Editor’s note: In-person events are subject to change. Please check before venturing out.

FST (Virtual) Improv Festival

July 10-12

Florida Studio Theatre’s annual Improv Festival sadly won’t be taking place in person this year. But you can still have plenty of laughs—virtually, of course; FST Improv director Will Luera is putting together an online fest with workshops, performances, and one-on-one interviews with renowned improv performers from Los Angeles, Manhattan and even France. Cozy up to your computer and check it out here.

Sarasota Ballet on SNN

July 10, 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.; July 11 and 12, 7 p.m.

If you haven't experienced the nationally acclaimed Sarasota Ballet, now's your chance to watch it from the comfort of your home. SNN-TV is broadcasting their performance of Changing Light, a piece by British choreographer Will Tuckett (he's created works for the Royal Ballet) on Friday and Saturday. It's a world premiere commissioned by the ballet troupe in 2013 based on Tuckett's impressions of a Sarasota sunset.

Escape to Mote Aquarium

Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The friendly fish at Mote Aquarium are ready to welcome you back with CDC guidelines in place; masks are required of everyone over the age of 5 and in order to keep crowds to a minimum you have to buy reserved tickets online in advance that give you a 15-minute window in which to arrive.

Asolo Rep Presents Ground Floor: Making Musicals 

July 9, 6 p.m.

Get in on the ground floor of four brand-new musicals, with brief previews and discussions with the playwrights and composers being aired on the Asolo Rep’s Facebook and YouTube pages and cast your vote for your favorite. Two have already aired, but you still have time July 9 to catch a preview of MĀYĀ, a new musical set in 1930 during the Gandhi Salt March, with book and music by Cheeyang Ng, book and lyrics by Eric Sorrels; and Fountain, a new musical set in Florida with book, music and lyrics by Christopher Anselmo and Jared Corak, on Thursday, July 23. Register here and learn about the virtual happy hour that accompanies each preview, too.  

Explore Mable Ringling’s Rose Garden 

Open daily 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Tiptoe through the roses in Mable Ringling’s magnificent rose garden at the Ringling Museum. The rose garden recently was replanted for the first time since 2004; learn more about it from curator Kai Socco here. It’s free to wander the beautiful bayfront grounds on Mondays, which is also a free day to visit the art galleries. Otherwise, in a new policy that went into effect this week, the museum will charge $5 to enjoy the 66 outdoor acres, or $25 for a yearlong pass. Children under 17 are admitted to the grounds free any time.

Visit Warm Mineral Springs

Open daily 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Warm Mineral Springs is open to the public again, and couldn’t everybody use a healing soak right about now? Thousands of Eastern Europeans for whom healing spas are a tradition have settled in nearby North Port to be closer to its mineral-rich, consistently 85-degree waters. Our own Mr. Chatterbox paid a visit a few years ago and reported that, “It changed my life.” Get directions, pricing and more here.