People flock to festival

The first full day of the Ringling International Arts Festival drew droves to the FSU Center for the Performing Arts and the Ringling Museum of Art. The parking lot was a sea of cars. People flooded the theaters, eager to see some of the best performing artists the international world has to offer.

The last time I saw parking so full was probably when Syesha Mercado sung on the museum grounds last year during the American Idol finals.

Today, I saw Peter Brook's "Love Is My Sin" — based on Shakespeare's sonnets. Then I returned a little later in the day for a dose of "Meow Meow," cabaret diva extraordinaire. Read about both in this week's Herald.

In between shows, I met a nice woman from Winter Haven who came to Sarasota with a friend just to attend the festival. She told me about her brief encounter with Mikhail Baryshnikov right after watching one of the dance performances. After she knew he was in the theater, she marched over to where he was and said hello. I have yet to meet him in person. But I enjoyed our brief phone interview from last week, which was featured in Sunday's Herald.

There's still plenty of festival for folks to see. Though I'm told that all of Elevator Repair Service shows and Maria Pages shows are sold out.

- January Holmes