Editors' Choice

• Oct. 13-17 — After last year’s success, Sarasota’s Ringling International Arts Festival returns for five days of theater, dance and cabaret performances, including fusion dance solos by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Shows take place at the Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts on Sarasota Bay.

Southeast

• Sept. 3-12 — Dance troupes from Europe, Africa as well as Asia perform at the XV International Ballet Festival of Miami on Miami Beach.
• Sept. 17-19 — Jive to island tunes, munch on regional foods and test your skill at conch blowing during the Conchtoberfest at Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys.
• Oct. 1-Nov. 11 — Dine Out Lauderdale serves up special three-course meals for $35 at various participating Fort Lauderdale restaurants, including Via Luna, 3030 Ocean, Johnny V, Truluck’s and others.
• Oct. 8-11 — The Vero Fashion Outlets in Vero Beach supports the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Participating retailers offer a gift with purchase when you “shop Pink” during the “One Stylish Step Closer to a Cure” event.
• Oct. 22-31 — Vampires, vixens and even villians flood Key West for 10 days of debauchery and celebration during Fantasy Fest. Masquerade marches, parades, street fairs and costume balls.

Southwest

• Sept. 4-6 — Get out your hiking boots for photographer Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery’s Annual Labor Day Weekend Muck-Abouts in the Everglades. Guided swamp walks, subtropical flora and fauna, and picnics.
• Oct. 17-23 — Activities at the J.N. “Ding” Darling Days Birding Festival at the namesake wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island include native wildlife encounters, sea-life cruises and also bald-eagle viewings.
• Oct. 29-Nov. 7 — The shores of Fort Myers and Sanibel are home to the annual Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival, featuring eco activities, guided paddling excursions and competitive races.

Central

• Sept. 1-30 — During Magical Dining Month in Orlando, enjoy three-course pre-fixe $30 dinners at some 50 participating restaurants, including Emeril’s Tchoup Chop, Norman’s, Todd English’s Bluezoo and others.
• Sept. 24-26 — The New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival features jazz master guitarist Larry Coryell and others.

Northeast

• Oct. 4-10 — At Painting the Region: “Cowford” on the Bartram Trail, plein-air artists pay tribute to Jacksonville’s historic downtown waterfront.
• Oct. 13-17 — The Jacksonville Film Festival draws a new generation of independent filmmakers. Screenings, short-film debuts and parties with filmmakers.

Northwest

• Sept. 16-19 — Schooners Beach Club on Panama City Beach hosts its annual Lobster Festival & Tournament. Divers compete for spiny and shovelnose lobsters. Dine on lobster every way you can imagine.
• Oct. 1-2 — Practice your polka as Panama City morphs into a bustling German-style village for Oktoberfest with accordion players, carnival rides and sausage-eating contests.
• Oct. 22-23 — Sample craft beers at the Baytowne Wharf Beer Festival in Destin. Some 40 on- site craft brewers featuring 100 domestic & international beers make tastings and seminars fun.