forms of marginalization. So let’s get down, have a good time, and dial our authentic spooky selves up to 11.