Extended Weekend Getaways 
SARASOTA MUSIC FESTIVAL
June 1-21/SARASOTA– At the Sarasota Opera House and Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center. Celebrating more than six decades of bringing top talent to central Florida, the Sarasota Music Festival is once again hosting three weeks of internationally recognized musicians in what’s considered one of the finest classical-music events in the nation. Enjoy a rare glimpse of both treasured top artists and young rising stars rehearsing and playing together, as well as hearing lectures and learning more about orchestra life and the role of each musician and instrument. In recent years, this event has infused some fresh sounds, breaking boundaries with jazz and bluegrass influences, and now offers a “flex pass” for those who want to enjoy more than one performance.
WILD BLACKBERRY FESTIVAL
June 9/JASPER — Hamilton County, the Wild Blackberry Capital of the Sunshine State, has a jam-packed day planned for families starting with the blackberry pancake breakfast. Other entertainment throughout the day includes a concert by Teddy MacElvis and the Legends, craft vendors, the Miss Blackberry pageant, kids games and food vendors. Of course, all things blackberry have a starring role. Imagine homemade cobblers, jams, jellies and pints of fresh-picked blackberries. Want to try your hand at cultivating your own harvest. There also will be plants for sale!. Visit https://www.naturalnorthflorida.com/events/wild-blackberry-festival-2 for more information.
WATERMELON FESTIVAL
June 13-14/MONTICELLO — This annual event represents a slice of Americana family fun. Don’t get us started on the Great American Bed Race. We’re not talking about a kind of bed, but flatbed carts. Teams of adults or teens (two pushers, one rider), build their “bed”, decorate it, don costumes and race their way through the streets of Monticello to be first to the finish line. If you don’t think the Great American Bed Race isn’t quite your “speed”, maybe reserve a spot (plus a commemorative t-shirt!) in the Monticello Kiwanis Club 5K Watermelon Run or plop down a chair along the route of the 74th annual festival parade. Of course, there’s also a car show, pageant, dog and baby photo contests, live music, art and craft vendors and watermelon. Lots of watermelon. https://www.monticellowatermelonfestival.com
National Seashell Day
June 20/FORT MYERS – Celebrating the seashells that wash onto our shores every day of the year. There’s nothing quite like the joy of walking on a beach and searching through seashells to find that perfect lightning whelk, alphabet cone or the prize: a junonia. With more than 50 miles of award-winning beaches and over 400 species of seashells that often cover the white sands, there’s no other place quite like the Fort Myers area for shell hunting. Visitors come from all over the world to search for unbroken seashells on our shores. Phase 1 of the Great Hall of Shells at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium on Sanibel Island is also opening to celebrate following a full redesign and reinstallation of its shell exhibits Causeway Islands Park has reopened with its first phase of amenities. as well. For more information, visit https://www.visitfortmyers.com/national-seashell-day
