On the weekend of October 17th and 18th, the Clearwater Jazz Holiday Jazz ’N Art Walk returned to downtown Clearwater for its second successful year.
The Jazz ’N Art Walk was a juried art show and street fair that gave artists a chance to showcase their work in displays along two full blocks on Cleveland Street. Art was for sale, and many Jazz Holiday attendees browsed among the temporary galleries. John Brennan, the artist who designed this year’s Clearwater Jazz Holiday poster, was among the artists whose works were on display.
On October 7th, 350,000 children from 12,500 schools visited the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on a field trip – a virtual field trip. These children traveled to Florida and met Winter the Dolphin without leaving their classrooms, through a live webcast presented by Scholastic Books, publisher of the inspirational children’s book Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again.
The Clearwater Super Boat National Championships of the Super Boat Racing Series took over the city for the weekend of October 2nd – 4th.
On Friday, Coachman Park was transformed into “Race Village,” hosting the race’s dry pits, and where the public had a chance to meet the drivers and see the boats before the races. On Saturday afternoon, practice runs were held in advance of the races, followed by a concert and fireworks display on Clearwater Beach that evening. The races themselves took place on Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on a 5.3 mile race course beginning off Pier 60, extending north along Clearwater Beach, and looping back. An estimated 20,000 spectators lined the beach, and more than 1,200 boats of all sizes crowded the 2.5 mile stretch alongside the course.
On September 25th, Clearwater’s 4th Friday event returned from its summer hiatus, and the “party in the street” was a great success, drawing large late afternoon crowds to the Cleveland Street District for food, music and fun.
On September 26th, the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area will be celebrating National Museum Day by offering free admission on the Saturday.
More than 1200 venues across the country will be taking part in Smithsonian magazine’s 5th annual celebration, including several spanning from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg.
Here are some of the participating museums in Pinellas County:
Ironman has announced modifications to the 2009 Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 course. The fourth annual event will take place on Saturday, November 14th in Clearwater, Florida.
Professional athletes will compete for a $100,000 prize purse. The top 10 professional male and female finishers and each age group champion will automatically qualify for the 2010 Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3, taking place on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010.
After the success of the Women Mean Business expo, Plan B Expo will be putting on their next expo, Diversity Means Business on November 3rd from 4 to 8 pm at The Conmy Center in Dunedin, Florida.
Diversity Means Business will be a “fun networking expo with something for everyone,” says event coordinator Lil Barcaski. The expected attendance is well over 500, since their last expo had nearly 700 people in attendance.
The return of 4th Friday in Downtown Clearwater is getting more exciting. In addition to performances by Level 10 and Jose Valentino, Tampa Bay’s popular jazz radio station Smooth Jazz 98.7 in conjunction with Ruth Eckerd Hall will be on location providing entertainment prizes with drawings held throughout the night.
Moscow Ballet will present its Great Russian Nutcracker performance at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg on December 27th 2009 at 3PM
Set against Valentin Fedorov's spectacular hand-painted backdrops and life-sized dancing puppets, the Great Russian Nutcracker delights audiences with a visual tapestry rich in detail and whimsy. It is especially distinctive for its unique setting of Act II in the “Land of Peace and Harmony” and for the introduction of a new character, a Christmas Dove. New this year is a fantasy clock with wings of an owl that cast a shadow over the battle between the Soldiers and the Mice.
“Will there ever be a Delphi High School in Clearwater?” was the question posed rhetorically by Colin Taufer, Headmaster of Delphi Academy of Florida, at a school event in June. And it was his emphatic response to his own question that brought the audience to its feet, “Yes! There will be a Delphi High School in Clearwater!”