This is one of those weeks where the Gulf Coast calendar runs in two directions at once: a big outdoor music day under the oak canopy on the South Tamiami Trail, and a quiet, candlelit jazz night in the arts district downtown. Both are on my calendar, and both are the kind of thing I love telling new neighbors about, so here is my local's read on the next few days.
Saturday at Phillippi Estate Park
The big one is the Casting For The Kids Coastal Classic at Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, on Saturday, September 26 from noon to 10 p.m. It is ten hours of live music, with three bands building through the afternoon to headliner Home Grown, plus food trucks and an ice-cream vendor scattered across the lawn beneath the big live oaks. Admission runs about $5, and every dollar goes to Casting For The Kids, the local foundation that helps families facing pediatric cancer with medical bills, rent and everyday expenses. It is an easy way to spend a Saturday outdoors and do some real good while you are at it.
The same weekend also brings the foundation's free kids' dockside fishing tournament, with pre-registered young anglers receiving a fishing pole and a swag bag while the first 150 spots last. Watching a kid reel in that first catch on Sarasota Bay is one of those memories that sticks. From the Osprey and South Sarasota side of the corridor, Phillippi is a straight shot north up the trail corridor, about a fifteen-minute drive from most Palmer Ranch communities.
Sunday in the Arts District
Sunday, the energy shifts downtown. The Aga Zaryan US Tour makes a Sarasota stop at the Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N. Palm Ave., starting at 7 p.m. The Polish jazz vocalist performs original compositions with pianist Michal Tokaj, an intimate, hour-plus set in one of the arts district's most interesting rooms. If you have never caught a show at the hotel itself, this is a good one to start with.
While you are there, the hotel's current exhibits are worth a slow lap: Pascal Benichou, a Sarasota-based painter whose work moves between abstraction, photography and dance, and Mara Art Studio + Gallery's Echoes of Yesterday, both on view through the fall. The Perspective Rooftop Pool Bar keeps weekend DJ sets running Fridays and Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and sunrise yoga on the roof is a wonderful way to bookend the season.
The Rest of the Week at Marina Jacks
Downtown's bayfront anchor is in its element all week. Marina Jacks at 2 Marina Plaza keeps the Blue Sunshine Patio and dining room booked most nights, with acts including Matt Dendy on Monday, Bri Rivera on Tuesday, Ryan Faraday on Wednesday and Jason White on Sunday, typically kicking off between 4 and 5 p.m. Long golden light, boats coming in, cold drinks on the patio: it never gets old.
Then the season truly opens: Fresh Fridays Downtown returns to Main Street on Friday, October 2 for Season 6, and the fall festival calendar runs hard through Halloween. If a week like this has you picturing the lifestyle, tour a few communities in the morning and join the party at night. Reach out and I will help you build the itinerary.