A Big Night Out in Sarasota
A new McCurdy's headliner almost every week, Boz Scaggs and two tribute nights at the Van Wezel, three shows at Florida Studio Theatre, the Ringling's season kickoff, and free nights on the lawn, with October first.
By the editors of Vibing Sarasota · Updated September 2026
The October going-out map
Start with a comedy set, a cabaret, a concert or a free night on the lawn. Current dates come first, followed by notes on each venue for tickets, parking and a reason to stay out.
Two rooms carry the month. McCurdy's runs a new headliner almost every week and keeps its free Thursday open mic going between them. Florida Studio Theatre has three shows playing at once, including an improvised murder mystery that opens on October 3.
The Van Wezel's evenings come in a cluster: Boz Scaggs on the 11th, then Fleetwood Mac and ABBA tribute nights on the 17th and 18th. The Ringling opens its season on the 16th, and Ringling Underground is back from November 5.
Each listing goes to the organizer or venue that published it. Check the linked page again on show day for the latest ticket and schedule details.
Going out in October
A month's calendar built from each venue's own pages, checked September 29. Use the links for current availability and exact performance times.
McCurdy's Comedy Theatre McCurdy's Comedy Theatre
1923 Ringling Blvd, downtown SarasotaThe downtown comedy room runs a headliner almost every week of October, and its open mic goes on every Thursday at 9 p.m. between them. Every show is 18+. Headliner tickets run $26 to $28.
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30 SepFrankie Paul Headliner run, $26Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1 at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, October 2 and 3, at 6:30 and 8:50 p.m.; Sunday, October 4 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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Every ThuOpen Mic Night Free; sign up to perform or just watchThursdays at 9 p.m.: October 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29Tickets →
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7 OctCarmen Ciricillo One night, $26Wednesday, October 7 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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8 OctJoe DeVito Headliner run, $28Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10, at 6:30 and 8:50 p.m.; Sunday, October 11 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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15 OctNick Hoff Headliner run, $28Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17, at 6:30 and 8:50 p.m.; Sunday, October 18 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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21 OctBasile Headliner run, $26Wednesday and Thursday, October 21 and 22, at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, at 6:30 and 8:50 p.m.Tickets →
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25 OctDrag Queen Bingo Extravaganza One night, $26Sunday, October 25 at 8 p.m.Tickets →
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28 OctMike Rivera Headliner run, $26Wednesday and Thursday, October 28 and 29, at 7 p.m.; Friday, October 30 at 6:30 and 8:50 p.m.; Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
Florida Studio Theatre
1241 N. Palm Ave, downtown SarasotaThree rooms are playing through October: a summer cabaret in its final weeks, the new Winter Cabaret show, and an improvised murder mystery that opens on October 3. Curtains are mostly 7:30 p.m.
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Now PlayingSailing: Yacht Rock and Beyond The Winter Cabaret show, from $59Runs through February 7 in the Court CabaretTickets →
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Now PlayingLegacy: Motown & More! Final weeks of the summer cabaretRuns through Saturday, October 24 in the Goldstein CabaretTickets →
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3 OctMurder, She Improvised An improvised murder-mystery whodunit from FST ImprovOpens Saturday, October 3 and runs through November 21 in Bowne's Lab, 7:30 p.m.Tickets →
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
777 N. Tamiami Trail, on the bayfrontThe hall's October evenings are three concerts in two weekends: Boz Scaggs, then two tribute nights back to back. Its Golden Groovers series plays Thursday afternoons at 2 p.m. for $18.
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11 OctBoz Scaggs Rhythm Review 2026 Tickets $61 to $253Sunday, October 11 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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17 OctRumours of Fleetwood Mac Tribute concert, tickets $46 to $198Saturday, October 17 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
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18 OctThe Concert: A Tribute to ABBA Tribute concert, tickets $36 to $178.75Sunday, October 18 at 7 p.m.Tickets →
The Ringling
5401 Bay Shore Road, north SarasotaThe museum opens its season with one evening party in October. Ringling Underground returns on November 5 for the first of four dates.
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16 OctNight of Wonder: Season Kickoff Party Tickets $35 to $45Friday, October 16 at 6 p.m. at the Museum of ArtTickets →
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5 NovRingling Underground returns Four courtyard nights this season: November 5, February 4, March 11 and April 1; $15, free for members and studentsThursday, November 5, 7 to 11 p.m.Tickets →
University Town Center Outdoor and social nights
University Town Center, Waterside Park and around townFree lawn nights and two weekly dance evenings keep a going-out plan open beyond ticketed rooms. None of these centers on drinking.
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1 OctUTC Live on The Green, with NoFilter Free outdoor concertThursday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. on The Green at UTCTickets →
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9 OctMovie in the Park: Wicked Free; bring a blanket or chairsFriday, October 9 from 6 p.m., film at sunset, Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove TerraceTickets →
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Every TueSocial dance class at The Ballroom of Sarasota Cha-cha, swing, rumba, hustle, salsa and bachata, $20Tuesdays at 7 p.m., 5660 Swift RoadTickets →
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Every SatEcstatic Dance Sarasota Freeform dance to a DJ set, $20Saturdays 6:30 to 9 p.m., Soul Studios, 1100 N. Tuttle AvenueTickets →
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 during ticketed showroom performances, and the room serves a full menu plus a cocktail list. Open Mic on Thursdays at 9 p.m. is free, 18-plus, and carries no drink minimum. 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.
Tickets are typically $25 to $65. Because the room only seats 261, the chamber series sells out, especially the headline jazz nights. Check The Ringling calendar for the next fall release.
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 is open in Sarasota at night in early fall?
McCurdy's Comedy Theatre runs touring stand-up headliners most weekends and is the most reliable night out on this page. Florida Studio Theatre opens its Winter Cabaret season on September 23 and then plays nightly. The Van Wezel is active again, though its late-September dates are afternoons. The Sarasota Opera House programmes HD ballet and opera screenings, and its Friday Classic Movies series resumes on October 2. University Town Center runs free night markets, karaoke, music bingo and an outdoor film on The Green. The Bishop's Laser Light Nights has finished for 2026; that season ran from May 21 to September 5.
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 on November 5, 2026. The Ringling lists four dates for the 2026-27 run: November 5, 2026, then February 4, March 11 and April 1 in 2027, from 7 to 11 p.m., $15 and free for members and students. The season kickoff, Night of Wonder, is October 16, 2026. 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.
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