July 29

Friday Fest at the Van Wezel

If it’s reggae, soca, calypso and R&B you’re craving, then head to the Van Wezel bayfront lawn Friday night for a free Friday Fest concert with headliner Jah Movement and vocalist Shantel Norman. We dare you not to dance. The fun starts at 5 p.m., rain or shine. vanwezel.org

Through July 30

Summer Circus Spectacular

Just a few more days to catch the dazzling Summer Circus Spectacular at the Ringling Museum’s Historic Asolo Theater; it closes Saturday with shows at 2 and 5 p.m. The fast-paced, one-hour show features Cuban speed juggler Rony Gomez, father-daughter hand balancing team Sergey and Sasha Korolev, world-famed aerialist Dolly Jacobs and lots more.  ringling.org/events/summer-circus-spectacular

July 30

Sarasota Cuban National Ballet School On Stage

The remarkable Sarasota Cuban National Ballet School, whose founders Ariel Serrano and Wilmian Hernandez draw on the influence of the great master teachers in Cuba, is showing off the talents of its summer-intensive program students with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Sarasota Opera House. The evening performance features the company’s Francisco Serrano in his final local performance before he joins London’s Royal Ballet. sarasotacubanballetschool.com

July 28

Hermitage Artist Retreat’s STARs on the beach

Each summer, the Hermitage Artist Retreat collaborates with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education to provide five public school teachers with residencies. Tonight, the Manasota Key beachfront artist retreat opens its campus to share the work created by these STAR teachers, first at 6:30 p.m. with open studio and historic campus tours, then at 7:15 on the beach for a reading of prose and poetry set to music. hermitageartistretreat.org 

July 29-Aug. 20

SARTQ: Small Works

The 12 area artists who make up the contemporary art collective SARTQ open their show, Small Works, at [blank] Slate Gallery with an opening meet-the-artists reception Friday evening. Twenty-five pieces are on exhibit by Jeffery Cornwell, Elena De La Ville, Zachary Gilliland, Joni Younkins-Herzog, Tim Jaeger, Cassia Kite, Jenny Medved, Laine Nixon, Vicky Randall, Javier Rodriguez, Steven Strenk, and Jill Taffet. The show runs through Aug. 20. Shown here, a work by Cassia Kite. blankslategallery.com