ARTS & CRAFT FESTIVALS
SIESTA KEY
Sarasota is an artist’s and art lover’s dream come true. From December through April, you’ll feel drawn to an arts & craft show in and around town every weekend. The shows offer art of every type and for every budget. Who knew simple fallen palm tree seed pods could transform into gorgeous art? How in the world did the artist combine real monarch butterfly wings into that stunning wall piece? Your challenge, should you choose to accept, is to stroll through every booth and avoid buying one of each…week after week after show after show.
CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE
SARASOTA BAYFRONT
On one special Saturday night in December, the magical Christmas season arrives in Sarasota. Boat captains stun tens of thousands of spectators who line the shores for miles with cleverly decorated boats. What’s more tropical than decorating a boat for the holidays? Who needs snow, ice, and freezing temps? If you’re not able to sneak aboard one of the boats in the parade or quickly make friends with a boat owner, arrive early to secure a spot on the shore. The Christmas cheer is alive and well in Sarasota, Florida.
DIG THE BEACH
SIESTA KEY
Do you love or dream of loving beach volleyball? In July at Siesta Beach, you can experience or view the Dig the Beach Series, the longest standing and largest sand volleyball series in the United States, providing a competitive tournament experience to players of all skill levels. Every July, the Dig The Beach sand volleyball series hits Siesta Beach. Join in the fun or kick back in your bech chair for a whole lot of digging the beach.
SIESTA KEY DRUM CIRCLE
SIESTA KEY
Experience the iconic Siesta Key Drum Circle every Sunday evening, about two hours before sunset. Percussionists arrive with djembes, congas, bass drums, and bongos. The Circle forms, beach chairs forming the circle. The recurring beat draws beachgoers to the circle, mesmerized and curious. What started as a small group of percussionists celebrating life’s blessings has morphed into a “must-experience” event. The percussion defines the circle, but you never what other musicians will appear from week-to-week: electric guitars; bagpipes; trumbones; saxophones; belly dancers. No visit is complete without a Sunday night drum circle.
FARMERS MARKET
SARASOTA DOWNTOWN
When is a farmers’ market more than fruits and veggies? Easy answer: when an average 10,000 visitors per week support and enjoy the local artisans’ wares, live music, flowers and plants, food and drink, produce, and art & crafts. For nearly 40 years, the downtown farmers’ market has thrived, expanding responsibly to serve its customers. All produce sold at the market comes from a 50-mile average distance. The average visitor spends $37.26/visit. Starting in 2018, the Farmers’ Market each year pays tribute to Woodstock with a Woodstock Revival, complete with live music, lots of paisley & tie-dye, VW wagons, Birkenstock sandals. The Market has become weekly entertainment, not just a shopping chore.
FIESTA ON SIESTA
SIESTA KEY
For years, top female college sand volleyball teams hit Siesta sand for the Fiesta on Siesta sand volleyball tourney. For volleyball fans, this has become an eagerly awaited weekend of beach and volleyball. Increasingly, more colleges and universities are adding beach volleyball to their programs. Fans no longer have to travel to the schools to enjoy great volleyball. They need only grab their beach chairs, sunbrellas, sunscreen, coolers, and head to a beach on the travel schedule. Do you “dig the beach?”
FRIDAY FEST
SARASOTA BAYFRONT
Throughout the summer, FridayFest attracts 1000s to its FREE Friday night concert series on the grass of the “Purple Cow.” Music lovers grab their lawn chairs and sunglasses, enjoying a Bay breeze and the myriad food and drink vendors who line the perimeter. Against a gorgeous fiery sunset, the band jams into the night. What a wonderful way to end a week as each year the FridayFest grows bigger and bigger.
HUNSADER FARMS
BRADENTON
Fall means it’s time for the Annual Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival. Yeah! We surely boast the endless summer, but our festival organizers step it up to WOW! you with seasonal entertainment. Yes, Hunsader’s offers pumpkins, lots of pumpkins. To your delight, the top crafters, musicians, and entertainers show up to the pumpkin festival. You might not expect “a grizzly experience,” trick dogs, Luau Logans TroPIGal, Bello Nock, DareDevilDaze FMX, Moogician Magic Show, juggling, motorcycle stunts, monster trucks…and MORE! More? Yes, more! Don’t miss the annual Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival.
