🍦 50 Years of History and a Full Summer Weekend

Best Things To Do in SRQ

Author

Carson B
June 23, 2026

Happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone had a nice Father's Day. The calendar doesn't slow down much this week: there's a free movie under the stars, a blueberry festival out at the winery, and live music just about everywhere you turn, and our Spotlight heads up to Bradenton for a beloved little history park that's turning 50. Here's what caught our eye.

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In today’s edition of the Sarasota Scoop:

Thanks for reading,

Carson

🧠 Think You Know Sarasota? Trivia!

When circus magnate John Ringling built the causeway connecting downtown Sarasota to St. Armands and Lido Keys in the 1920s, what unusual labor force did he use to haul the heavy bridge timbers?

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📰 Local Headline Roundup

A Sarasota Team Just Made Aviation History

Helios Horizon, a Sarasota-based nonprofit, says it pulled off the first human-piloted airplane flight powered by solid-state batteries, with chief test pilot Miguel Iturmendi at the controls. The new batteries nearly doubled the plane's range, a quiet but real leap for electric flight, and it happened right here on the Suncoast.

The Exchange Gives Back Half a Million Dollars

Sarasota's beloved nonprofit consignment shop handed out $500,000 this month, splitting it among 25 area arts and cultural organizations and 27 high school and college students. Not bad for a store built entirely on secondhand treasures.

Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza brings its star-shaped, slow-fermented pies to The Market at University Town Center starting June 23, its first stop in Sarasota. The concept comes from Italian chef Renato Viola, and the one to try is the Star Luca, with a dab of ricotta tucked into each point of the star.

A Local Foundation Spreads $507,000 Across Nearly 50 Nonprofits

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County handed out more than half a million dollars in grants this month, backing work on everything from homelessness prevention to grief support for kids, rural education, and senior care. A nice reminder of how much quiet good happens around here.

🔦 Spotlight: Manatee Village Historical Park Turns 50

This July, one of the area's quietest treasures hits a big round number. Manatee Village Historical Park turns 50, and it's throwing a party on Saturday, July 11 to mark the occasion. The timing is no accident: the park first opened its gates on July 4, 1976, one of the many local history projects the nation's Bicentennial inspired that summer.

Tucked onto four shady acres at 1404 Manatee Avenue East in Bradenton, the Village is an open-air museum that preserves Manatee County's founding era, roughly 1840 to 1918. You can wander through the real thing: the old Wiggins General Store, a settler's house furnished the way a Florida frontier family would have lived, an 1887 church, a one-room schoolhouse, and the county's oldest organized cemetery, all spread across fifteen points of interest under a canopy of live oaks. It's the kind of place where the kids can run between buildings while the grown-ups stop to read every plaque.

What makes a spot like this worth celebrating isn't only its age. The Bicentennial sparked a wave of preservation societies and open-air museums across the country, and plenty of them didn't last. This one did, quietly keeping the county's story standing and walkable for fifty years and asking very little of anyone to come see it.

If you want to be part of the milestone, the celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 11. There's a public-voted build contest on display, a hands-on workshop with the park's longtime curator on preserving your own family heirlooms and photos, and, for the romantics, a chance to renew your vows inside that 1887 church. It's a fitting way to spend a summer morning with the place that's been keeping Manatee County's history for half a century.

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Thursday, June 25

Florida Babe Ruth South State Tournament

📍 Babe Ruth Park, 185 S Pompano Ave, Sarasota
🕦 8:00 AM (through Sun, June 28)
🔗 Visit Sarasota County

Summer Circus Spectacular

📍 Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota
🕦 11:00 AM & 2:00 PM (through Aug 8)
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Summer Fest at Meadows Village

📍 Meadows Village, 5041 Ringwood Meadow, Sarasota
🕦 5:30 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Flambo Island Cuisine Wine Tasting

