We kick off this weekend’s picks for things to do in the Sarasota area with one of our choices for the biggest events in all of August: the annual Sarasota Anime-Fest, taking place at Robarts Arena this year.
Back-to-school celebrations will also continue this week with Sarasota’s Music Compound holding its annual Back to School Bash. Sarasota Opera House’s movie screening series will continue with an Oscar-nominated film shot in Florida, and The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature’s laser light shows set to pop and rock music will feature a band with Sarasota ties.
A Third Saturday Market at Bradenton’s Village of the Arts neighborhood rounds up the lineup. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
1. Sarasota Anime-Fest at Robarts Arena
The same organizers who put on PokeKon-Fest (set to return Feb. 7 to Sarasota Municipal Auditorium) also put on this annual convention that broadens the scope from “Pokémon” to the wider world of anime.
Guests will include voice actors Adam Gibbs (“Parasyte,” “Hyouka”) and Brian Mathis (“One Piece,” “Black Clover”), and there will also be a vendor/artist alley (including “Pokémon” vendors), video game tournament, panels, and lip sync and cosplay contests.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; $20, free under age 11 (one per paid adult, $10 additional children), free parking; sarasotaanimefest.com
2. Back to School Bash at Music Compound
The local back-to-school celebrations will continue with Sarasota’s Music Compound holding its annual Back to School Bash on Saturday.
The event will feature live music, a Music Compound tour, sample music lessons, a bounce house, crafts and activities including face painting, food truck fare, giveaways throughout the event, and the chance to win a free Music Compound membership when you pre-register. There will also be beer samples for adults, too.
11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday; Music Compound, 775 Bell Road, Sarasota; free admission; 941-379-9100; musiccompound.com
3. ‘The Truman Show’ at Sarasota Opera House
Sarasota Opera House’s Classic Movies at the Opera House series will continue Friday with 1998’s “The Truman Show.”
Starring Jim Carrey as a seemingly ordinary man whose life is actually the subject of a reality television series, “The Truman Show” earned three Oscar nominations (Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Carrey’s costar Ed Harris) and was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry last year. The majority of the movie was filmed in the master-planned community of Seaside on the Florida Panhandle.
7 p.m. Friday; Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota; $12; 941-328-1300; sarasotaopera.org
4. Laser Light Nights at The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature
The summer series of laser light shows set to pop and rock music, held in the planetarium of The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton, will continue this weekend with the songs of multiple rock bands, including one with ties to Sarasota.
The music of AC/DC, whose frontman Brian Johnson is a Sarasota resident, will soundtrack one of Saturday’s shows, with Beastie Boys making up the other. The laser light show fixture of Pink Floyd will make up the rest of this week’s lineup, with a full-album “The Dark Side of the Moon” show Thursday, and two shows spanning multiple albums on Friday.
6 p.m. Thursday and 6 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, 201 10th St. W., Bradenton; $15 per show; 941-746-4131; bishopscience.org
5. Third Saturday Market at Village of the Arts
Along with its monthly Art Walk held the first Friday and Saturday of each month, Bradenton’s Village of the Arts neighborhood also holds a Third Saturday Market, which will take place this Saturday in August.
As its name suggests, Village of the Arts features art studios and galleries, as well as restaurants such as Arte Caffe and Ortygia and specialty shops such as Jerk Dog Records and The Village Mystic, that operate out of colorful houses.
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; Village of the Arts, 1227 12th St. W., Bradenton; villageoftheartsmerchants.com
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 things to do in the Sarasota area this weekend
Reporting by Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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By Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
