For most of the last decade, a Pompano Beach summer meant one direction: east, to the water. That's changed. The July calendar this year reads like a small-city arts week, and the addresses cluster around Old Town and the Civic Commons, not the pier parking lot. If you already live here, this is the summer to stop driving past Dixie Highway on your way to A1A.
Below is what's actually on the calendar between mid-July and Labor Day, with the dates, the addresses, and the reasons a resident might care.
Three galleries, eight days, one walkable district
Between July 17 and July 24, the City's Cultural Affairs Division is opening four new exhibitions across three venues. All four are free and open to the public, and two of the three venues sit within a short walk of each other in Old Town.
The lineup, in order:
- July 16, 6:00 p.m. — Preview reception for In Connection at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. The show gathers work from members of the Coral Springs Artist Guild across painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, and photography. It runs through September 25.
- July 17 — In Connection opens to the public.
- July 24, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. — Joint opening reception at Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) at 41 NE 1st Street for two Luke Jenkins shows curated by Luna Goldberg. Shape, Break, Build runs through September 19 and gathers a decade of Jenkins's work in reclaimed wood using CNC carving, thermal modification, sandblasting, inventive joinery, and, per the artist, termite activity. Carried Home, in the West Gallery through September 12, centers on Cryptotermes brevis, a termite native to the Atacama Desert of Chile.
- Running alongside all of this at the Ali Cultural Arts Center, June 23 through September 16, is the fourth exhibition in the summer slate.
The reason to pay attention to the calendar rather than just the shows: BaCA sits inside the 1932 Bailey Hotel building, which the arts organization describes as the second-oldest remaining structure downtown. Old Town is being knit together right now, and a Friday reception is one of the few evenings the district feels like a district and not a collection of parcels. Coffee at Blooming Bean inside BaCA before the opening, the reception itself, then dinner two blocks over.
For anyone who wants a lower-commitment first visit, BaCA also runs A Taste of Jazz on the second Thursday of every month and paint-and-sip evenings on the fourth Thursday. Every first Friday, the district hosts its regular open evening.
The Vault: the Old Town restaurant that just cleaned up at the Sun Sentinel awards
Two blocks from BaCA, at 61 NE 1st Street, The Vault occupies the old Farmer's Bank building and leans into the address. Jessica Spill-Chaples's restaurant took Sun Sentinel 2026 South Florida Favorites Gold for Best New Restaurant, along with silver for Best Salad and bronze for Best Appetizers. The room preserves the original bank vault and the murals tell the story of the Ashley Gang, who robbed the bank in 1924.
What that translates to on a Sunday: the Banker's Benedict with either short rib or shrimp cake, the cheesecake-stuffed Roaring French Toast, Billionaire Bacon, and 17-ounce carafes of the Money Maker Mimosa or the Bloody Bandit between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The First Bank Smash Burger, two three-ounce patties with gruyère, pepper jack, sautéed mushrooms, and a house bourbon peppercorn aioli, is the lunch anchor. There is a canine menu.
The buildout was partially underwritten by the Pompano Beach CRA's Strategic Investment Program and its Façade and Business Site Improvement Program, both of which subsidize commercial exterior and tenant improvements in the Old Town area. That is the mechanism, unglamorously, behind why an award-winning restaurant now lives inside a 1920s bank vault instead of a strip center off Federal.
Old Town is being rebuilt around adaptive reuse rather than teardown. That is unusual for coastal Broward, and it is the reason a summer here now includes a gallery opening followed by dinner in a converted bank.
Pier 6 Rooftop, and why the Fishing Village still holds up
If the plan is a sunset dinner rather than a gallery night, the strongest move remains east. Pier 6 Rooftop sits six stories above the Atlantic at 200 N Ocean Blvd, inside the Fishing Village at the base of the pier. Hours are 12 to 10 on Sundays, 5 to 10 Monday through Thursday, and 3 to 11 Friday and Saturday. Saturday nights the roof runs Tropic Nights with a DJ playing Latin and open-format sets. The 360-degree deck faces both the ocean and the resort pool below.
The Fishing Village around it is the version of Pompano Beach that a resident of five years ago would not recognize. The six-acre redevelopment opened in phases beginning with a 2017 groundbreaking, and the current tenant list runs to Beach House Pompano, Oceanic Pompano, Lucky Fish Pompano, Baresco, Burger Fi, Kilwins, Cannoli Kitchen, How You Brewin Coffee Company, Alvin's Island, and the dual-branded Hilton Tru and Home2 Suites. Casual to upscale on the same paver walk, one parking garage, no need to move the car.
The distinction that matters for a resident: the Fishing Village is walkable in a way most Broward beachfronts are not. If the household includes anyone who dislikes valet lines, this is the answer for a Friday.
The pier itself, briefly
The Fisher Family Pier, built in 1963 and widened during the 2019 to 2022 rebuild, spans just over 900 feet and reopens periodically for events. A new historic monument was dedicated at the pier on March 14, 2026. The pier is open 24 hours; bait is available in the tackle shop; food and drinks are sold on the pier itself.
One practical note the tourist guides do not lead with: sea lice and Portuguese Man-O-War outbreaks happen sporadically between March and August along this stretch, driven by juvenile-stage jellyfish. If beach flags are posted, they are usually posted for a reason. The pier remains a fine plan on those days.
What to actually put on the calendar
For a resident planning the next six weeks, the through-line is this: the culturally rich version of a Pompano summer runs on a Thursday-through-Saturday cadence, and the geography is tighter than it looks on the map.
- Thursday, July 16 — In Connection preview reception, Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 6:00 p.m.
- Friday, July 24 — Jenkins double-opening at BaCA, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., followed by dinner at The Vault two blocks north.
- Any Saturday through the summer — Tropic Nights at Pier 6 after a walk on the Fisher Family Pier.
- Second Thursday, any month — A Taste of Jazz at BaCA.
- Second and fourth Thursdays — Beginner colored pencil class at BaCA if the household has a teenager who has been asking.
For information on any of the exhibitions or the fall Cultural Center season, the City's Cultural Affairs Division is at 954-545-7800.
When a summer routine turns into a home search
Most people who start spending Friday nights in Old Town rather than at the beach eventually notice the walkable pockets are also the ones with the most interesting inventory: converted commercial buildings, small-lot single-family, and the newer condo product coming online near the Civic Commons. If a summer of exhibitions and rooftop dinners is quietly turning into a conversation about staying closer to the district, Amie Estates works these blocks and the coastal corridor around them with a design-led eye and boutique attention. Schedule a free consultation when the timing feels right.
