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For a while this week, it almost felt like fall. Temperatures may rise, but local communities still offer seasonal events this weekend and into November. Consult our religion calendar for church festivals. Or celebrate with activities listed below:
USF FALL DANCE CONCERT: The University of South Florida's School of Theatre and Dance is launching its 2005-06 season with a fall dance concert called "Of Anger and Grace." Faculty and students will present dance ensembles based on the culture of West Africa, the emotion of grief, the stories of mythology and the reality of the war in Iraq. The concert takes place today, Saturday and Nov. 3 through Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. All performances are in Theater 1 on USF's Tampa campus. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for seniors and students. Buy them at the College of Visual and Performing Arts Box Office, 4202 E Fowler Ave., or online at http://www.artsmart.usf.edu For information, directions, or to place a telephone order with a credit card, call 813 974-2323.
SKI SHOW: The Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team will present a Peter Pan-themed water ski show, "Captain Hook's Haunted Halloween," 7:30 Saturday at Tower Lake in Oldsmar. The lake is behind the Oldsmar Flea Market, 180 Race Track Road. Admission is free, and concessions will be available. Call (813) 265-9685.
CERAMIC STUDIO HALLOWEEN PARTY: Come in costume Saturday to the Northdale Ceramic Studio, 4920 Newkirk Drive, for free entry from 5-9 p.m. There will be a costume contest with prizes, food and drinks, door prizes and more. Paint your own ceramic while you're there. Call (813) 265-4644.
FARM FUNDRAISER: Old McMicky's Farm is holding a Halloween fundraiser Sunday from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the farm, 19215 Crescent Road in Odessa, featuring pony rides, hay rides, trick-or-treating and a Big Bird look-alike handing out special gifts for the youngsters. Admission is a minimum donation of $1 per person . Half the proceeds will go to Old McMicky's Farm, and the other half will help children with muscular dystrophy attend the Muscular Dystrophy Association's summer camps in Florida . Although Old McMicky's Farm will turn into a traveling petting zoo in the next few months, its doors remain open. For more information, call (813) 920-1948. DRACULA IN CARROLLWOOD: The Carrollwood Players bring classic horror to the stage in time for Halloween. Their production will run weekends through Nov. 5. The play will start at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, with a special midnight performance Saturday. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, and $18 for the midnight show, with a $3 costume discount.
Also, the Carrollwood Players by Young People will present two one-act plays for children, Wanted: Dragon Slayer and The Book of Spells. The show will be 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 5, and tickets are $7 at the door. Call (813) 265-4000. GODSPELL IN NEW TAMPA: The New Tampa Players stage Stephen Schwartz's Godspell, a musical comedy that retells the New Testament's Gospel of St. Matthew. Performances are today-Sunday and Nov. 4-6. Shows will be 8 p.m. today-Saturday and Nov. 4-5., and 3 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 6. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $10 for groups of 10 or more. Call (813) 386-6687 .
WINE TASTING: Tip a glass at Florida Estates Winery's wine festival, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 5 at the winery, 25241 State Road 52. Come for food, sandwiches, plants, arts and crafts, and of course, the wine. The winery is open daily from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Call (813) 996-2113.
LUTZ MARKET: The Taste of Lutz and Lutz Market in the Park will be Nov. 12, with the market open 8 a.m.-2 p.m., and the food from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Booths will include individual garage sales, Lutz businesses, arts and crafts, holiday items, antiques, plants, farmer's market and samplings from area restaurants. 12- by 12-foot booth space is $15, and vendors must provide their own tables. Call (813) 949-7481.
CARROLLWOOD VILLAGEFEST: The Carrollwood Village Homeowner Associations will host VillageFest on the Carrollwood Village soccer fields, 13420 South Village Drive, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 12. The decorated fields will include a tented beer garden and entertainment stage.
Enjoy wine and beer, ethnic foods, BBQ, pizza and lasagna, pork kabobs, empanadas, egg rolls and pad Thai, cheese steaks and grilled sausages. There will be over 30 artists and vendors and live music.
Volunteers are still needed for this event. Admission is free, and parking is $2. Call (813) 842-7066.
MANUSCRIPT EXHIBITION: The University of South Florida library hosts the third installment in its series of medieval illuminated manuscript exhibitions, Liturgy and Devotion: Manuscripts from England to Ethiopia. Manuscript illumination is the art of hand-decorating in ink a handwritten page of parchment. The previously unstudied manuscripts featured in the reception were used in Western, Armenian and Ethiopian Orthodox churches from the 11th-18th centuries. The exhibit is in the fourth-floor reading room of the Tampa campus library and is free to the public. Call (813) 974-1589.
Jeremy Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5302, or via e-mail at jchayes@sptimes.com