A Sip & Stroll Area (also known as the arts, culture and entertainment district) is a walkable, compact area with a number of restaurants, bars and local shops and businesses. Customers who purchase alcoholic beverages sold by a licensed establishment in the district may carry their beverages while in public areas within its boundaries.

Sip & Stroll Downtown encompasses an area roughly bordered by Northeast Second Avenue to the north, Northeast Third Street to the east, Southwest Sixth Street to the west, and south to Depot Avenue. The district includes Bo Diddley Plaza and Depot Park.

Sip & Stroll Grove Street is an area between Northwest Second Street and Northwest Fourth Street, bordered to the north by Northwest 12th Avenue and to the south by Northwest Eighth Avenue. This excludes a mostly residential area north of the Sixth Street Rail-Trail. 

The Sip & Stroll Districts went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. 

Signs will be posted at the boundaries. Participating businesses are required to place maps at exit doors, and may also display window decals. 

Sip & Stroll District Boundaries

The Sip & Stroll Districts operate seven days a week between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 midnight. 

After discussing options with law enforcement and downtown business owners, the Gainesville City Commission decided that ending at midnight is the most effective way to improve public safety while continuing to support existing establishments. 

Downtown visitors are permitted to Sip & Stroll in Bo Diddley Plaza and Depot Park. Lynch Park is not included within the boundaries. No municipal parks are located in the Grove Park district.

• Glass containers are prohibited at all times.
• Open containers are not allowed in public parking lots or garages, even if they are in the Sip & Stroll Districts.
• The minimum drinking age still applies.
• All other applicable state and local laws including prohibitions on open containers of alcoholic beverages in vehicles and laws concerning public intoxication remain unchanged and in full effect. 

Individuals who leave a Sip & Stroll District in possession of alcoholic beverages may receive a warning or a civil citation and be required to pay a fine. If there is drunken, unsafe, or disorderly behavior, the police have the option of imposing stiffer, criminal penalties.

There will be signs throughout each Sip & Stroll District like the one on this page. The purple signs will be placed both downtown and in the Grove Street area. In addition, businesses serving drinks within the district are required to display maps that show the district boundaries.

As of Jan. 1, 2024, people are prohibited from drinking or having open containers of alcohol on public property except within newly designated areas known as Sip & Stroll Districts. They are also referred to arts, culture and entertainment districts.

Under the new rules, it will be illegal to consume alcohol in public – on sidewalks, public parks, or other public rights of way – except within the new Sip & Stroll Districts between the hours of 8 a.m. to midnight daily.

Although the downtown parking garage and some public parking lots are located within the districts, open containers are prohibited in those areas.

All other applicable state and local laws including prohibitions on open containers of alcoholic beverages in vehicles and laws concerning public intoxication remain unchanged and in full effect. 

The downtown Sip & Stroll District encompasses an area bordered, roughly, by NE Second Avenue to the north, NE Third Street to the east, SW Sixth Street to the west, and south to Depot Avenue. The district includes Bo Diddley Plaza and Depot Park. Both parks will continue to permit open containers during the hours allowed within the Sip & Stroll Districts.

The Grove Street Sip & Stroll District is an area between NW Second Street and NW Fourth Street, bordered to the north by NW 12th Avenue and to the south by NW Eighth Avenue. The district excludes a mostly residential area north of the Sixth Street Rail-Trail.

Between the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight daily, patrons can walk around with open containers of alcohol on public property within the Sip & Stroll Districts. Glass containers are prohibited at all times.

In addition to public signs posted around the districts, businesses within the districts are required to display maps of the districts in their establishments.

Businesses in the districts will be receiving packets with maps and FAQs. Map and FAQ pdfs are also available for download. 

Sip-Stroll-Map-for-Businesses.pdf(PDF, 132KB)

Gainesville Police Department officers may issue either civil citations or criminal infractions to those found in violation of the ordinances, as well as arrest disruptive individuals on criminal charges.

The Gainesville City Commission approved these changes at meetings in September and October 2023, in the interests of public safety, after city staff met with local business owners to gather input on the new ordinances.

You do not have to allow customers to carry alcohol onto your private property or into your place of business. The Sip & Stroll Districts apply only to public spaces inside district borders. 

You can call the Gainesville Police Department’s Non-Emergency number at (352) 393-7500. In case of emergency or when an immediate response is needed, call 911 as usual to report the details of the crime you witness.

Alcoholic beverage establishments shall post, at all exit doors leading outside, a map of the boundaries of the arts, culture and entertainment district in which it is located. Alcoholic beverage establishments shall also provide, either in electronic or paper form, a map of the arts, culture and entertainment district upon request.

Reach out to us at gainesvillepio@gainesvillefl.gov. Map and FAQ pdfs are also available for download.

Sip-Stroll-Map-for-Businesses.pdf(PDF, 132KB)