SIESTA KEY VILLAGE, FLORIDA – Bring your beach blanket and walking shoes to the 28th Annual Siesta Fiesta Arts & Crafts Festival, returning to Beach Road on Saturday, April 29th and Sunday, April 30th from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

“Siesta Fiesta is the marathon weekend of fun, sun, sights and sounds,” said Howard Alan, producer of the Siesta Fiesta Arts & Crafts Festival and more than 40 other art shows throughout Florida and beyond. “It is the ultimate art event with a line-up of the nation’s finest artists and crafters displaying their work along the Gulf of Mexico.”

With two shows combined and one-of-a-kind pieces ranging from $15 to $20,000, there is something for everyone at the Siesta Fiesta Arts & Crafts Festival. Fine art on display will include copper sculptures, hand-crafted fine jewelry, functional and decorative pottery, original paintings and stunning photographic prints. Jewelry, ceramics, pottery, clothing, sculpture, dolls, and stained glass will compliment the artwork craft show featuring products all hand-made in the United States by the crafters themselves.

An expansive Green Market with plants, orchids, exotic flora, handmade soaps, gourmet spices and freshly popped kettle corn further compliments the weekend, blending nature with nurture.

Amidst the seaside sounds of the Gulf of Mexico will be live solo musicians playing the sitar, steel drums and keyboard. And, two food courts at either end of Beach Road will keep you nourished all day long.

Spectators strolling along Beach Road will enjoy the sights and listen to stories from the artists themselves.

To ensure a top-notch event, the 28th Annual Siesta Fiesta Arts & Crafts Festival is juried, meaning only artists and crafters with the highest quality work and most appealing displays are accepted.

Directions

The 28th Annual Siesta Fiesta Arts & Crafts Festival will be held along the Gulf of Mexico at Ocean Boulevard and Beach Road.

Shuttles are available at Phillipi Estate Park, 5500 Tamiami Trail South, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is $2 each way.

See some of the art that will be shown online now at:
ArtFestival.com

Friday, March 17

Here are some of the St. Patrick’s day events going on near Sarasota.

Clancy’s Irish Pub and Sports Bar and Grill, 6213 Cortez Road, Bradenton. Entertainment starts at noon today with trumpeter Leon Merion, cloggers, bagpipers (5-8 p.m.), Dr. Dave (7-9 p.m.) and Big Daddy (10 p.m.-1 a.m.). Matt Brown entertains on the deck, 6-10 p.m. Special menu all day including corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie and Irish coffee. Prize for Best Irish Costume.

This year, Clancy’s is providing a free shuttle service. Satellite parking is available at the Shoppers of Paradise Bay Plaza/Winn-Dixie parking lot on 75th and Cortez Road with a shuttle to Clancy’s from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Information: 794-2489.

Tierney’s Irish Pub, 5106 14th St. W., Bradenton. Bagpipers, step dancers, Elvis impersonators. A special menu includes corned beef and cabbage, Reuben sandwiches, shepherd’s pie and fish ‘n’ chips. Information: 752-1531.

The Bradenton Elks Lodge, 2511 75th St. W., Bradenton, will host a St. Patrick’s Day open house beginning at noon today with the sounds of Ireland by Denis O’Connor. Party continues until 11 p.m. with Don Huntsinger, Irish step dancers, and the Shrine Pipers. Irish food starting at $4 and a cash bar. Information: 792-1511.

Ellenton VFW Post 9226, 3511 12th St. E., Ellenton, serves a corned beef and cabbage dinner with carrots and potatoes 4-8 p.m. today. Dinner is $6, corned beef sandwiches are $4. Live entertainment by One of a Kind. Information: 729-8535.

McSwiggins, 1301 Eighth Ave. W., Bradenton. Live music, a menu that includes shepherd’s pie, corned beef and cabbage and specials on Irish whiskey. Information: 748-1625.