JUNGLE GARDENS
SARASOTA
Does a tropical adventure await you? Are you looking for a little break from the white sandy beaches and blue-green Gulf of Mexico when visiting Sarasota? Great! Brush the sand off your flip-flops and cruise over to this local favorite since 1939 – Jungle Gardens. Did you know the Gardens boasts “…200 native and exotic animals including birds of prey, many different species of parrots and macaws, primates, small mammals, dozens of snakes, lizards, iguanas, alligators, crocodiles and other reptiles – many of them rescued or donated – including Florida’s noted pink flamingos within 10 acres of lush tropical landscaping connected by winding jungle trails”? Well, now you do. Enjoy!
KAYAK FUN
LIDO KEY
Sarasota’s #1 kayak adventure awaits you at Lido Key’s mangrove tunnels. Once you launch from the South Lido Park, you’ll enjoy the pool side of multi-million dollar mansions, cormarants snaking in and out of the water, manatees (if you’re lucky), and more relaxation than you can imagine. By the way, if you choose not to row your own boat, grab a few friends and a tow rope. Hook on to a friend’s kayak and kick back for a pleasant ride around Sarasota Bay. Who needs to row when you have friends?
MARIETTA MUSEUM
OF ART & WHIMSY
SARASOTA
Once you hop off a plane in Sarasota, your eyes may need time to adjust when you first spot this museum of whimsy en route to your vacation condo on Siesta. Yes, those really are giant pink flamingos, one of which is donning a top hat. Yes, you really did just see towering orange spotted giraffes. Just imagine what else you’ll see inside and out back. Ms. Marietta’s museum of art & whimsy is one amazing lady’s life’s work, a testament to the power of positive thinking and good vibes. Every age group loves this museum that’s not your typical museum.
MOTE MARINE
LIDO KEY
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is a working laboratory with real marine biologists who daily confront all maladies afflicting the Gulf including bacteria and Red Tide. It is not DisneyWorld. For visitors who know the difference, they maintain appropriate expectations. The following aquarium exhibits wow visitors: sharks, manatees,river otters, crocodilians, sea turtles. Visitors also enjoy Mote’s virtual reality experience, a 360-degree virtual journey that includes sound and movement. Thanks to Immotion, this VR experience will take you from swimming with humpback whales to going on an animated rollercoaster ride. To top off your visit, Mote Marine offers a “deep sea diner,” provided by Mancini Diners, Inc, a casual, retro, ’50s-style diner. “The lively café offers a fun, affordable, family-style menu including chili and chowder, burgers and dogs, veggie burgers and fresh salads, chicken fingers and fries. And don’t forget dessert: hand-dipped ice cream, shakes and sundaes.”
PUBLIC PARKS
SARASOTA
Sarasota offers the best and most diverse parks of any other Florida area. From Myakka State Park’s “old Florida” look and feel with majestic oaks dripping in Spanish moss to 100s (maybe 1000s of alligators roaming untethered through the park to Sarasota’s tribute to its circus heritage at the Payne Circus Park to a converted landfill at Rothenbach Park off Bee Ridge in East Sarasota, these three parks epitomize the uniqueness of Sarasota’s parks. There’s a park for every taste and every age. If you’ve not experienced the South Lido Park all the way around to the backside on trails or along the water’s edge, you must. You’ll glimpse kayakers and paddleboarders who rank the Lido mangrove tunnels #1 in Sarasota.
THE RINGLING
SARASOTA
The Ringling is much more than an art museum. Combining a world-class art museum, a Renaissance-style palace with 21 galleries enclosing a courtyard graced with copies of iconic sculptures, Ca’d’Zan (i.e. “House of John”), the Circus Museum, and the Bayfront Gardens gifts visitors with a unique “museum” experience. Don’t fret, the Ringling has even thought of your young kids with a special outdoor playground, shaded and sure to captivate your little ones who aren’t ready for 28,000 works that represent Western and non-Western art from ancient periods, the European Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, and American art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Your guests won’t believe the manicured grounds, Mable Ringling’s famed Rose Garden, the inimitable Banyan trees and secret stone sculpture encased by the banyans, and a relaxing Bayfront stroll. To cap off your visit, you must experience the Banyan Cafe and gift store. If this isn’t enough, The Ringling staff continues to open this treasure to one and all, debuting cultured meetup opportunities (“Ringling After 5”) and Christmas at The Ringling as the Ca’d’Zan transforms into a Winter Wonderland, featuring decorations from the period and local schoolchildren spread through the grounds providing Christmas music.
