The Northbank Riverwalk Is Connected Again, and This Fall Is Its First Programmed Season

"It means that our signature riverfront spaces will not just be built beautifully; they'll be run beautifully," Mayor Donna Deegan said on August 20, before signing the bill that funds a new nonprofit to program downtown's riverfront parks. The timing makes sense. For years the main problem on the Northbank was that you couldn't walk it end to end. Since May 13, 2026, you can. Fall 2026 is the first test of the next question: what the city will put along that walk to give you a reason to make it.

The route, east to west

News4JAX reported that the ribbon-cutting on May 13 formally reopened the Northbank Riverwalk and linked Riverside Arts Market to the Hyatt. That reopening included a finished bridge over the newly daylighted McCoys Creek and the refurbished Corkscrew fitness area. Starting at the Main Street Bridge and walking upriver, here's what you pass:

1. The Hyatt and the Main Street Bridge. This is the eastern anchor and the only spot on the route with active construction right now. More on that below.
2. Riverfront Plaza. The city built this park on the site of the demolished Jacksonville Landing. The $38 million first phase opened in late 2025 with a rooftop playground on the café building, an event lawn, Riverwalk improvements and a walkway to the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts.
3. Riverfront Music Garden. It sits between the Performing Arts Center at 300 Water St. and the river. Plaques set into the walkway honor Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers Band, Tim McGraw, Ma Rainey, 38 Special, and brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson. A piano plays when you walk on its keys. The park cost about $7 million, and parts of the Riverwalk here were raised to allow for higher water, with rain gardens added for storms.
4. The McCoys Creek crossing. An elevated section of the Riverwalk had been taken out for the McCoys Creek work. Putting it back is what closed the gap and made the route continuous from the Hyatt to the Fuller Warren Bridge.
5. Riverside Arts Market. This is the western anchor, under the Fuller Warren Bridge. RAM runs every Saturday, rain or shine, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The walk also ties into the Emerald Trail, which is designed as a 30-mile network of walking and biking paths through central Jacksonville. According to the Downtown Investment Authority's account of the opening, the Riverwalk between Riverfront Plaza and the Music Garden meets Emerald Trail construction along Hogan Street. That's one of three planned meeting points. The other two are at Riverside Arts Market and McCoys Creek.

The one gap left is a bridge sidewalk

The southbound pedestrian walkway on the Main Street Bridge closed on August 24 and is expected to stay closed until about January 30, 2027. A posted detour is in place. Southbound car lanes toward Riverplace Boulevard are down to one, and northbound traffic isn't affected, according to Resident News.

That closure serves the plaza itself. The city calls the work the Riverfront Plaza Main Street Bridge Nub Removal Project, with the Department of Public Works leading and The Haskell Company as contractor. It's the first step toward a permanent walking link from the bridge into the park. The second phase of Riverfront Plaza is budgeted at $40 million and adds a rain garden, a water feature, civic stairs, a beer garden and a pedestrian ramp to the Main Street Bridge. It's expected to finish in early-to-mid 2027.

So if you're on foot from the Southbank, you'll take the detour until winter. Walkers coming along the Riverwalk itself won't run into the closure.

Who now has the job of filling it

The bill Deegan signed was 2026-0552. City Council approved the partnership on August 11 and set aside $1.57 million for riverfront stewardship. Of that, $570,000 goes to the Jax Riverfront Alliance for programming and activations, and the remaining $1 million goes to JaxParks for operations and maintenance. At the Finance Committee, Parks Director Daryl Joseph laid out the split. JRA handles programming and fundraising, and the Parks Department handles upkeep.

The partnership runs for 10 years, and Council approves public funding each year. Linzee Ott is interim director while the board searches nationally for a founding CEO, who it expects to have in place by early 2027. The Alliance's first focus this fall is Riverfront Plaza and the Riverfront Music Garden. Over the next two years it plans to expand to the Northbank and Southbank Riverwalks and other riverfront public spaces. Ott said programming at the two parks will start small, with pop-ups.

So the people now responsible for riverfront activity are just getting started, and the fall calendar is mostly JaxParks and city events that were already on the books.

The calendar through December

These are the events with confirmed dates at Riverfront Plaza as of October 10:

First Fridays brings food and dessert trucks, local vendors, games and the Fountain Bar to the plaza.

Holiday River Fest is the biggest night on the list. The city's event page has the city Christmas tree lighting at Riverfront Plaza at 6:25 p.m., the Jacksonville Light Boat Parade at 6:30 p.m., parade winners announced on the plaza's Holiday Stage at 8:15 p.m., and fireworks at about 8:30 p.m. This is the first holiday season with the Riverwalk connected. Parade watchers can walk all the way from the Fuller Warren end to the plaza along the water, as long as they stay off the southbound Main Street Bridge sidewalk.

Food along the walk is still mostly announced

Right now the only food you can count on along this route comes from vendors: the Saturday stalls at RAM and the trucks at First Fridays. The permanent options are on the way, and none has a confirmed opening date yet.

European Street Cafe at Riverfront Plaza. The city picked the Jacksonville restaurant through a competitive request-for-proposal process. The city's July 6 announcement said it was expected to open by late fall 2026, and no opening had been confirmed as of this writing. It will run in the 5,171-square-foot café building and serve sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts, coffee, beer and wine, frozen treats and kids' items. Owner Andy Zarka called the Jacksonville Landing "a place where so many of us made memories with family and friends" in the city's release.

Buchner's Biergarten on the Porter House lawn. The Jax Daily Record reported on September 18 that Buchner's Bierhalle of Murray Hill will turn the lawn east of The Vandeveer, at 515 N. Pearl St., into a German beer garden with shareable small plates. Developer Gateway Jax said the Biergarten and JetSet Modern Pilates will open this fall, and PopUp Bagels, Pearl Street Nails, Bar Citra and Go Greek Yogurt in 2027. This one sits inland on North Pearl Street, not on the river.

A second Riverfront Plaza restaurant. The DIA board voted to negotiate with Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group for a waterfront parcel at 2 Independent Drive West. The proposal is a three-tier restaurant and bar. No opening date has been reported.

Shipyards West Park, farther east. This is still on the way. In July, the city's permit for the first-phase pavilion at 750 E. Bay St. was under review. The plans describe a two-story, 36,000-square-foot events building, and the wider park design includes a beach, a cove, a fishing pier and a flex lawn.

For a Saturday this fall, RAM gives the walk a reliable starting point. The market runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and from there it's a continuous Riverwalk east past the McCoys Creek bridge to the Music Garden and Riverfront Plaza. On October 17, that puts you at the plaza during Riverfront Rollout.

We follow how projects like these shape the downtown and riverside parts of Jacksonville, and we're glad to share what we know about them. If you're wondering how the Riverwalk, Riverfront Plaza or the Emerald Trail links play into the value of your own home near the river, Ponte Vedra & Co. can walk you through it. Request a Free Consultation & Home Valuation.