A Merfolk gather for those from all over! Sandy Fins will take place in Sarasota and Venice FL August 19-20th 2016.

The goal here is to make this an Annual event similar to how Merfest is. (2018 plans are already in the works!)

Event is kicking off with a Saturday Tour of the Mote Marine Aquarium. This is an active research lab that is working to save sea turtles, corals, and all of our oceans creatures.

Midway through the day on Saturday there will be a Belly Dancing Lesson specifically geared towards Merfolk. The instructor will be teaching the arm movements that go along with this beautiful dance style so you can incorporate them into your Merfolk routine. This is included in your ticket price!!

Saturday evening we will attend the local Drum Circle at Nokomis Beach. This is a world renown drum circle and they know they have one mermaid that shows up, let's surprise everyone there by have a whole group turn out! Dancing and music that will get you moving. It is entirely possible that the local Steampunk and Pirate groups will be joining us at the drum circle for a even more exciting time!

Sunday morning the local YMCA Olympic sized pool has been booked for a two hour swim with underwater photography provided by John Kay. This swim will take place from 10-12, with lunch from 1-2 at your choice of local restaurant.

At 2pm we will be meeting at Caspersan Beach, not to far from the YMCA. This is a fairly untraveled beach compared to the other local beaches and has some very nice rocky outcroppings in places for beautiful photos. There is a nature trail in the location as well for those of you who like to hike when your fins have dried.

Sunday evening at 6pm the event will wrap up with dinner and door prizes and games as well as the raffle prize wonder drawing! Dinner will be at the world renown Sharky's on The Pier. This is only a 5 min drive from Caspersan Beach. Sharky's is also located directly on Venice Beach: the shark tooth capital of the world! So bring your collection buckets for a fair amount of shells and sharks teeth.

Mermaid Minerals, Mermaid Athena, Mariah Holden, Mermaid Kelly, and a few local artisans have donated to the raffle prize and door prizes for dinner.

TICKET SALES HERE
https://2017sandyfins.ticketleap.com

You **do**need to buy a ticket to attend the event. Don't worry, your price gets you into Mote Aquarium at their group rate and it also covers a small charge so I can print the programs for the event and cover pool rental. A single ticket just for the event only and not Mote is only $5. For event and Mote is $20. I'm trying to keep this as reasonable as possible for everyone.

In terms of lodging:
August is the out of season form Venice and Sarasota, as such the hotel prices are lower. Many offer a basic two bed hotel room for under $100 at that time of year. But I am currently trying to get a group rate for a hotel. As soon as that happens I will post an update.

Join the FB Group for more frequent updates.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/269085956869806

I'm so excited to meet everyone! Oh, by the way, if you cannot make it but want to show your support there is an option for a "donation ticket" via the ticket sales.

(Ps: At the event I am to ensure everyone will get at least one photo they can use for promotional purposes *and* I also want to get a 30-45sec video clip of everyone saying who they are, what they do, and where people can contact them if they run a business)