Key Takeaways
- The weekend of October 23–25, 2026 is anchored by three major events: Teddy Swims at Benchmark International Arena, Hamilton at the Straz Center, and Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. These draw different audiences and collectively make the weekend one of the busiest of the fall.
- OnesToWatch Live roster shows cover every room size and genre, from arena headliners to intimate club performances at The Ritz Ybor and Orpheum Theatre.
- Friday night delivers the densest music slate, with multiple shows at The Ritz Ybor and a free TECO Streetcar Live warm-up event.
- Halloween programming and live music events are layered across the schedule, which keeps Friday and Sunday nights wide open for concerts.
- OnesToWatch Live tracks every show on the OnesToWatch roster so you can discover rising artists before they reach arena level.
Browse Tampa Weekend Tickets on OnesToWatch Live
Grab Tickets Now: OnesToWatch Live Shows in Tampa, October 23–25, 2026
The shows below appear on the OnesToWatch Live roster calendar for Tampa this weekend. This list focuses on roster events rather than every show in the city.
Friday, October 23
- Encoding — USF Theatre 1, Tampa, FL
Get Encoding Tickets for Friday
- HOL! — The Ritz Ybor, Tampa, FL
- Hamilton (Touring) — David A. Straz Center – Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa, FL
Get Hamilton Tickets for Friday
- Rohna — The Ritz Ybor, Tampa, FL
Get Rohna Halloween Indie Night Tickets
- The Planet Smashers (with Pwrup) — Orpheum Theatre – Tampa, Tampa, FL
Saturday, October 24
- Encoding — USF Theatre 1, Tampa, FL
Get Encoding Tickets for Saturday
- Flaw — The Brass Mug, Tampa, FL
- Hamilton (Touring) — David A. Straz Center – Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa, FL (matinee and evening)
Get Hamilton Matinee Tickets for Saturday
Get Hamilton Evening Tickets for Saturday
- Nekrogoblikon (with Special Guests Aborted) — The Ritz Ybor, Tampa, FL
Get Nekrogoblikon Anniversary Tickets
Sunday, October 25
- Encoding — USF Theatre 1, Tampa, FL
Get Encoding Tickets for Sunday
- Hamilton (Touring) — David A. Straz Center – Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa, FL (matinee and evening)
Get Hamilton Matinee Tickets for Sunday
Get Hamilton Evening Tickets for Sunday
- Rutenberg Chamber Music Series Guest — USF Barness Recital Hall, Tampa, FL
Get Rutenberg Chamber Music Tickets
- Teddy Swims — The UGLY Tour — Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL
See these artists while they are still playing theaters and clubs. Secure your tickets now through OnesToWatch Live.
While the OnesToWatch Live calendar highlights roster shows, the full Tampa weekend stretches well beyond a single series.
The Full Weekend: 14 Things to Do in Tampa, October 23–25, 2026
Beyond the OnesToWatch Live roster, Tampa offers a mix of concerts, festivals, family events, and neighborhood hangouts. These 14 picks help shape a full weekend plan.
