A Big Night Out in Sarasota
The Orchestra, the Opera, McCurdy's Comedy, Ringling Underground, and the Historic Asolo Theater. A guide to the cultural evenings the city loves to dress up for.
Summer in Sarasota
Sarasota is a season town. The big subscription series (Orchestra Masterworks, full opera productions, the Ringling Underground music nights, the Historic Asolo Theater's chamber-and-jazz calendar) all run roughly October through May. June through September is summer-season, when the calendar trades formality for something looser and more eclectic.
And there's plenty going on. The Sarasota Orchestra is between seasons after the June Sarasota Music Festival, with the 2026-27 concert calendar picking back up in late September and October. The Sarasota Opera House programs tribute concerts, Classic Movies, and HD opera-house screenings through summer and fall. McCurdy's Comedy Theatre runs touring stand-up headliners most weekends, year-round. And the Summer Circus Spectacular lights up the Historic Asolo Theater through early August.
This page lists what's lighting up the calendar this summer, then walks through what each year-round series is, what it costs, and when it comes back. Bookmark it for the fall, when the full season kicks back into gear.
What's on this summer
Evenings from July 10 through fall 2026. We check this list against each venue's calendar and refresh it through the season - the year-round series guide below has what comes back in the fall.
Sarasota Orchestra
Holley Hall, Van Wezel, and partner venuesThe June Sarasota Music Festival has wrapped. The orchestra is now in the summer gap before the 2026-27 calendar begins, so the next official dated picks are fall season concerts rather than week-ahead performances.
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27 SepChamber Soirees: Water Music Sarasota Orchestra chamber series resumes in Holley HallSunday, September 27, 2026, 4:00 p.m.Tickets →
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3 OctDiscoveries: Classical Music Humor Rossini, Haydn, Mozart, Strauss Jr., Daugherty, and ProkofievSaturday, October 3, 2026, 7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera HouseTickets →
Sarasota Opera House summer series
Sarasota Opera House, downtownWhile the grand opera season takes its summer breather, the historic Opera House keeps the lights on with tribute-band concerts, Classic Movies, and HD opera-house screenings. The room itself is the draw - the restored 1926 theater is the most beautiful interior in Sarasota.
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10 JulClassic Movies: Dead Again (1991) Kenneth Branagh's noir thriller7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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12 JulRoyal Ballet & Opera in Cinema: Swan Lake HD opera-house screening1:30 p.m.Tickets →
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25 JulSolitary Man: Neil Diamond Tribute Full-band tribute concert7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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31 JulClassic Movies: Gigi (1958) Lerner & Loewe's Best-Picture musical7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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14 AugClassic Movies: The Truman Show (1998) Peter Weir and Jim Carrey7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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16 AugMet Opera in Cinema: Samson and Delilah HD opera-house screening1:30 p.m.Tickets →
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21 AugClassic Movies: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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23 AugMet Opera in Cinema: Tales of Hoffmann HD opera-house screening1:30 p.m.Tickets →
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28 AugClassic Movies: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) Gene Wilder, the chocolate factory, the kids7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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4 SepClassic Movies: The Princess Bride (1987) Rob Reiner's fairy-tale comedy7:00 p.m.Tickets →
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2 OctClassic Movies: Pretty Woman (1990) Romantic comedy with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere7:00 p.m.Tickets →
McCurdy's Comedy Theatre McCurdy's Comedy Theatre
1923 Ringling Blvd, downtown SarasotaSarasota's professional comedy club, running touring national headliners Thursday through Sunday almost every week of the year. Small room, full bar, two-item food/drink minimum at the tables. A downtown stage that books names you'll recognize, five minutes from Main Street.
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15 JulFlip Schultz Five-night runJuly 15 to 19Tickets → -
22 JulHumor Institute Class Performance Student comedy showcaseJuly 22Tickets →
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23 JulJJ Curry Four-night runJuly 23 to 26Tickets → -
26 JulDrag Queen Bingo Extravaganza Late-night special eventJuly 26Tickets →
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31 JulTom Arnold Two-night special engagementJuly 31 and August 1Tickets → -
5 AugAdam Yenser Five-night runAugust 5 to 9Tickets →
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12 AugHumor Institute Class Performance Student comedy showcaseAugust 12Tickets →
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13 AugPaul Ollinger Four-night runAugust 13 to 16Tickets → -
19 AugKevin McCaffrey Five-night runAugust 19 to 23Tickets → -
26 AugCarmen Ciricillo Two-night runAugust 26 and 27Tickets →
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28 AugCarlos Mencia Two-night special engagementAugust 28 and 29Tickets → -
30 AugCarmen Ciricillo Sunday special eventAugust 30Tickets →
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30 AugDrag Queen Bingo Extravaganza Late-night special eventAugust 30Tickets →
The year-round series, in detail
Once October hits, the calendar fills back in. Here's what each series is, what it costs, and when it returns - so you can plan a fall and winter of nights out properly.
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the orchestra's bayfront home. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Sarasota Orchestra
Sarasota Orchestra is the city's professional symphony, founded in 1949, and the foundation of the cultural calendar. The full season runs October through June and is structured around four series. Masterworks is the big-stage classical programming with guest soloists, mostly at the Van Wezel and the new Sarasota Orchestra Center. The Pops series leans Broadway, film scores, and tribute programs. Chamber Soirees are intimate concerts in Holley Hall, the orchestra's own 300-seat room. Great Escapes is the casual weeknight series with light dinner pairings.
Single tickets run roughly $30 to $90 depending on series and seat; subscriptions are the locals' move. The full 2026-27 season is announced in late summer; subscriptions open in early fall.
