This free maritime museum is eye-opening regarding Cortez Fishing Village and Florida maritime…read morehistory The rooms are carefully & creatively curated with easy to read and understand information. It is child and adult-friendly, has a maritime library and pleasant grounds, including a secret garden. It appears well-used by student groups. They have many forward-thinking ideas and are currently renovating a section. It provides a good sense of this hot hard life and great respect for the fishing industry that grew here. Boat-lovers will especially enjoy. Loved the hurricane history wall and the opportunity to provide ones own experiences on one wall. Hours are reasonable and it's near ice cream! I was there twice in a short weekend in Cortez! and tipped well to hopefully help with their future endeavors.

Very quaint and interesting place. Lots of really cool pictures and the volunteers are very…read morehelpful. Fun little 2 hour excursion.

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!

Last night's festivities were a lot of fun. This was our 4th year attending, and we've experienced…read morethe event in several different ways -- from the premium tower tickets ($240 for two + fees) to enjoying the evening on the grass at Regatta Island by the water. The staff and volunteers have always been friendly, and the fireworks continue to be the highlight of the show. We had a disappointing experience with the tower tickets in 2025 due to poor food quality and a lack of seating, so this year we decided to return to the field, bring our own picnic, and enjoy a more relaxed night. The weather was perfect, and we loved it. Unfortunately, parking at the end of the event overshadowed an otherwise great night. We purchased a Parking A pass for $40 and arrived early, but were redirected to general parking, which cost $30. Leaving afterward was complete chaos. There were no parking staff directing traffic, and it took us 45 minutes just to get out of the lot. Because of the parking issues, we sadly won't be returning next year. After such a nice eve, the last thing anyone wants is to end it with unnecessary stress. This was the event's 10th year, and it feels like some corners have been cut over time, when it comes to logistics and crowd management. We sincerely hope improvements are made, because the fireworks and waterfront setting truly make this a special community event.

They have great vendors and perfect view from any location when you're parked in Benderson.read more

Parking was easy. You can tell how much live and work went into this festival-everyone very…read morefriendly and wishing to share details of the their heritage. The food was authentic and tasty!! Will be going again next year!!

We had a great time at the Hungarian Festival in Sarasota state Fairgrounds! The Hungarian festival…read morefeatures Tons of big named musicians flown in from Hungary! My favorite was Animal Canibals, the Hungarian rap group! The festival featured about 4 rows of venders under tents offering a wide range of Hungarian foods and various other Hungarian products. The festival had a huge tent where all the musicians performed with plenty of seating in the shade with fans. The lines were not bad at all to get food, drinks, or go to the bathroom. They had a ton of cool games including this hamster ball through a maze, bubble boy on water, ride the shark, tree house slide, trampoline super jump, an inflatable maze, archery, and some lego games for the kids. I was To drink, I was A little disappointed there was no Hungarian beer but there was plenty of German and Czechoslovakian beer. I really liked the shirts the festival workers had on featuring a large Hungarian crest but I was disappointed they didn't sell it in black. To eat, We had chicken paprikas, beef stew, mashed potatoes, szekey kaposzta, Langos, cremes torta, raspberry tekercs. All of them tasted great, authentic, and just like grandma makes! This festival is the closest I've gotten to Hungary since 2009 so it was nice ! I look forward to visiting next year!

My family and I enjoyed the show and the horses. We had an enjoyable time…read more The horses are beautiful!

Highly recommend to any person whether you are a horse lover or a person who likes animals. It is…read more1.5 hours of talented horses and riders doing enjoyable performances. New is the Florida Cracker performance. This is the BEST show for only $12 and performances are until April 27, 2024.

this event keeps kicking butt it gets better every time they have it…read more good food great music and shows IF YOU HAVENT GONE YOU NEED TO GO VIP is the place to be in this event if you like To eat And drink all night long then this is your place get your Tixx because they are limited

This is so much fun-take an open area, add lounge furniture, mood lighting, great entertainers…read more(just saw Alex Romano and Music Fusion in Delray Beach & I heard a rumor they'll be in Sarasota & Orlando too!), food, adult beverages, a fashion show, samba parade, fireworks and a few thousand of your closest friends and what do you get? CHILLOUNGE NIGHT - Fabulous concept can't wait for the next one!

Totally sucked it's not a circus and not a music concert the sound totally sucked for an orchestra…read moreperformance. The few acts were lame Total rip off for the amount of money they charge. No butter for the popcorn BYO

Circus performance at the tent next to the University Town Center Mall organize by the Circus Arts…read moreConservatory of Sarasota. The performance by the season artist who are the winner of many circus honorary. This circus include an orchestra, chorale, and the performer. The orchestra is awesome to attached to the circus. The chorale team also is very good. However the circus act did not impress me. The are momentum build up but not follow with wow factor act. I between the show, there are too many not interesting section or keep up the beat of the show. Lost my interest in many moment. Overall they have a good portable bathroom. They are good and clean. This cuscus has only two shows. It is good for the community and people to spent their time with family.

I was very excited when I found out about this event and was looking forward to attend. This review…read moreis only about the Balloon Festival Grounds event as this Festival is part of a four day event filled with different options. As we arrived we noticed that it was very empty and with such a large location it's hard to go unnoticed. A few food trucks and jazz music were the main attractions. We decided to do the wine tasting and so glad we since there was not much to do otherwise. The wine tasting (sip & soar) was composed of 6 wines that you select from several options. Some of the options widely available at your grocery store. If you decide to ride a Balloon you must by a ticket and arrive early and perhaps that would have been the best of the Festival. I would like to try one of the other events like the Glow dinner in the future.