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Teddy Swims — The UGLY Tour (Sunday, October 25)
Teddy Swims brings The UGLY Tour to Benchmark International Arena, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa, on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 7:00 PM. The arena show is the weekend’s highest-capacity roster event, with tickets starting at $71.30. This milestone reflects OnesToWatch’s early tracking of Swims, from independent releases to an arena-scale performance. -
Hamilton (Touring) — Multiple Performances (Friday–Sunday)
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton runs at Carol Morsani Hall at the Straz Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa, as part of the Bank of America Broadway at Straz Center season, with performances from October 21 through November 8, 2026. This weekend features five performances; see the ticket section above for exact times. The 2,610-seat Carol Morsani Hall is the flagship theater of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa. Saturday evening typically draws the highest demand of the three days. -
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (Saturday, October 24)
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, 10165 McKinley Drive, Tampa, runs Saturday, October 24, 2026, with the event starting at 7:00 PM. The separately ticketed event features six haunted houses, including the new Anaconda: Fear Has No Escape, plus six scare zones, the Fiends! Resurrected show, Cirque X-Scream, and coasters running in the dark. The event is built for a mature audience and does not allow costumes. Admission requires a separate ticket from regular park entry. -
HOL! — HOLOWEEN (Friday, October 23)
HOL! headlines HOLOWEEN at The Ritz Ybor’s Amphitheatre, 1503 E. 7th Ave., Tampa, on Friday, October 23, 2026, running 10:00 PM to 2:45 AM, per The Ritz Ybor’s official event listing. The event is 18+ and presented by Sunset Events in association with Tampa EDM. Tickets start at $31.15. -
Rohna — Tampa Halloween Indie Night (Friday, October 23)
Rohna headlines the Tampa Halloween Indie Night at The Ritz Ybor, 1503 E. 7th Ave., Tampa, on Friday, October 23, 2026, with doors at 5:30 PM and the show at 6:30 PM, supported by Parrotfish, Kitty Kitty Meow Meow, and Palova. Tickets start at $21.65. The early start time makes it easy to pair with HOL! later the same night at the same venue. -
The Planet Smashers with Pwrup (Friday, October 23)
The Planet Smashers play The Orpheum, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, FL 33613, on Friday, October 23, 2026, at 7:00 PM. Support comes from Pwrup. Tickets start at $35.06. The Orpheum is a mid-size club room that matches the band’s ska-punk energy. -
Nekrogoblikon — 20 Years of Nekrogoblikon with Special Guests Aborted (Saturday, October 24)
The RITZ Ybor, 1503 E 7th Ave, Tampa, hosts Nekrogoblikon’s 20th anniversary show on Saturday, October 24, 2026, with doors at 5:00 PM and the show running from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Special guests include Aborted, Signs of the Swarm, and Party Cannon. The Ritz Ybor operates as a cashless venue, so plan on using a card or digital payment. -
Flaw (Saturday, October 24)
Flaw plays The Brass Mug, 1450 Skipper Road, Tampa, FL 33613, on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 6:30 PM. Tickets start at $21.93. The Brass Mug is a metal and punk-based live music venue in northern Tampa that also hosts rock, progressive rock, and hardcore, so factor in travel time if you plan to combine it with Ybor shows. -
Riverwalk Trick-or-Treat (Saturday, October 24)
The City of Tampa’s 10th Annual Riverwalk Trick-or-Treat runs 4:00–8:30 PM at Cotanchobee Park, 601 Water St, Tampa. The free, no-registration event includes trick-or-treating, a costume contest, a Thriller Flash Mob, and a screening of Ghostbusters at 7:15 PM. Costumes are encouraged for all ages. This is the weekend’s primary free family option in downtown Tampa. -
ZooTampa Creatures of the Night (Friday–Sunday, October 23–25)
ZooTampa at Lowry Park, 1101 W. Sligh Ave., Tampa, runs Creatures of the Night from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Oct. 23–25, 2026. General admission tickets for entry after 4:00 p.m. cost $34.95 on Fridays and Sundays and $39.95 on Saturdays. New for 2026 are Scared of the Dark, a more intense zone for older guests, and Ghostly Groves, a family-friendly area. Children 12 and under may wear costumes, while guests 13 and older may not wear costumes, masks, wigs, or face paint. -
HYROX Tampa (Friday–Sunday, October 23–25)
HYROX Tampa occupies the Tampa Convention Center from 6:00 AM Friday, October 23, 2026 to 10:00 PM Sunday, October 25, 2026, with daily race schedules varying by day. The fitness competition is a family-friendly daytime option for travelers who want structured activity before evening shows. The Tampa Convention Center sits in the Channel District about 0.3 miles, or roughly a six-minute walk, from Benchmark International Arena. -
