Our family had a great time at the Venice Shark Tooth Festival!…read more We found this event last minute on Sunday and decided to drive out to the Shark tooth Capital to see what it would be like. It was very busy and a little tough to find parking but once we did we couldn't believe our eyes seeing so many shark teeth! Big and small from all types of sharks and there were some beautiful wall art made with shark teeth some dipped in resin with beautiful colors it was amazing to see how celebrated these teeth were. The live music was great people were dancing having a good time. I didn't see very many food vendors maybe because venices strip has restaurants up and down but they definitely had drinks non alcoholic and alcohol. I got myself a really cool branded coconut from surfing coconut that they crack open and you can drink fresh coconut water that was cold and refreshing. And the Kids Zone was great my kids got to find their own shark teeth offered by the Venice Lions Club which they got two minutes to find as many shark as they could and when they were done they had about 10/20 shark teeth each! This was a great festival filled with very talented vendors and amazing fossils and Shark teeth I will definitely be attending next year's event!

Went on 1st Saturday in Feb. Fantastic food/dinner - chicken paprikas, kolbacz & kraut, breaded…read morepork cutlet, stuffed cabbage and mashed potatoes. Too much for 1 meal - took half home. Two tables of pastries/desserts + authentic souvenirs from Hungary for sale. Looking forward to returning this year. Held the 1st Saturday of Nov., Dec., Feb., and March, 11-5pm. Frozen meats available to purchase

Amazing house in Nokomis South of Sarasota…read more They are already amazing bc of the big huge free parking beside their property with lit up path bc it is pitch black. It's also free for this beautiful spectacle. There are chairs for people to sit through out. I love the swing to sit and view the dragon. The benches also spread out are helpful. The ground is wide spread for when it gets crowded. We went on their last day and it was beautiful as ever and comfortable To see and nice to see after Xmas and New Years has passed. Thank you for this wonderful Christmas light show. It's always one to remember!

Fabulous.. so many lights, scenes, music, and all FREE!! A…read morewalk through experience. They even have a parking lot which is also FREE! What a wonderful family and experience.

3rd Annual Festa Italia in Sarasota…read more Live Entertainment Carnival Rides Specialty Foods Games Fun ....fun... It was certainly a beautiful warm sunny day to celebrate my heritage! I had my typical sausage and onions sandwich. Italian Ices, Peroni beer, linguine with clam sauce, and for desert zeppole and cappuccino.. and much more other food items I had to try, but then walked away bloating by eve.. (joke) Food was good and the entertainment was fun. The famous Flying Wellendas were doing their awesome acrobats on the high wire throughout the day! My son enjoyed the carni rides and fun houses... I enjoyed all the Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and more of that genre type of parody singers! Nice to have a taste of Italy near your home!

What a nice festival. What a great park for a festival…read more The food was excellent. The arancini (rice balls) were yum and baked ziti was delicious as well as Italian Ice. They had a lot of good looking food not just carnival junk. The Italian music was excellent. The Wallendas were amazing. The fireworks were awesome. I sure hope they have this festival next year!

As the Seafood and music festival has grown, so has the venue location. The '26 rendition was…read moreheld at the Sarasota Fairgrounds on Ringling off Fruitville. Now known as Sarasota Seafood and Music festival. Lots of food- seafood, hamburgers and carnival fried food plus bands and many merchants. I got a plate of jambalaya (a bit too salty) but loaded with sausage and shrimp (good deal for $20). Lots of beer options to wash it down(beer vendors took credit cards). Free parking and admission although you need to buy tickets for food.

This Seafood Festival is much better than the Tampa one we went to…read more There is a new parking garage in town for .50 an hour and your dog is welcome. I think the walkways are too hot for their paws right now, however people have pets here. We ordered a 3 item platter to share with Grouper, Coconut Shrimp and Jambalaya. We were happy with the $24.00 price and the food was very good. The Grouper needed another minute of cook time, it was still fresh and mild. The Jambalaya had Mahi in it and Sausage which was flavorful. There is a stage with live music that adds to the events fun factor and admission is free!

This is a local carnival/festival for the church. Hey bring in tons of vendors and rides and…read moreusually host it three day weekend. Wristbands are the way to go there available for purchase at the church and of course at festival.

This Sand sculpture festival was okay compared to last years. Last years had a Margaritaville…read moresponsor. It seemed as if the sand sculptures were smaller this year. The music stage was smaller as well. Either way I enjoy sand sculptures and the many tropical vendors they have. The weekend this was going on was extremely windy and cloudy, but the crowd did not seem smaller at all whatsoever.

sadly, the rain washed out most of the sand sculptures. very few are up. bmBe prepared to walk…read morethrough water to the sculptures & vendors.

Came back this year to celebrate the holidays at UTC. We…read moredecided to watch and Holiday movie under the stars which was how the Grinch stole Christmas. Parking was a bit tricky we had to park on the opposite side and walk over. And then, of course it took some time to find a spot on the grass to sit and watch the movie. We got there a little before the movie started so if you plan to go just get there early for better seating. The quality of the movie was good and so was the audio. We decided to get pizza from blaze for dinner to enjoy while we watched the movie. It was a really good time. After the movie was over, we brought all our stuff back to the car and walked around a bit to check out the Christmas trees and also view the Christmas lights. They do such a fantastic job every year it gets better and better.

UTC in Sarasota festival of lights is really an awesome light show synchronized with music. It runs…read morethroughout the Christmas season. We were only there for the light show today. On some Friday's they have a firework display at 9:00 pm. I highly recommend you checking out all the events UTC has for the Christmas season.