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.
Tag Archives: Sarasota events
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:
Siesta Key Crystal Classic Sand Sculpting
A new annual event took Sarasota by storm in it’s inaugural year. The amazingly successful event was inspired and directed by 2 master sand sculptors – Bill Knight and Brian Wigglesworth. As experienced sand master sculptors,- unlike any other event directors could – they hit a home run first time up!
The Siesta Key Crystal Classic Master Sand Sculpting Competition brought 11 teams of master sand sculptors together to compete for cash prizes. The proceeds from the first annual event benefited Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. In addition to the competition, the event included sand sculpting lessons, an amateur competition, live music, a vendor village and other fun family activities. We were so happy to be there to videotape the entire event.
If you weren’t there for the first year…make sure you don’t miss this year’s event. And if you don’t live here, plan a trip!
Sarasota Florida Fun Family Activities
Sarasota is a splendid destination for your family vacation. Yes, Sarasota does have some of the most amazing beaches in the US, but it’s not just a beach destination. When you’re looking for other diversions, you’ll find a variety of family friendly things to do.
Check out Mote Marine Aquarium for a close up look at marine life and current research and conservation programs. The entire family will enjoy seeing over 100 species of marine life, including sharks, dolphins, manatees, seahorses and sea turtles.
Mote is open every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mote is located at 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy. on City Island, 1 mile north of St. Armand’s Circle.
For the animal lovers, the Big Cat Habitat is a sanctuary for animals right here in Sarasota. Not just tigers and lions and bears…you can also see coatimundis, a camel, birds, lemurs, tortoises and more. And don’t miss the Mia the Liger. Yes, a liger – her mother is a Bengal tiger and father is a lion!
The sanctuary is located at 7101 Palmer Blvd. The habitat opens at 12:30 five days per week, but the schedule may be changed based on the weather. So check their event calendar for current activities and prices or call them at (941) 371-6377 for all the details.
Your children will also appreciate some non-structured, imaginative play time. Make sure you plan to visit the unique Sarasota Children’s Garden and let the kids be kids. You can’t beat this whimsical spot for family fun.
These are just a few of the family friendly amusements you’ll find when you vacation in Sarasota.
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!