Halloween Is Saturday. Sunday Hands You an Extra Hour to Recover.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and then, as a little thank-you, the clocks fall back at 2 a.m. Sunday. That's a costume night followed immediately by a free extra hour of sleep. I've lived here a long time and I can't remember the calendar ever being this considerate.

So the week builds. A quiet Monday, candy by Tuesday, and by Saturday you could be running a 5K in a cape at 8 a.m. and trick-or-treating at a winery by 1. Eight things, each checked against the organizer's own page this morning. If you want every costume contest and trunk-or-treat in both counties, sorted by night, that's what the Halloween Finder is for.

01 · Trick or Treat on the Lake

Tue., Oct. 27 · Regatta Island, Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota
Time: 4:30–7:30 p.m. · Price: Free, with free parking from Sarasota County Parks

A candy trail of more than 50 themed booths by the lake, a haunted house inside and outside the Finish Tower, kids' games, a scavenger hunt, live music, and circus and dance performances. The first 750 people get a free tote bag.

Fifty booths on an island in a park built for rowing races. The kids will cover that course faster than any boat ever has, and they'll be carrying more.

Event page

02 · Phillippi Farmhouse Market

Wed., Oct. 28 · Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
Time: 9 a.m.–1 p.m. · Price: Free to browse; vendors set their own prices

The county's Wednesday market is back for the season, with produce, prepared food, artisan goods and live music. It started with 19 vendors and now runs past 50. Free docent-led tours of the historic Edson Keith Mansion start at 10 and the Keith Farmhouse at 11.

Buy tomatoes, then tour a historic mansion holding the tomatoes. Nobody will say anything. I've checked.

Market page

03 · Ghostbusters in Concert

Thu., Oct. 29 · Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
Time: 7 p.m. (doors an hour before) · Price: $46–$91, fees included

The 1984 movie on a big HD screen while a live orchestra plays Elmer Bernstein's score in sync with it. The Van Wezel lists it as all-in pricing, so the number you see is the number you pay.

A full orchestra in formal black, playing with total seriousness under a movie whose big final villain is a giant marshmallow man. They will not crack a smile. You will.

Event page

04 · BooFest on Main Street

Fri., Oct. 30 · Lakewood Ranch Main Street, 8100 Lakewood Main St., Lakewood Ranch
Time: 6–9 p.m. · Price: Free, no registration

Trick-or-treating along a street of local vendors and merchants, a Kids' Zone with face painting, balloon twisting, inflatables and hands-on experiments, and four bands on the main stage, ending with Funke from 8:20 to 9. Veteran Air is handing out free pumpkin totes to the first 2,500 people.

One of the bands on the lineup is called Solar Apocalypse, and it plays at 6:50 at a family trick-or-treat. Lakewood Ranch has a sense of humor, and I'm here for it.

Event page

05 · 23rd Annual Boo Run

Sat., Oct. 31 · FCCI Insurance Group building, 6300 University Parkway, Sarasota
Time: Kids Boo Dash 7:30 a.m.; 5K 8 a.m. · Price: 5K $45, Kids Dash $20, plus sign-up fees; $5 more after Oct. 30

A chip-timed Halloween 5K with a glow-in-the-dark finisher medal, a race shirt, a costume contest and a post-race party for runners. The kids' dash is grouped by age, down to 3 and 4. It benefits Another Day for Gray and the Big Bill Foundation. Packet pickup is Thursday, Oct. 29, at Fit2Run in University Town Center, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and 4–7 p.m.

The medal glows in the dark, and the race is at 8 in the morning. You'll have to wait all day to see it work. That's called delayed gratification, and it's very good for you.

Race page

06 · Boo Bash at Fiorelli Winery · Kevin Keys pick

Sat., Oct. 31 · Fiorelli Winery, 4250 County Road 675, Bradenton
Time: Noon–3 p.m. · Price: Free admission and parking

Family- and pet-friendly. Pumpkin carving and decorating from noon to 1 (bring your own pumpkin and tools), a trunk-or-treat from 1 to 2:30, then costume, pumpkin and best-trunk awards at 2:30. Live music and food all afternoon, plus Fiorelli's wines and its homemade apple cider sangria. Want to bring a decorated trunk? Register first at info@fiorelliwinery.com or 941-238-6566, and bring your own candy.

Kevin Keys is still off in the Douro Valley, but he made me promise that any week with a winery on it gets his name on it. The kids get candy. You get sangria. Everybody walks to the car holding something orange.

Event page

07 · Halloween at The Ringling

Sat., Oct. 31 · The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota (enter at the Museum of Art gates, not the Visitors Pavilion)
Time: 4–7 p.m.; littlest ones encouraged 4–5 · Price: Free, no registration

Trick-or-treating on the Loggia, a Lantern Labyrinth in the Courtyard, art-making, gallery guides pointing out "not-too-spooky paintings," a Seek and Find, historic Halloween shorts in Gallery 19, and the Say Cheese food truck for dinner. Bring a non-perishable item for All Faiths Food Bank if you can.

The museum asks you to leave swords and wands in the car, and not to eat candy in the galleries. Fair. Those paintings have survived centuries. They are not going to be taken down by a seven-year-old Jedi and a fun-size Snickers.

Event page

08 · Very Merry Jerry Day

Sun., Nov. 1 · Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota
Time: Doors 5 p.m.; music 6 p.m. · Price: $25; $20 WSLR members, $12 students 13 and up

WSLR+Fogartyville's yearly Grateful Dead night, with vendors and food trucks. Hot Club SRQ plays the Dead as Django-style gypsy jazz at 6, Dead All Over at 7, the Bluestar Band at 8, and Dead All Over again at 9.

The clocks fell back that morning, so "we'll just stay for one more set" finally costs you nothing. Deadheads have been waiting their whole lives for a rule like that.

Event page

Sandy's sign-off

One more for the weekend: the UTC Fall Carnival runs rides Friday through Sunday at the mall, free to walk in, with trick-or-treating at the vendors Saturday night. And don't forget the clocks fall back at 2 a.m. Sunday. Use the extra hour however you like. I'm spending mine asleep, with my witch hat still on.

— Sandy

Times and details can change, check the organizer's page.