🍦 Film Fest, Pro Tennis, and More

Best Things To Do in SRQ: 4/2 - 4/5

Author

Carson B
April 07, 2026

Happy Tuesday, Sarasota!

This week is honestly stacked — the Sarasota Film Festival kicks off its 28th run, the Venice Sharks Tooth Festival brings the fossil hunters back to Centennial Park, and the Sarasota Open is in town for its final stretch of pro tennis.

Oh, and the Sarasota Opera House turns 100 on Friday — to the day. April 10, 1926 was opening night for what was then the Edwards Theatre. We shared a bit about this historic place the other week.

Let's get into it.

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In today’s edition of the Sarasota Scoop:

Thanks for reading,

Carson

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Legacy Trail's New Bifurcated Stretch Is Officially Open

Sarasota County just cut the ribbon on Phase 1 of the Legacy Trail Extension's bifurcated trail — a 1.5-mile parallel path between South Shade and South Beneva that finally separates the bikes from the walkers and runners. If you've ever had to dodge a peloton on your morning stroll near the Pompano Trailhead, you know exactly why this matters.

The Sarasota Film Festival Returns for Its 28th Year

Hollywood's coming back to Sarasota. The 28th annual Sarasota Film Festival runs April 10-19 with 47 feature films, 39 shorts, four world premieres, and an opening-night screening of Deep Water — a shark thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Sir Ben Kingsley, directed by Renny Harlin and produced by KISS frontman Gene Simmons (who'll be in town for the premiere). Ten days of movies, parties, and celebrity-spotting, all over downtown.

The Sarasota Open Hits Its Final Week

Pro tennis is in town. The 2026 Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open — the kickoff to the U.S. Clay Court Swing — is at MG Academy in Bradenton through April 12. Past champions include Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Sam Querrey, so the talent on these clay courts is no joke.

Hurricane Prep Forum Set for Riverview High

Sarasota County is hosting a free Community Conversation on Hurricane Preparedness on Saturday, April 11 at Riverview High. Local, regional, and national officials will walk attendees through evacuation, shelter options, vital resources, and what to expect from forecasting models in 2026. Worth a Saturday morning before the season starts in earnest.

 🔦 Spotlight: The 28th Sarasota Film Festival

The Sarasota Film Festival kicks off Friday, April 10 and runs through April 19, and this year's edition is one of the bigger ones in recent memory: 47 features, 39 shorts, four world premieres, 17 Florida premieres, and a guest list that includes Gene Simmons of KISS.

How a small Florida festival became a Hollywood magnet

The Sarasota Film Festival started in 1998 as a modest indie showcase. Twenty-eight years later, it's quietly become one of the most respected film festivals in the Southeast — and the honoree list reads like a casting director's dream board: Sophia Loren, Christopher Plummer, Geena Davis, Jacqueline Bisset, Stanley Tucci, Diane Lane, Jane Seymour, Greg Kinnear, Blythe Danner, Cloris Leachman, Mariel Hemingway, Steve Guttenberg, Frank Langella. Most of them came down here, hung out, and took questions from packed houses at the Sarasota Opera House or Burns Court Cinema.

A festival of this caliber in a city the size of Sarasota is mostly a function of two things: a community that genuinely shows up for arts (those theaters sell out), and a programming team that's been quietly punching above its weight for nearly three decades.

Opening night: Deep Water

The festival kicks off Friday, April 10 at New College's Sainer Pavilion Courtyard with the world premiere of Deep Water — a shark survival thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Sir Ben Kingsley, directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) and produced by Gene Simmons. Both Harlin and Simmons are scheduled to attend, with a Q&A and an opening night reception following the screening. Thematically appropriate that a shark movie premieres in a town where Mote Marine has spent decades studying the real ones.

What's actually in the lineup

Beyond opening night, the slate covers the full festival range: indie narratives, international docs, themed shorts packages, and "In Conversation With" sessions where the audience gets to grill filmmakers and actors directly. Four films are world premiering here. Seventeen are Florida premieres. The shorts blocks are usually a sleeper highlight — you can knock out a dozen filmmakers in 90 minutes and almost always find something you'd never have picked on your own.

Most screenings happen at the Regal Hollywood 20 downtown, the Sarasota Opera House, and Burns Court Cinema, all within walking distance of each other. Single tickets run $12-15; all-access passes are still available if you want to commit.

The parties are half the point

The Sarasota Film Festival has always understood that a festival is more than the films. The Filmmakers Tribute Dinner is the main black-tie event, but the unofficial highlight every year is the Opening Night Reception (right after Deep Water on Friday) and the smaller filmmaker mixers scattered throughout the week. Past festivals have featured surprise performances from Aerosmith and The B-52's, so don't write off the after-hours.

