This is the week the anniversary celebration peaks. The Bay Park closes its One Park FOUR All birthday month with a Silent Disco, a free movie on the lawn and the Best of The Bay Music Fest, while University Town Center lights up with its annual carnival and Venice Theatre takes its final bows on Blood Relations. Here is how the week of October 28 through November 3 shakes out.
Wednesday and Thursday: Two Free Evenings at The Bay
Tonight, Wednesday, October 28, The Bay hosts a free Silent Disco at The Nest from 6:30 p.m., where everyone dances to the same DJ under wireless headphones as the sky goes orange over the bay at 1055 Boulevard of the Arts. Thursday the 29th keeps the free streak going with Cinema at The Bay screening The Silence of the Lambs for its 35th anniversary on the big lawn at The Oval at 7 p.m., blankets and takeout encouraged. If a live orchestra is more your speed, Ghostbusters in Concert plays the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall the same night, and the 6th Annual Fall Festival & Carnival opens its run at University Town Center from Thursday afternoon through the weekend with carnival rides and games.
Halloween Weekend in Brief
Saturday, October 31, is the fullest day of the month: the 38th Downtown Venice Art Festival and the Sarasota Fine Art Show at JD Hamel Park both open at 10 a.m., Fright Night dresses up St. Armands Circle from 5:30 p.m., and the Gator Club closes Lemon Avenue with its Halloween block party until midnight. My full Halloween plan is in this week's Halloween post, and the weekend roundup lives in my Halloween weekend guide.
Sunday, November 1: Best of The Bay & a Second Day of Art
Sunday is the one I would not skip. The Best of The Bay Music Fest caps the anniversary month from 1 to 7 p.m. at The Bay with food trucks rolling in at 12:30 and sets from The White Crowe Band, Rosine, The Rockefellers and Speak Easy, all free on the lawn. Ten minutes south, West Venice Avenue hosts the art festival's second day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Blood Relations, the Lizzie Borden story, takes its final bows at the Venice Theatre's Pinkerton Theatre. If your Sunday runs on market time instead, the Fresh Harvest Farmers Market at downtown Wellen Park runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., then the Siesta Key Drum Circle gathers on the sand about an hour before sunset to close the weekend.
November picks up right behind it: the Sarasota Medieval Fair opens November 7 at the Woods of Mallaranny in Myakka City, the Living Arts Festival runs November 8 through 15, and the Siesta Key Crystal Classic brings the sand sculptors to Siesta Beach November 13 through 16. The full season lives in my Community Events guide, and I update it as dates firm up.
If this stretch has you picturing the downtown lifestyle, this is the week to see it at its liveliest, then quietly on a Sunday afternoon. Reach out and I will build your tour around the calendar.