📍 40 S Boulevard of the Presidents, St. Armands, Sarasota
🕦 6:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Clos du Val Wine Dinner

📍 Michael's Wine Cellar, 1283 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
🕦 6:30 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Celtic Throne II: Psalter of Ireland

📍 Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
🕦 7:00 PM
🔗 Van Wezel

Jim McCue

📍 McCurdy's Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota
🕦 7:00 PM (also Fri–Sun, through Jun 28)
🔗 McCurdy's Comedy

Friday, June 26

All About Rainforests

📍 Sarasota Children's Garden, 1670 10th Way, Sarasota
🕦 11:00 AM
🔗 Sarasota Children's Garden

The Times They Are A-Changin' featuring Karlus Trapp

📍 Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
🕦 1:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Family Fun Night: FCL Braves vs. FCL Rays

📍 CoolToday Park, 18800 West Villages Pkwy, Venice
🕦 6:00 PM
🔗 CoolToday Park

Classic Movies at the Opera House: Silent Movie (1976)

📍 Sarasota Opera House, 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota
🕦 7:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

A Taste of Mendoza: Catena Zapata Wine Dinner

📍 GROVE, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Ranch
🕦 7:00 PM
🔗 Lakewood Ranch

Friday Night Concert: Johnny D & The Rocket 88's

📍 Gazebo at Centennial Park, 200 W Venice Ave, Venice
🕦 7:00 PM — 9:00 PM
🔗 Visit Venice

Vince Gill: 50 Years From Home

📍 Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
🕦 7:30 PM
🔗 Van Wezel

Diary of an Ozzman (Ozzy Osbourne Tribute)

📍 Motorworks Brewing, 1014 9th St W, Bradenton
🕦 7:30 PM — 10:00 PM
🔗 Motorworks Brewing

Movies Under the Stars: Wonka

📍 The Green at UTC, 210 N Cattlemen Rd, Sarasota
🕦 8:00 PM (pre-show activities 7:00 PM)
🔗 University Town Center

Saturday, June 27

Tales Under the Tree

📍 Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, 201 10th St W, Bradenton
🕦 2:00 PM
🔗 Bishop Museum

6th Annual Red, White & Blueberry Festival

📍 Fiorelli Winery, 4250 County Road 675, Bradenton
🕦 2:00 PM — 10:00 PM
🔗 Fiorelli Winery

Bradentucky Bombers vs. Sugar Sands Roller Derby

📍 Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, 5309 29th St E, Ellenton
🕦 5:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Doug Deming & The Jewel Tones

📍 Mattison's Riverwalk, Bradenton
🕦 6:00 PM — 10:00 PM
🔗 Mattison's

Stevie Nicks Tribute: Gypsy Edge

📍 Tuscany Nokomis Ballroom, 2300 N Tamiami Trail, Nokomis
🕦 7:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Lady Disdain (Closing Performance)

📍 Asolo Repertory Theatre, Mertz Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
🕦 7:30 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

The Hitt Kickers

📍 Siesta Key Oyster Bar, 5238 Ocean Blvd, Siesta Key
🕦 8:00 PM — 12:00 AM
🔗 Siesta Key Oyster Bar

Emo Night Brooklyn

📍 Oscura, 816 Manatee Ave E, Bradenton
🕦 8:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Sunday, June 28

Honky Tonk Angels (Closing Performance)

📍 Florida Studio Theatre, Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St, Sarasota
🕦 2:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

The Trevor Bystrom Band (Afro-Latin Funky Reggae)

📍 Motorworks Brewing, 1014 9th St W, Bradenton
🕦 2:00 PM — 5:30 PM
🔗 Motorworks Brewing

Lady Dot's T-Dance: A White Party

📍 Sage, 1216 First St, Sarasota
🕦 3:00 PM — 7:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Summer Movie Nights: Hoppers

📍 CoolToday Park, 18800 West Villages Pkwy, Venice
🕦 5:00 PM
🔗 CoolToday Park

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