Van Wezel Friday Fest 

Aug. 25

Everybody’s favorite free outdoor concert series continues Friday evening when the Van Wezel Friday Fest presents the popular reggae band Jah Movement and vocalist Shantal Norman. Bring your dancing shoes! 

Englewood ChalkFest

Aug. 26

If you haven’t visited Englewood’s Dearborn Avenue shopping district lately, here’s a good reason: The sixth annual ChalkFest takes over the street Saturday with demonstrations by professional chalk artists, and you have the opportunity to create your own chalk-art masterpiece.  Sponsored by the Englewood Art Center, it’s part of Englewood Pioneer Days. 

Singing in the Rain at the Opera House

Aug. 25

The Sarasota Opera has a hit on its hands with its new Classic Movies at the Opera House series—last week’s screening of The Greatest Show on Earth drew 900 film lovers. On the big screen this Friday night is the unforgettable 1952 musical comedy, Singin’ in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. 

Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads at The Ringling

Don’t forget to check out the monumental bronze Zodiac Heads by internationally acclaimed Chinese artist and social activist Ai Weiwei at the Ringling Museum. The Ringling scored big when it got the rights to exhibit them for the coming year. They’re now installed around the pond between the museum’s Center for Asian Art and Sarasota Bay.

Double Indemnity

Through Aug. 27

Last chance to see Dog Days Theatre’s production of the noir murder mystery, Double Indemnity, at the FSU Center’s Cook Theatre; it closes Sunday. “Lust, love, greed, murder, betrayal—Cain’s story has all that and more, and it’s perversely fun to watch it all unfold,” says our theater critic, Kay Kipling; read her review here.