Creative Loafing Opens Voting for Annual 'Best of the Bay'

For the 27th consecutive year, Creative Loafing will celebrate the Tampa Bay area's best local businesses, people, and places during Best of the Bay. Voting for Best of the Bay 2017 is now open and continues through Wednesday, August 23rd.

Nominees were gathered during a month-long open nomination period. Nominations were received for a variety of categories featuring local businesses, people, and places. Categories are broken up into: People, Places & Politics, Food & Drink, Arts & Entertainment, and Goods & Services.

Winners will be announced at Creative Loafing's Best of the Bay Awards Party presented by Tampa Bay Rowdies at The Mahaffey Theater on Wednesday, September 27th, and in the annual Best Of The Bay issue online and in print on Thursday, September 28th.

This year's Best Of The Bay Awards Party will feature an awards ceremony and more than 25 food and drink sampling stations. Stay tuned for more details on the party. In the meantime, those interested in attending the Best Of The Bay Awards Party should save the date and RSVP to the Facebook event to stay in-the-know: bit.ly/clbotb2017

For more information on Creative Loafing's Best Of The Bay and to vote, visit cltampa.com/botb2017.

Creative Loafing is an award-winning alternative, weekly newspaper and website committed to providing Tampa Bay with an independent perspective, up-to-the-minute local news, and a comprehensive listing of local happenings. Creative Loafing offers readers' unique monthly events and CL Deals, a locally focused platform featuring dining and event experiences at half-off their regular price. For more information about Creative Loafing, visit cltampa.com and cldeals.com.

Formed in 2007, Southcomm Inc. is the nation's second-largest publisher of alternative weeklies, one of the largest publishing companies serving chambers of commerce, and with the Cygnus Business Media purchase in 2014, a significant player in the B2B publishing world. The Nashville-based company now owns more than 30 titles reaching millions of B2B professionals and consumers annually, via its diverse suite of print, digital, online and live-event products. The company has offices in Nashville, Tenn.; Fort Atkinson, Wis.; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Louisville, Ky.; Kansas City, Mo.; Cincinnati; Tampa, Fla.; Arlington Heights, Ill.; and Florence, Ky. For more information, visit southcomm.com.