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- π¦ World Cup Fever, Rowing Nationals, and Circus Under the Gilt
π¦ World Cup Fever, Rowing Nationals, and Circus Under the Gilt
Best Things To Do in SRQ
Carson B
June 09, 2026
Happy Tuesday!
For a mid-June week, Sarasota's calendar is unusually stacked. The World Cup kicks off, thousands of rowers pour into Benderson Park for a national championship, and Sarasota's own pro soccer club throws a World Cup watch party at The Bay. Our Spotlight, the Summer Circus Spectacular, is one more gloriously air-conditioned reason to get out the door.
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In todayβs edition of the Sarasota Scoop:
Thanks for reading,
Carson
π§ Think You Know Sarasota? Trivia!
Siesta Key's beach is famous for sand that's about 99% quartz and stays cool underfoot even in July. Where did that sand originally come from? |
π° Local Headline Roundup
11,000 Visitors Are Rowing Into Town This Week
Nathan Benderson Park hosts the USRowing Youth National Championships from June 11 to 14, drawing more than 4,000 athletes and an estimated 11,000-plus visitors. The projected economic boost tops $5 million for local hotels, restaurants, and shops β a nice midweek jolt for the summer economy.
New College to Absorb the USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus
One of the bigger local stories of the season: the 32-acre bayfront USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, buildings and all, will be folded into New College of Florida by this fall. It's a major expansion for New College and a notable reshaping of higher education on the Suncoast.
A New Task Force Sets Out to Polish Up Siesta Key
The county has seated a seven-member Siesta Key beautification task force with a two-year charge to recommend improvements to landscaping, infrastructure, and beach access on the island. It's a fresh push to keep one of the country's most-loved beaches looking its best.
π¦ Spotlight: The Summer Circus Spectacular
There is a reason "circus" and "Sarasota" belong in the same sentence. This was the Ringling circus's winter home for decades β the place where the big top trained, rehearsed, and wintered β and that history never really left town. Starting Friday, June 12, you can feel it up close again: the Summer Circus Spectacular returns to the Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling for a full summer run through August 8.
The setting is half the fun. The Historic Asolo is a genuine 18th-century Italian theater β gilded boxes, painted ceilings, the whole thing β taken apart in Italy and rebuilt here on the museum grounds. Watching world-class acrobats and aerialists work a room like that, with the air conditioning cranked and the Florida heat locked safely outside, is about as good as a summer afternoon in Sarasota gets.
The show is produced with the Circus Arts Conservatory, the local nonprofit that keeps Sarasota's circus tradition alive and also runs the beloved Sailor Circus. It's a tight, one-hour program built for families: aerial acts, hand-balancing, juggling, and a ringmaster to tie it all together β quick enough to hold a kid's attention and polished enough to impress the grown-ups. This year's lineup is expected to feature the roller-skating and trapeze act Duo Transcend among the headliners.
Best of all, it's genuinely affordable. Tickets run $20 for adults and $15 for kids 12 and under, and for an extra $5 you can add the museum's Circus Galleries and the Tibbals Learning Center, home to a famously detailed miniature circus, and turn it into a half-day outing.
If you have family visiting this summer, or you just want to remind the kids why this town is the way it is, this one is an easy, air-conditioned yes.
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Thursday, June 11
US Rowing Youth National Championships
π Nathan Benderson Park
π¦ 8:00 AM β 5:00 PM (through Sun, June 14)
π Nathan Benderson Park
2026 Shark Open Swim Meet
π Selby Aquatic Center
π¦ 8:00 AM (through Sun, June 14)
π Sarasota Sharks
Jazz at the Art Museum: Robert Nissim Quintet Plays Herbie Hancock
π Sarasota Art Museum
π¦ 5:30 PM β 8:00 PM
π Sarasota Arts
Cinema at The Bay: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
π The Bay
π¦ 7:30 PM
π The Bay Sarasota
Who Is Eartha Mae?
π Urbanite Theatre
π¦ 7:30 PM
π Sarasota Arts
Lady Disdain
π Asolo Repertory Theatre
π¦ 7:30 PM (through Sun, June 14)
π Sarasota Arts
Friday, June 12
Bradenton Marauders vs. Tampa Tarpons
π LECOM Park, Bradenton
π¦ 6:30 PM
π Bradenton Marauders
Sarasota Music Festival β Chamber Showcase: Tchaikovsky, Ravel & DvoΕΓ‘k
π Holley Hall at Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center
π¦ 7:30 PM
π Sarasota Music Festival
Classic Movies at the Opera House: The Greatest Show on Earth
π Sarasota Opera House
π¦ 7:00 PM
π Sarasota Opera
Summer Circus Spectacular (Opening Night)
π Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling
π¦ 7:00 PM (runs through Aug 8)
π The Ringling
Sights and Sounds: Lakewood Ranch Big Band
π Waterside Place, Lakewood Ranch
π¦ 6:30 PM β 7:30 PM
π Lakewood Ranch
Movie in the Park: Lilo & Stitch (Live Action)
π Waterside Park, Lakewood Ranch
π¦ 7:00 PM β 9:00 PM
π Lakewood Ranch
Venice MainStreet Friday Night Concert: Joe Lahorne
π Centennial Park, Downtown Venice
π¦ 7:00 PM β 9:00 PM
π Venice MainStreet
Big Poppa at Mattison's City Grille
π Mattison's City Grille, Downtown Sarasota
π¦ 7:30 PM β 10:30 PM
π Mattison's
Laser Foo Fighters at the Bishop Planetarium
π Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, Bradenton
π¦ 6:00 PM
π Bishop Museum
Saturday, June 13
Sarasota Music Festival Finale: The Masters in Concert
π Sarasota Opera House
π¦ 7:30 PM
π Sarasota Music Festival
Sarasota Paradise vs. Union Omaha
π Premier Sports Campus, Lakewood Ranch
π¦ 7:30 PM
π Sarasota Paradise
19th Annual Fire Charity Festival on the Riverwalk
π Bradenton Riverwalk
π¦ 10:00 AM (through Sun, June 14)
π Fire Charity
Comedy Lottery (FST Improv)
π Florida Studio Theatre
π¦ 7:30 PM
π Sarasota Arts
Vince Addesa at Mattison's Forty-One
π Mattison's Forty-One
π¦ 5:30 PM β 8:30 PM
π Mattison's
Laser Metallica at the Bishop Planetarium
π Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, Bradenton
π¦ 6:30 PM
π Bishop Museum
Sunday, June 14
World Cup Kick-Off Festival with Sarasota Paradise
π The Bay
π¦ 12:30 PM β 7:00 PM
π The Bay Sarasota
Bradenton Marauders vs. Tampa Tarpons
π LECOM Park, Bradenton
π¦ 12:00 PM
π Bradenton Marauders
Music in the Gardens: Elijah Luzginov
π Sarasota Garden Club
π¦ 6:30 PM β 8:30 PM
π Eventbrite
Zootopia 2 Summer Movie Night
π CoolToday Park, Venice
π¦ 5:00 PM
π CoolToday Park
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