The restored 1926 Sarasota Opera House. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera produces full-staged grand opera every winter in the restored 1926 Sarasota Opera House downtown. The 2026-27 main season runs roughly mid-February through mid-March, with four operas in rotating repertory - typically two warhorses and two rediscoveries. The company built its reputation on a complete Verdi cycle (the first in the world), and Verdi is still the house style.
Tickets for main season run $25 to $135 depending on seat. The summer programming on this page (tribute concerts, Classic Movies) is the same building used differently - a beautiful way to see the room without the season ticket price.
Ringling Underground
Ringling Underground is Sarasota's favorite museum-after-dark scene. First Thursday of the month, October through May, in the open-air courtyard of the Museum of Art - experimental, indie, and DJ sets under the colonnade, the bars open, the David replica lit from below.
Tickets are easy on the wallet (typically $15 to $25), and admission gets you into the Museum of Art's galleries for the evening too. The crowd skews younger and more design-school than the rest of the Ringling calendar. The 2026-27 series resumes Thursday, October 1, 2026.
Inside McCurdy's Comedy Theatre on Ringling Boulevard. Photo: McCurdy's McCurdy's Comedy Theatre
McCurdy's is the one venue on this page that runs year-round, full stop. Thursday through Sunday almost every week of the calendar, a touring national headliner does four to five shows in the room - usually two on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday matinee. The bookings range from name-brand stars (Tom Arnold, Carlos Mencia, Kevin Nealon, Josh Blue from Last Comic Standing) to working circuit comedians you've seen on Comedy Central or the late-night shows.
Tickets run $20 to $40 depending on the headliner. There's a two-item minimum at the tables (food or drinks), and the room serves a full menu plus a cocktail list. Open Mic on Thursdays at 9 p.m. is a $10 deep-dive into the local comedy scene and worth it once. The Drag Queen Bingo nights, several Saturdays a season, sell out a week ahead.
Downtown at 1923 Ringling Boulevard, walking distance from Main Street restaurants. Parking is in the Links Parking Garage right behind.
The Historic Asolo Theater, imported piece by piece from Asolo, Italy. Photo: The Ringling Historic Asolo Theater
The Historic Asolo Theater is the 261-seat 18th-century Italian court theater the Ringlings dismantled in Asolo, Italy and rebuilt on the estate. It runs a year-round program of chamber music, jazz, film, lectures, and small theatrical productions, and every summer the Circus Arts Conservatory takes over with the Summer Circus Spectacular.
Tickets are typically $25 to $65. Because the room only seats 261, the chamber series sells out, especially the headline jazz nights. The fall 2026 calendar opens for booking in mid-summer.
Summer Circus Spectacular — this summer's run
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11 JulSaturday evening show Variety performance5:00 p.m.Tickets →
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18 JulSaturday evening show Variety performance5:00 p.m.Tickets →
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25 JulSaturday evening show Variety performance5:00 p.m.Tickets →
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1 AugSaturday evening show Variety performance5:00 p.m.Tickets →
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8 AugClosing weekend Final Saturday evening of the summer residency5:00 p.m.Tickets →
Where to eat first
Sarasota Opera House is in the heart of downtown - the easiest pre-show dinner is at one of the restaurants on Main or Palm. The Ringling estate is twenty minutes north of downtown, so plan dinner near the venue (Indigenous, the bayfront restaurants on Tamiami, or anything in the St. Armands Circle cluster a few minutes south). Holley Hall on Tamiami is closer to downtown than the Ringling but further than the Opera House, and the new dining scene in the Rosemary District is the best pairing for a Holley Hall night.
Frequently asked
What's open in Sarasota at night in the summer?
McCurdy's Comedy Theatre runs touring stand-up headliners most weekends, year-round. After the June Sarasota Music Festival, Sarasota Orchestra is between seasons until the 2026-27 calendar resumes in late September and October. The Sarasota Opera House programs tribute concerts, Classic Movies, and HD opera-house screenings through summer and fall. The Summer Circus Spectacular at the Historic Asolo Theater runs through early August.
Where's the comedy club in Sarasota?
McCurdy's Comedy Theatre at 1923 Ringling Boulevard downtown. Touring national headliners Thursday through Sunday almost every week of the year. Tickets $20 to $40 with a two-item food or drink minimum at the tables.
When does Ringling Underground come back?
Ringling Underground returns Thursday, October 1, 2026, and runs the first Thursday of every month through May 2027. Tickets typically go on sale a few weeks before each date.
What's the dress code at Sarasota Orchestra and Sarasota Opera?
Both venues are dress-as-you-like - some patrons wear black tie on opening nights, others come in jeans, and everyone fits right in. A jacket without a tie is the easy Sarasota default.
Where is the best place to sit at the Sarasota Opera House?
The orchestra-level center sections give the strongest sound. The mezzanine and balcony offer the best architectural view of the restored 1926 room. Avoid the deep side boxes - the sightlines compress.
Can I see the Ringling Museum at night?
Yes, on Thursdays. The Museum of Art stays open until 8 p.m. every Thursday, and the colonnade and courtyard at sunset are the best time of day to see the building. See the [Ringling Museum guide](ringling-museum.html) for the full visit plan.
Do these venues have parking?
The Ringling estate has free on-site parking just inside the main gate. The Sarasota Opera House has a small dedicated lot plus metered street parking on Pineapple and Cocoanut. Holley Hall has a free lot on Tamiami Trail. Plan to arrive 30 minutes early during season.
What locals are saying