Van Wezel Friday Fest CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE IRMA!

Sept. 15 

We don’t know about you, but we need to let off some post-hurricane steam. What better way than at the Van Wezel Friday Fest party? Reverend Barry & Funktastic Soul featuring The Hellacious Horns will be there with its high-energy mix of Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder covers. Bring your dancing shoes. It’s the last free Friday Fest outdoor concert of the season, and the concert will go indoors if it rains.

4^th Annual Taste of Downtown - POSTPONED AGAIN TO SEPT. 30

Sept. 16

Hurricane Irma got in the way of this popular Sarasota Opera fund-raising party, originally scheduled for Sept. 9, but the second time should be a charm. A couple dozen top downtown Sarasota restaurants will be putting on a show at the Opera House Saturday afternoon, offering samples of their most creative fare—with stations set up backstage and all around the historic theater. It’s all to benefit the Sarasota Youth Opera, which will be giving a mini-performance. Sarasota Magazine is a proud sponsor. 

$6 Saturdays thru September at Mote

Florida residents, enjoy $6 admission to Mote Aquarium every Saturday through Sept. 30. One member of your party must show valid proof of residency. The offer is good for a party of up to four. And be sure to say hi to the resident manatees, Hugh and Buffett.

FST Cabaret: Roar, the Music of the 1920s and Beyond

Thru Sept. 24

Still time to catch charismatic New York cabaret artist Carole Bufford in her FST Cabaret show, Roar, the Music of the 1920s and Beyond; it closes Sept. 24. The singer The New York Times called “an earthier, more acerbic 21^st-century Barbra Streisand” is performing Jazz Age songbook classics and evoking the likes of Bessie Smith and Helen Morgan. In Florida Studio Theatre’s Court Cabaret.

Let's Eat, Englewood

Sept. 15-29

More than 20 Englewood-area restaurants are participating in this third annual Restaurant Week, offering two-course lunches for $12 and three-course dinners for $23—a nice way to sample the fare in South Sarasota County. (And since several are waterfront restaurants, a nice way to enjoy the view, too.)