SARASOTA – The nine day festival will have more than a dozen family friendly events to attend spread out along Sarasota.
The Bob Rizi Memorial Golf Classic will start things off Saturday morning. With all leading up to the grand powerboat race on Lido beach Sunday July 7th. Festival Director Lucy Nicandri says this year’s grand prix festival will be the biggest one yet.
“The race is like the crown if you will of the whole week that we lead up to and the race is really the pinnacle of what the festival is about,” said Nicandri. “The great thing this year is between the beach re-nourishment, which we have a lot more beach, and a boat count going from 30 to 70 boats. If you’re a spectator you’re in for a treat because you’ll have more area to watch the races this year.”
Nicandri says the festival brings in thousands of spectators to the Suncoast and a huge economic impact to local businesses.
“I want to encourage the public as they are enjoying the events, as they are enjoying the Bayfront Fireworks, the downtown block party, those races off Lido Beach,” she said. “You can go online whether it’s $5, $50, $5,000 it doesn’t matter, but every donations matter. So suncoastcharitiesforchildren.org is our website I would encourage people if they want to give back and help sustain this event that’s a great way to do it.”
The Golf Classic is open to the public. Registration opens at the 7:00 a.m. Saturday at The Meadows Country Club. Golfer will hit the course at 8:30 a.m.