Your move

Full schedule, tickets, and pass info at sarasotafilmfestival.com. If you only do one thing: grab a single ticket to the Deep Water premiere on Friday and stick around for the reception. If you want the full experience, the all-access pass is the move. Either way, this is one of those Sarasota things that's much better than the city has any right to expect — go support it.

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Thursday, April 9

2026 Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open

📍 MG Academy, 5650 Bollettieri Blvd., Bradenton
🕦 See details (through April 12)
🔗 Sarasota Open

Asé: Seeing Spirit in Afro-Caribbean Art

📍 Art Ovation Hotel Gallery
🕦 4:00 PM — 8:00 PM (through April 12)
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Artist Talk: Herion Park

📍 Art Center Sarasota
🕦 5:00 PM — 7:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Jazz Thursday at Sarasota Art Museum

📍 Sarasota Art Museum
🕦 5:00 PM — 8:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Art Museum

Sunset Polo Happy Hour

📍 Sarasota Polo Club, 8201 Polo Club Ln.
🕦 5:30 PM
🔗 Sarasota Polo

Bradenton Marauders vs. Tampa Tarpons

📍 LECOM Park, 1611 9th St. W., Bradenton
🕦 6:30 PM
🔗 Bradenton Marauders

Friday, April 10

Sarasota Film Festival — Opening Day

📍 Various venues, Downtown Sarasota
🕦 See schedule (through April 19)
🔗 Sarasota Film Festival

Sarasota Bradenton Home Show

📍 Robarts Arena, Sarasota Fairgrounds, 3000 Ringling Blvd.
🕦 10:00 AM — 7:00 PM (through April 12)
🔗 Home Show Florida

Sarasota Orchestra Outdoor Pops — Parrots & Palms

📍 Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th St.
🕦 7:30 PM (also Saturday April 11)
🔗 Sarasota Orchestra

Lakewood Ranch Block Party

📍 8100 Lakewood Main Street, Lakewood Ranch
🕦 6:00 PM — 9:00 PM
🔗 Lakewood Ranch

Sidewalk Astronomy at the Bishop Museum

📍 Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, 201 10th St. W., Bradenton
🕦 7:00 PM — 10:30 PM
🔗 Bishop Museum

USFSM Carnival Celebration

📍 USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail
🕦 4:00 PM — 8:30 PM
🔗 USF Sarasota-Manatee

Art Crawl Sarasota — Trolley Tour

📍 Various downtown galleries (hop-on/hop-off)
🕦 3:00 PM — 7:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Live Music Bingo at The Bazaar

📍 The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime
🕦 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Saturday, April 11

Venice Sharks Tooth Festival

📍 Centennial Park, Venice Avenue, Downtown Venice
🕦 10:00 AM — 8:00 PM (through April 12)
🔗 Escape to Sarasota

40th Annual Run for the Turtles 5K

📍 Siesta Key Public Beach, 948 Beach Rd.
🕦 6:30 AM — 9:00 AM
🔗 Run for the Turtles

UF/IFAS Master Gardener Plant Sale

📍 Barbara Davis Educational Gardens, 1303 17th St. W., Palmetto
🕦 8:00 AM — 11:00 AM
🔗 Eventbrite

Community Conversation on Hurricane Preparedness

📍 Riverview High School, 1 Ram Way
🕦 9:00 AM — 1:00 PM
🔗 Eventbrite

Manatee Community Concert Band — "On Broadway"

📍 SCF Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton
🕦 3:00 PM
🔗 Manatee Concert Band

Evening Under the Stars — Motown Magic Tribute

📍 SCF Venice Campus, 8000 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice
🕦 5:30 PM — 9:30 PM
🔗 SCF Foundation

Guitar Sarasota Presents An Tran

📍 First Congregational United Church of Christ
🕦 7:30 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Hearing Memory with James Austin Smith

📍 The Hermitage Artist Retreat
🕦 7:00 PM — 8:30 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Repetition, Enfoldment, Concealment — A Conversation with Charisse Pearlina Weston

📍 The Hermitage Artist Retreat
🕦 5:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Arts

Sunday, April 12

Sarasota Open — Singles Final

📍 MG Academy, 5650 Bollettieri Blvd., Bradenton
🕦 See details
🔗 Sarasota Open

Sarasota Suncoast Concert Band — "The Joy of Spring"

📍 Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3131 61st St.
🕦 3:00 PM
🔗 Sarasota Suncoast Concert Band

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