SKI-A-REES
LIDO KEY
Experience Sarasota’s Ski-A-Rees Water Ski Show throughout the season at 2:00 PM. You’ll see teams of water skiers performing tricks including a 12-person pyramid. These volunteers are champion water skiers. On a quiet Sunday aftertoon throughout the season, visitors can step back in time to a simple and free family-friendly experience. You’ll cheer and hold your breath with each stunt. Grab your sunscreen and a cushion for the bleachers or lawn chairs for a show that lasts about 45 minutes. Free parking and admission but donations are welcome.
STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING
SIESTA KEY
Stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) has become a tropical treat for the entire family…no age requirements. From beginners to skilled racers, SUP provides a relaxing and competitive outdoor opportunity to commune with nature. One day a year, paddleboarding enthusiasts gather for the Sarasota SUP Race Series, a full day of races, entertainment, music, food and fun for a quintessential water and beach lifestyle event…like no other.
TREE UMPH!
BRADENTON
When was the last time you played in the trees, high up in the trees? Zip. Climb. Swing. Soar. TreeUmph! WILL challenge you. No ifs, ands, or buts. At this outdoor adventure park featuring climbing, suspension bridges & zip line courses for all levels, you will enjoy challenging yourself. As TreeUmph’s website notes, they offer “…over 10 football fields of challenging terrain and hundreds of aerial adventure games.” This challenge comes with a hefty pricetag: 5 courses, including the Extreme Lead and Summit Courses, and the giant TriUmph Zipline at ~$55/ticket. Strap in and sail away among the towering Florida pines.
MORE TO EXPLORE
BEACHES
BEST OF SARASOTA
7 DAYS TRIP
THINGS TO DO
WATER FUN
CASUAL DINING
EVENTS & FESTIVALS
LIFESTYLE GEAR
TIKI BARS
ROAD TRIPS
FESTIVALS
PLACES TO SEE
14 local beaches you must experience
Sarasota Lifestyle’s Mike Payne shares top picks
Experience the “best of” the Sarasota area
All ages will love this “to-do” list
Sarasota’s best water fun hotspots
Best casual dining around Sarasota
You’ll bookmark this growing events calendar
Secret to good beach vibes in frozen tundra
8 local bucket list tiki “bars”
BEST one-tank Florida road trips
You MUST experience these festivals
Discover Sarasota’s off-the-beaten path
MORE TO EXPLORE
BEACHES
BEST OF SARASOTA
7 DAYS TRIP
THINGS TO DO
WATER FUN
CASUAL DINING
EVENTS & FESTIVALS
LIFESTYLE GEAR
TIKI BARS
ROAD TRIPS
FESTIVALS
PLACES TO SEE
14 local beaches you must experience
Sarasota Lifestyle’s Mike Payne shares
top picks
Experience the “best of” the Sarasota area
All ages will love this “to-do” list
Sarasota’s best water fun hotspots
Best casual dining around Sarasota
You’ll bookmark this growing events
calendar
Secret to good beach vibes in frozen
tundra
8 local bucket list tiki “bars”
BEST one-tank Florida road trips
You MUST experience these festivals
Discover Sarasota’s off-the-beaten path
MORE TO EXPLORE
BEACHES
BEST OF SARASOTA
7 DAYS TRIP
THINGS TO DO
WATER FUN
CASUAL DINING
EVENTS & FESTIVALS
LIFESTYLE GEAR
TIKI BARS
ROAD TRIPS
FESTIVALS
PLACES TO SEE
14 local beaches you must
experience
Sarasota Lifestyle’s Mike Payne
shares top picks
Experience the “best of” the
Sarasota area
All ages will love this “to-do”
list
Sarasota’s best water fun
hotspots
Best casual dining around
Sarasota
You’ll bookmark this growing
events calendar
Secret to good beach vibes in
frozen tundra
8 local bucket list tiki “bars”
BEST one-tank Florida road
trips
You MUST experience these
festivals
Discover Sarasota’s off-the-
beaten path
Sarasota US
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