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Gabrielle Calise - Culture and Nostalgia Reporter
Gabrielle Calise

Culture and Nostalgia Reporter

I’m proud to report on offbeat Florida, nostalgia and music for my hometown paper. My favorite stories explore our state's history and provide context for local oddities. I also love profiling fascinating people in our community and both photographing and reviewing concerts. Before I joined the Tampa Bay Times as an intern on the digital team, I graduated from the University of Florida in 2018 and was a journalism fellow in Germany through the RIAS Berlin exchange program. I’m a big fan of long-lost tourist attractions, oat milk lattes and film photography.

  1. Gasparilla Music Festival to return in 2026 at a new Tampa venue
    • Music News
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  2. Country Thunder Florida festival heads to St. Pete Beach this year
    • Music News
    The traveling music festival Country Thunder, shown here in 2021 in Orlando, is coming to St. Pete Beach in 2026.
  3. Check out 19 new murals across St. Petersburg
    • Entertainment
    An aerial drone view as artist Taylor Smith, aka Dreamweaver, works on her mural as she paints the alley side of the Vernis Bowling building, 696 1st Ave N, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in St. Petersburg. The SHINE Mural Festival is celebrating its 11th year.
  5. St. Petersburg’s Discord Addams will compete on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
    • TV
    Discord Addams, a "high-fashion punk rock maximalist" from St. Petersburg, is heading to RuPaul's Drag Race for the show's 18th season. The Florida-based queen has performed at COCKtail St. Pete and will return for a premiere party.
  6. Florida Strawberry Festival adds Joan Jett, Ginuwine and others to 2026 lineup
    • Music News
    Joan Jett opened for the Who in 2015 in Tampa.
  7. Florida fantasy reigns at Lucy Sparrow’s 13,000-item felt store in St. Pete
    • Visual Arts
    British artist Lucy Sparrow speaks to a reporter during a media event for Lucy Sparrow's Quick Shop, a 13,000-item installation inspired by Florida roadside attractions, citrus labels and produce, at FloridaRAMA on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in St. Petersburg.
  8. Inside the 12,000-photo quest to document Tampa’s last cigar factories
    • History
    Drew Newman, great-grandson of J.C. Newman Cigar Co.'s founder, on left, and Zack Wittman, journalist and documentary photographer, pictured with their new photo book at J.C. Newman Cigar Co. factory, 2701 N 16th St, on Friday, Nov. 14, in Tampa. The two were photographed in the American Room as cigar rolling was taking place.
  9. Peek inside Green Light Cinema’s new St. Petersburg lounge and restaurant
    • Movies
    Green Light Cinema owner Mike Hazlett poses at the new Green Light Lounge + Kitchen in St. Petersburg.
  10. Florida Strawberry Festival lineup features Riley Green, The Offspring and more
    • Music News
    The Oak Ridge Boys band performs at the Wish Farms Soundstage during the first day of the Florida Strawberry Festival on Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Plant City.
  11. Creator of Tampa’s 50,000-item viral felt grocery store to return with new shop
    • Shopping
    British artist Lucy Sparrow poses for a portrait at "Tampa Fresh Foods" in Water Street Tampa on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. The exhibition, presented by the Vinik Family Foundation and Art Production fund, was an immersive art experience of a grocery store made from felt. Sparrow returns to Tampa Bay this month with a new exhibit at FloridaRama in St. Petersburg.
  12. Creative Clay’s giant folk art festival will celebrate 30 years in St. Petersburg
    • Arts
    The exterior of Creative Clay, 1846 1st Ave S, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 in St. Petersburg.
  13. How St. Petersburg’s Old Northeast preps for over 4,000 trick-or-treaters
    • Entertainment
    A home is decorated with spiderwebs in the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood, which is known for its elaborate Halloween decor, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 in St. Petersburg.
  14. In Tampa, Doechii turned her hometown concert into a hip-hop classroom
    • Music Reviews
    Grammy winning artist Doechii performs for her home town crowd at the Yuengling Center during her Live From the Swamp Tour on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 in Tampa.
  15. Dr. Paul Bearer, Tampa Bay’s horrible horror host, is back from the dead
    • History
    The Dr. Paul Bearer persona was created by Dick Bennick, featured on the left in an undated Times archive photo. Thirty years after Bennick's death, there's a new doctor in town: Richard Koon, featured on the right in an image by Michelle LaRose.
  16. For Haslam’s Book Store in St. Petersburg, is this finally goodbye?
    • Books
    On the left, Haslam's Book Store in St. Petersburg in 2024. The photo on the right, taken October 8, 2025, shows the building's distinctive mural painted over and signage removed. Is the iconic Florida bookstore closed for good?
  17. As Ybor City turns 140, we look back at Cigar City history
    • History
    A family of chickens is seen on May 13, 2020, in Ybor City. The historic neighborhood dates back to the late 1800s.
  18. Morgan Freeman and the Florida Orchestra turned St. Petersburg into a juke joint
    • Music Reviews
    Actor Morgan Freeman, wearing a Ground Zero Blues Club hat, takes the stage with the Florida Orchestra at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
  19. Steve Martin and Martin Short have thoughts about Clearwater
    • Entertainment
    In this June 8, 2017 file photo, Steve Martin, left, and Martin Short appear at the 45th AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Diane Keaton in Los Angeles.
  20. Morgan Freeman took us behind the scenes of his St. Petersburg blues show
    • Music Interviews
    Morgan Freeman, right, co-owns Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Miss., with businessman Eric Meier, left. Both are coming to the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 for a collaboration with the Florida Orchestra.
  21. Guavas led to the creation of Ybor City. So where did they go?
    • Food
    Tropical fruit from Florida including a collection of guavas and mangos as displayed by Jorge J Zaldivar, a Redland-based guava farmer, distributor, chef and ambassador, on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in St. Petersburg.
  22. Florida Holocaust Museum reopens with giant rescue boat, Elie Wiesel artifacts
    • History
    A group of Holocaust survivors and families of survivors, cut a ribbon to commemorate the reopening of the Florida Holocaust Museum following a year of renovations for which the facility was closed to the public, on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 in St. Petersburg.
  23. Doechii, Tampa’s Swamp Princess, announces a hometown concert
    • Life & Culture
    Doechii poses in the press room with the award for best rap album for "Alligator Bites Never Heal" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
  24. Food historian, author and USF librarian Andrew Huse left a legacy of loving Tampa
    • Life & Culture
    A Times file photo of Andrew Huse, a librarian, historian, author and food lover.