Sarasota Rising: The Living Arts Festival

September 6, 2024 | Sarasota

Sarasota Rising, the nonprofit arts organization producing the Living Arts Festival – Sarasota, teases the highly anticipated programming schedule for their inaugural week-long celebration this November 2024. This comes after extensive planning and organizing, several years in the making. Festival attendees will have plenty of opportunities to experience all the arts the area has to offer over the course of a week filled with live performances, exhibits, and so much more.

Festival events will take place November 10, 2024 – November 17, 2024, with pre-festivities beginning November 8 and 9, 2024. The lineup includes:

Pre-Festival Events:

Friday, November 8th – The Living Arts Festival Fete

An exciting pre-festival party at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium with bites and beverages, where there will be a rare “behind the scenes” glimpse into the inner workings of the theatrical week ahead.  

Saturday, November 9th – It’s Rise and Shine Saturday!

A family-focused FREE arts exposition at Sarasota’s Municipal Auditorium brings all local cultural and creative families together with the explicit goal of fostering arts engagement among our area youth, providing activities for kids to explore the many different arts available in our region. 

Main Events:

Sunday, November 10th – A World of Entertainment– Opening Party!

The official opening night starts with an electric downtown “rooftop experience” party, offering a global perspective of our incredible arts and culture, and a taste of the unbelievable week of arts programming available at our doorstep.

Monday, November 11^th

Falling on Veteran’s Day, Sarasota Rising joins forces with area governmental agencies to salute and thank the men and women who have fought and sacrificed for our freedom, honoring them through the arts.

Monday and Tuesday, November 11– 12^th  –– Our Embrace Reimagined

You are invited to this walking performance tour at Historic Spanish Point.  Nine unclaimed panels from previous years “Embracing our Differences” have been selected by various area arts organizations.  They are using the panel as inspiration for a 5-minute live performance.  Patrons are invited to walk the panels and enjoy live performances for this incredible collaborative performance piece.

Thursday, November 14^th – All Roads Lead to Venice

The festival hops over to the neighboring city of Venice, where arts groups there takeover downtown with an area-wide celebration of the arts at bars, restaurants, and hotels for pop-up visual arts exhibitions, impromptu street performances, and a collaborative spirit.

Friday, November 15th

Discover unique pop-up surprises and ‘happenings’ to help celebrate downtown with live acts, food, and spirits, bringing the arts to the streets.

Saturday, November 16th – Arts Roulette

All day long, the Sarasota Rising team will be out and about, letting members of the community spin the wheel to win tickets to the many organizations participating in the festival, and giving them the opportunity to experience the living arts.

Sunday, November 17th – Sarasota Rising: A Celebration of Youth – Closing Party!

In collaboration with The Key Chorale and The Circus Arts Conservatory we will celebrate the week with performances of our area arts youth on the rise!  Our closing party will highlight entertainment presented by many education wings of area arts groups like: The Sarasota Ballet, Westcoast Black Theater Troupe and more.  Expect an evening of up-and-coming actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and thrill-seeking circus acts all given the spotlight to express their passion for the arts.

Sarasota Rising offers opportunities for artists, organizations, and volunteers to play a role in our “Festival in Six Acts”! Everyone in our community will have a chance to shine.

The 6th Act is all of our area arts organizations producing, collaborating, and giving our community the very best of their missions!

This is only a glimpse into the celebrations; every day of the festival will be brimming with opportunities and activities to experience Southwest Florida’s arts. Information on ticketing for all events TBA. For more information regarding Sarasota Rising and the Living Arts Festival – Sarasota, please visit https://www.sarasotarising.org/.