Hunting party: In keeping with a recent Tampa tradition, the Heights Unites Benefit Bonanza 2015 gathers citizens and sponsors from throughout Central Tampa's historic and quaint districts (Tampa Heights, Ybor Heights, Ybor, Seminole Heights, etc.) for a good cause: The Centre for Girls. The annual fest will offer a new twist this year — a scavenger hunt through Tampa's many "unique, historical, and, sometimes overlooked places." Be sure to wear a costume, get a team together and afterward, celebrate at an after party at MF Arts Ybor with free beer, live music and art, local vendors, food trucks and more. Mes of Crate Brothers will DJ, beer from Angry Chair will be served and vittles from Ybor darlings Clementine Café will nourish participants and after party attendees. The event begins and ends at the Best of the Bay-winning venue, 2-9 p.m. Tickets range from $5 for a solo party to $30 for a team of up to four people, available at ticketfly.com/event/907187-heights-unites-benefit-tampa.
Haunts at nearby haunts: We may not get leaves changing and crisp temperatures, but we have loads of Halloweenie fun. Read Meredith Myers' interview with Blair Witch's Rob Cowie, who designed Howl-O-Scream's latest Scarlett scare site, which opens with its Freaky Previews this weekend. For more upcoming Halloween events, click here.
Saturday SPF15 events: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, you can revel in the return of the arty fleet of Carmada. On Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., the TBBCA & SPAA Chalk Walk Festival takes over the pavement around South Straub Park. At 7 p.m. Saturday night, there will be a film screening of Back to the 70's (of Wine and Weed) by Mike Nahat at Studio@620. SPF15 events on Sunday include Cartoonist Stephan Pastis — Pearls Before Swine at The Palladium at 2 p.m. More at stpetefest.org.
Culture on da house: It's that special day again, when museums across the U.S. will offer free admission for anyone with a Smithsonian's Museum Day Live! ticket, and institutions will hold special programming to lure people into their esteemed edifices. Presented each year by the Smithsonian Magazine, the event features a bevy of Florida museums. The Tampa Bay History Center is just one of the museums in the Tampa Bay area participating in this event and will have re-enactors portraying soldiers and civilians from Florida's Civil War era. Other participating museums and the like include the Leepa Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs (pictured above); Museum of Fine Arts, the Florida Holocaust Museum and Florida Craft Art in St. Pete; Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa Museum of Art, Cracker Country Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor Museum State Park in Tampa, and Armed Forces History Museum in Pinellas Park. Take a brief trip out of town and visit Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, The Ringling in Sarasota and South Florida Museum in Bradenton, too. Grab a friend as each ticket is good for two people. Reserve online at Smithsonian.com/museumday. (Andrea Bailey contributed to this report.)
Romanian rendezvous: Anyone who listens to public radio on a semi-regular basis has no doubt been treated to the luminous essays and verse of Andrei Codrescu, or you may have read his novels such as Blood Countess. Click here to read more about his visit to St. Pete and Dali Museum postcard exhibit.
Limited-release films opening Friday: Stonewall In limited release and directed by Roland Emmerich, the controversial, no-trans-starring film re-creates a pivotal moment in LGBT history; opens at AMC Woodlands in Oldsmar and Muvico Baywalk St. Petersburg. Cast includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ron Perlman. At Tampa Theatre, see Phoenix, an intriguing suspense drama of transformation, trust and deception amidst the backdrop of post-World War II Germany, from acclaimed director Christian Petzold (Barbara, Jerichow). Read reviews at cltampa.com/arts.
April Macie If you like badass female comedians, make a point to see April Macie at Side Splitters, and for more comedy in town, check Michael Murillo's Laugh Tract.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2015.