The 2nd annual Siesta Key Crystal Classic Sandsculpting Competition was held in November 2011 on Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, Florida. This contest drew international sculptors and over 40,000 visitors to Siesta Beach. This video features the World Sandsculpting Doubles Champions – Karen Fralich and Dan Belcher. This team won First Place, the People’s Choice award and the coveted Sculptors’ Choice award.
The 3rd annual event will take place on Siesta Key Beach from November 9-12, 2012.
Make your plans now to attend.
Tag Archives: festival
Sarasota Film Festival – Best Documentary – Better This World
Better This World was written, directed and produced by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega. It is the story of David McKay and Bradley Crowder, two young political activists. While under the influence of an older charismatic revolutionary, the two were arrested for domestic terrorism during the 2008 Republican Convention. The movie looks at what happened between the three men. Accepted as an Official Selection in over 20 film festivals, Better This World won three “Best Documentary” awards in Sarasota and San Francisco. This interview with the filmmakers was conducted during the Sarasota Film Festival.
The movie examines how the “war on terror” after 9/11 has impacted civil liberties and political dissent in the US. Better This World will also be broadcast on P.O.V. on PBS on September 6th.
Sarasota Hispanic Latino Festival
The Sarasota Hispanic Latino Festival featured Charityn and Yovany and many other well known musicians. Sponsored by The Academy of Latin Arts and Science, the event offered food, music, dancing and family friendly activities for children. Mostly a family crowd, the biggest excitement was when Charityn, who has been called the Latin Oprah, appeared onstage. She took the time to meet and take photos with her fans individually and seemed to sincerely enjoy this.
Siesta Fiesta 2011 in Siesta Key Village Sarasota
Siesta Fiesta is a 2 day event with lots of things to do and see – art, crafts, food, drinks and music. Saturday and Sunday, the main village street is shut down and filled with brightly colored paintings, sculpture, hand made clothing and jewelry. It’s a shoppers dream. Or you can just sit back with a cold drink and your choice of fiesta food and watch the people go by. This festival draws mainlanders and vacationers to the key in big numbers, so you’ll see island residents walking or riding their bikes to avoid the traffic. Held each year in April or May, check the date and come on out and enjoy Siesta Fiesta!
Sarasota Film Festival – One Smart Indian
Take a minuscule budget and 24 hours spread over three days in NYC…and you get Craig Butta’s One Smart Indian. This story of an aging writer trying for a last ditch comeback plays at Sarasota Film Festival as part of the Midnight Shorts program. If you missed the earlier screening, you can see it again on Wednesday, April 13th at 10:15 PM.
Craig talks about making the film in this interview.
See the One Smart Indian trailer.
Sarasota Film Festival Opening Night 2011
Opening night at the Sarasota Film Festival brought filmmakers, actors and festival sponsors out for the movie Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times. The red carpet event at the Sarasota Opera House was the place to be for movie lovers on Friday night.
Sarasota Film Festival Student Competition – and the winner is…
Students in the Motion Graphics department at Ringling College in Sarasota Florida competed to create an opening trailer for the films at this year’s Sarasota Film Festival. The winners were announced on opening night, and their trailer played before the opening night movie. The winning students were Natasha Bangert and Minna Choung for Paparazzi. Congratulations to all the students for their work. All of the finalists’ trailers will be seen during the festival.
Sarasota Vinyl Music Festival
Sarasota young VIPs partied at the Vinyl Music Festival opening event at the Ivory Lounge last night. This was the kick off for the 4 day Vinyl Music Festival. According to Rich Swier, VMF cofounder, “we created and will continue to build Vinyl in order to bring more current world-class musical entertainment to a world class city.” In our view, this first night was a success and generated great buzz about the festival leading up to the main event on Saturday night.
Sarasota Film Festival – Ringling College Student Trailer Competition
Movie lovers eagerly await the annual Sarasota Film Festival. This year, it runs from April 7-17. Since the first festival in 1999, the event has grown exponentially. Attendance this year will be over 45,000! SFF has expanded to an eleven day event that offers over 200 movie screenings, family activities, educational sessions and panel discussions, student competitions, parties and many other events. This is the largest event of it’s kind in the Southeast.
This year, there was also a new online competition for Ringling College of Art and Design to select the best trailer for the festival. Students in the Motion Graphics department created trailers and the public voted online to select the winner. When I spoke with Tom Hall – Artistic Director at SFF – he said the response was great for this first time competition.
The winning trailer will be announced and played before the opening night film – Page One. During the festival, each film will open with one of the finalist’s trailers. A great opportunity for Ringling students to show their stuff! Here’s an example:
Sarasota Florida International Street Painting Festival
The Avenida de Colores Burns Square Chalk Festival started in 2007 with just 22 adult and student artists. By 2010, the Sarasota International Street Painting Festival had over 250 street painters attending from all over the world. And as if the magnificent performance art isn’t enough, the event includes so many family friendly activities: pumpkin carving, the childrens’ chalk area, almost non-stop bands, great food, magic, street performers. Add a fashion show and a film festival. Where else can you have so much fun in Sarasota?
The excitement goes on all day and into the night during the annual 3 day festival. This is a great event to schedule your Sarasota vacation around. And unlike most activities that provide this much entertainment, there’s no admission fee!
See the video of Tracy Lee Stum from California who created a 60’X30′ 3-d piece entitled Mousetrap.
There’s sure to be a full roster of exciting events this year. One addition will be sponsored graffiti artists who will transform dozens of walls in downtown Sarasota into magnificent works of art and compete for prizes. The 2011 theme is the “Pavement Art through the Ages”. You can keep track of all of the plans at the Sarasota Chalk Festival website.
So mark your calendar! Invite your out of town friends. The 2011 Sarasota Chalk Festival is set for November 4th – 6th. Hope to see you there!