Here is what is happening around Sarasota and Venice for the week of September 10 through 17, and it is a good one. A soul music revue is lighting up Payne Park through the weekend, a Pink Floyd tribute plays the Venice Community Center on Saturday night, and Kevin Nealon visits McCurdy's Comedy Theatre on Thursday. Add two farmers markets on Saturday morning and the usual run of bayfront live music, and the fall season officially feels underway.
Soul Sensations Rings Through Payne Park
Soul Sensations: A Night to Remember runs September 10 through 13 at Payne Park Auditorium in Sarasota, a high-energy soul and R&B review built around the music of Motown and the great voices of that era. The run is produced in support of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, so every ticket does double duty: a great night out, and a good night for a local nonprofit that does wonderful work. This is the kind of show that gets the whole room on its feet, and it sells out when word gets around, so grab tickets early. It is less than twenty-five minutes from the Palmer Ranch corridor.
A Night of Pink Floyd in Venice
On Saturday, September 12, at 7 p.m., a Pink Floyd tribute fills the Venice Community Center with big screens, lights, and the unmistakable sound of the catalog. This one is a local favorite: the room turns into a mini production, and people who came merely curious end up singing along with everyone else by the encore.
Make it a full downtown night in Venice: dinner on Venice Avenue first, then the show. Heads up for the weekend after, the Venice Art & Craft Expo fills historic downtown Venice on Saturday, September 19, so the coming Saturdays are shaping up nicely for a slow stroll with coffee in hand.
Saturday Mornings Belong to the Markets
The farmers markets are my favorite constant, and both are running. The Venice Farmers Market sets up every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the City Hall campus, 401 West Venice Avenue in downtown, with produce, baked goods, and local artisans. Up the road, the Downtown Sarasota Farmers Market fills Lemon Avenue and Main Street from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. More than once I have met clients for coffee at one of these markets and turned it into the first conversation about buying, because this is where the rhythm of the area lives. My full market notes are in my farmers market guide.
Thursday Laughs at McCurdy's
If you still want one more reason to get out, Kevin Nealon lands at McCurdy's Comedy Theatre on Thursday, September 17. McCurdy's is my pick for a small club evening in the area: a proper cabaret-style room where every seat is a good one. Make it a simple night out with a friend, or the start of a downtown dinner evening, and you will remember why live comedy is so worth planning around.
The Steady Beat of the Bayfront
And the anchors that never quit: Marina Jacks on the downtown bayfront keeps live music going on the patio most nights, and the Art Ovation Hotel in the arts district runs live jazz on Wednesdays and Latin Nights on Thursdays. My full shortlist of the spots I send people to eat and listen is on the dining page, and I update it as I discover new ones.
Whether you are here for a season or scouting the area to call home, the Gulf Coast fall calendar is exactly this alive. Explore the communities and, if you want a local's read on where to land, I would love to hear from you.