Encoding — Fall Dance Concert (Friday–Sunday, October 23–25)
Encoding: Fall Dance Concert is presented at USF Theatre 1 on the Tampa campus on Friday, October 23, Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, 2026. The performances run all three days, making it one of the few multi-night performing arts events on the roster calendar this weekend beyond Hamilton. -
Rutenberg Chamber Music Series Guest (Sunday, October 25)
The Rutenberg Chamber Music Series presents a guest recital at USF Barness Recital Hall on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The USF campus venue offers an intimate acoustic setting that contrasts with the arena and club shows dominating the rest of the weekend. -
Hyde Park Village Area (Saturday–Sunday)
Hyde Park Village and the surrounding South Tampa neighborhood offer walkable dining, independent retail, and outdoor seating that fit the weekend’s afternoon gaps between daytime events and evening shows. Hyde Park Village sits roughly 15 minutes from Ybor City and about a 5–10 minute rideshare, around two miles, from Benchmark International Arena. -
TECO Streetcar Live (Friday, October 23)
The Gasparilla Music Foundation’s TECO Streetcar Live series places DJ Jay Marley (Mr. Marley) aboard a rolling streetcar departing Centennial Park Station #1, 1800 E 8th Ave., Ybor City, on Friday, October 23, 2026, at 6 p.m. Admission is free. The TECO Line Streetcar runs between Centennial Park Station in Ybor City and the Whiting Street station at Franklin Street and Whiting Street, which connects to the Fort Brooke parking garage, so it works as a free warm-up before the Rohna or HOL! shows at The Ritz Ybor a few blocks away.
Beyond the Tampa core, the wider metro area hosts several notable concerts and performances that fall outside the OnesToWatch Live roster.
Additional Mentions: Broader Tampa Bay Area, October 23–25
Several notable shows are playing in the wider Tampa Bay region this weekend outside the OnesToWatch Live roster calendar.
The Hip Abduction — The BayCare Sound, 255 Drew St., Clearwater, on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 7:00 PM (doors at 5:30 PM). The cheapest secondary-market tickets currently start at $51, excluding marketplace fees.
Turnpike Troubadours — The BayCare Sound, 301 Drew St., Clearwater, on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM. Tickets start at approximately $18 on the secondary market, with other resale sites listing starting prices between $25.25 and $31.
The Linda Lindas — Orpheum Theatre, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, Sunday, October 25 at 7:00 PM. Tickets currently start at $45 on the secondary market, excluding fees.
Drivin N Cryin — Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, with doors at 6:00 PM and the show at 7:00 PM.
Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue — Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater, Saturday, October 24 at 7:00 PM. Tickets start at $43.50, per BroadwayWorld’s May 27, 2026 announcement.
Florida Orchestra Pops in the Park — Vinoy Park, 701 Bayshore Drive NE, St. Petersburg, on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
St. Pete Opera — The Medium / Voices From the Other Side — Opera Central, St. Petersburg, running October 23–November 1, 2026, with performances on Oct. 23, 24, 28, 30, and Nov. 1.
Patterns and Takeaways
Across the weekend’s events, three structural patterns emerge that shape how you might plan your time. First, the Halloween programming and the live music calendar are layered, complementing each other rather than competing. Howl-O-Scream runs Saturday evening, the Riverwalk Trick-or-Treat fills Saturday afternoon, and ZooTampa operates all three days, which leaves Friday and Sunday nights open for concerts.
Second, the room-size spectrum is unusually wide. Shows range from arena-scale, such as Teddy Swims at Benchmark International Arena, to intimate club gigs like Nekrogoblikon, HOL!, and Rohna at The Ritz Ybor. Other venues, including Carol Morsani Hall, Orpheum Theatre, The Brass Mug, and USF campus spaces for Encoding and Rutenberg, also host events and give audiences options across styles and capacities.
Third, Friday night stacks several shows into a compact window. Rohna performs at The RITZ Ybor with a 6:30 PM show time and HOL! performs at The RITZ Ybor at 10:00 PM, while the Planet Smashers show at 7:00 PM at The Orpheum takes place in North Tampa rather than Ybor City. The free TECO Streetcar Live departure from Centennial Park adds a low-cost warm-up to that cluster.
Catch these artists and events while the rooms still feel close and energetic. OnesToWatch Live tracks every show on the OnesToWatch roster, so you can line up tickets before demand spikes.
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