Publix Supermarket, 2875 University Parkway. Beginning at 6:30 p.m. today, Marc Positano, resident chef at the Publix, hosts a beer tasting of Irish beer with a cooking demonstration of Irish cuisine. Served with Guinniss, Harpo and Smithwick’s beer are Irish cheddar soup, smoked salmon and spicy gaufrettes, herb- scented lamb chops au jus with colcannon, and chocolate Irish stout cake. Cost is $35 per person. Information: 358-1169.

Four Green Fields, 205 W. Platt St., Tampa. Irish buffet 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, fish ‘n’ chips, Irish stew, Irish soda bread. Live music starts at noon, with Irish ballads and folklore inside, and Pat and Andy Dunlea outside. Information: (813) 254-4444.

Sunday, March 19

Sarasota Polo Club, 8201 Polo Club Lane, Lakewood Ranch. “St. Patrick’s - Spread the Luck ‘O the Irish,” tailgate picnic competition. Gates open at 11:30 a.m., match begins at 1 p.m. First, second and third place awards for best tailgate picnic judged for cuisine, presentation and creativity. Sandwiches and drinks also available for purchase. Admission: $10 per person, free for 12 years and younger. Information: 907-000.

“Galway to Broadway,” an afternoon of Irish music starring Ciaran Sheehan, Irish tenor from Broadway’s “Phantom of the Opera,” accompanied by Gay Willis, mezzo-soprano, and Eily O’Grady, pianist, 2 p.m. Benefit for St. Martha School. At St. Anne Hall at Bishop Nevins Academy, 4380 Fruitville Road, Sarasota. Refreshments follow the performance. Tickets are $30. Information: 926-1672.

Beach Bistro St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Parade begins 4 p.m. Sunday from Holmes Beach City Hall, 5801 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, ending at the corner of Gulf Drive and Palm Drive. Marching bands, “best leprechaun” costume for children. Information: 773-6444.

From: Herald Tribune

Aside from the art museum which immediately distinguished Sarasota as the cultural center of the state of Florida, the estate of Mable and John Ringling also features Mable Ringling’s rose garden, which was completed in 1913 near the original Mary Louise and Charles N. Thompson residence within the beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay, Cà d’Zan (”House of John”), the waterfront residence they designed and built in 1926, and a museum devoted to the Ringling Brothers Circus. Cà d’Zan was restored in 2002 under the direction of Francis J. Puig during his tenure as curator of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.

Siesta Key is consistently rated in the top 10 beaches of Florida, the U.S. and the world. The sand of Siesta Key is composed of 99% quartz crystal. Unlike most beaches that are made of crushed shells, rocks or lava, this sand is pure white, and as fine as sugar. It has been described as “dazzling” and never gets hot. The quartz attracts many people that come to Siesta to feel the vibration of the sand.

Turtle Beach:

Looking for a more secluded and less crowded beach? A couple miles south on the key you can find Turtle beach. Known for its abundance of sea shells. All the beauty of Siesta key without the crowds. The sand, however, is not as fine as that on the northern beach. The sunsets are just as beautiful though.

Sarasota also is home to Ed Smith Stadium, where the Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati’s major league baseball MLB team, trains in spring for the upcoming season, and is home to the minor league, Sarasota Reds.

The community also is renowned as the home of the Sarasota School of Architecture which developed as an adaptation to its sub-tropical climate, using newly emerging materials manufactured or implemented following World War Two.

Sarasota is home to Mote Marine Laboratory, a premier marine rescue, research, and aquarium; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens with its renowned orchid collection; G-Wiz Museum, a science museum of hands on-appeal to children of all ages; Sarasota Jungle Gardens, which carries on early tourist attraction traditions; as well as many historic sites and neighborhoods.

Colleges in Sarasota include New College of Florida, a highly acclaimed public liberal arts college which serves as the honors college for the state; Ringling School of Art and Design, a school of art, music, and design; and a satellite campus of both University of South Florida and Eckerd College. Several two-year colleges include Sarasota County Technical Institute and Keiser College of Sarasota.