The planner (things to do)

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne, tbt* staff writer
In Print: Friday, March 19, 2010

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FRIDAY-SUNDAY

It's a funky big top

The UniverSoul Circus is different from Ringling Bros., adding a little hip-hop and soul to every performance. The 75 performers hail from all over the world, including Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Colombia and the United States. Like other circuses, you'll see clowns, trapeze artists and acrobats. But UniverSoul throws in some break dancers and Caribbean limbo dancers. Find the funky big top in the Raymond James Stadium parking lot, 4201 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Tickets are $12-$26.50 at ticketmaster.com. Check out the circus at universoulcircus.com.

FRIDAY

Oof! There it is

See some booty kicking at the Xtreme Fighting Championships Mixed Martial Arts competition Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum. Competitors use integrated forms of fighting like Jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, tae kwon do, wrestling and more. It's at 7 p.m., tickets are $15-$70. stpetetimesforum.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

Night at the museum

At Da Vinci After Dark, it'll feel like you're sneaking in after hours. Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry will stay open late for viewing of the "Da Vinci: The Genius" exhibit, which includes many of his inventions, drawings and a unique look at the Mona Lisa. You'll feel pretty smart, too, because ticket prices are reduced: $15, $14 seniors, $13 children. Hours are 4:30 to 9 p.m. Friday and 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday at 4801 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. Last ticket sold at 8 p.m. (813) 987-6000; mosi.org.

SATURDAY

Go glue crazy

At Paper! Scissors! Beer! you can help create a ginormous collage, floor to ceiling, on the walls of the Morean Arts Center's open space. For $5, you can sample a variety of beers from Peg's Cantina in Gulfport while you snip magazines, newspapers, ribbons for your piece of the masterpiece. All supplies, down to the paste, will be provided from 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the center, 719 Central Ave., St. Pete. Full beers, wine and soft drinks will be available for purchase. Buy tickets online (moreanartscenter.org) or at the door. (727) 822-7872.

Make beach a dog park

Grab your dog's leash for Saturday's Mutt Strut, a 1-mile walk on the Osprey Trail around Honeymoon Island State Park. Stick around for agility performances, demonstrations and vendors. The event, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the park at the west end of the Dunedin Causeway, benefits the Humane Society of Pinellas. Free, but a $10 minimum donation is appreciated for the walk. (727) 797-7722, ext. 222.

Put your pinkies in the air

Get uncorked at WineRave, a wine odyssey for young imbibers of the grape featuring more than 50 wines, food, entertainment and art. It's from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday at the West Tampa Center for the Arts, 1906 N Armenia Ave. $30 in advance and $35 at the door. (813) 453-4381, tampabayuncorked.com.

Take the stairs

Like the Mount Everest of Tampa Bay, the Bank of America building is the obstacle for the Fight for Air Climb Tampa on Saturday, a benefit for the American Lung Association. Huff and puff your way through a 42-flight, 914-step vertical race starting at 7 a.m. It's $25 to register plus a $100 pledge minimum for everyone at the Bank of America Plaza, 101 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. climbtampa.com.

MONDAY

Tennis celebs line up for the kids

A star-packed tennis lineup, including Andy Roddick, James Blake, Jim Courier, Rennae Stubbs and Vera Zvonareva come together for the Tampa Tennis Classic, benefiting Raymond James Courier's Kids, an inner-city youth tennis program founded by Courier. It's at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the St. Pete Times Forum, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. $20-$95. VIP packages $150-$200. (813) 301-2500. stpetetimesforum.com.

5 under $5

FREE The annual ode to the "friendship" between Spanish settlers and native Florida Indians at Chasco Fiesta sounds more like a Disney version of history, but we're not party poopers. This 11-day parade of entertainment kicks off this weekend along the Pithlachascotee River in downtown New Port Richey. There's a daily carnival, a huge street parade at 1 p.m. Saturday, a traditional Native American festival and lots of live music, including contemporary Christian singer Jeremy Camp on Friday. Most of it is free. chascofiesta.com.

FREE Aren't we all just itching for spring? The Pinellas Pioneer Settlement at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve welcomes the warm weather at the Spring Fling and Bike Thing with bike tours of the preserve's trails and back woods. Hayrides depart every half hour at 2900 31st St. S in St. Petersburg. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

$4 At the Science Center of Pinellas County's Sci-Fi and Sky Night, there will be planetarium shows, high-powered telescopes and a mini concert by the St. Petersburg Opera of songs about the sun, moon and stars (6:30 p.m.). Bring a chair or some comfy pillows and blankets to watch an outdoor screening at 8 p.m. of Clone Wars: Ambush and Rising Malevolence, followed by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There's food, snacks, beer and wine for sale, and it's all a fundraiser for the science center, 7701 22nd Ave. N in St. Petersburg on Saturday. Call (727) 384-0027 to RSVP for the planetarium show at 5:45 p.m. A $4 per person donation is requested.

$5 Tap into your Indiana Jones persona at FossilFest, the Tampa Bay Fossil Club's display of fossils and other artifacts from Florida's prehistoric people, including special displays on Florida's last Ice Age, when prehistoric people hunted mammoths, built pyramids along our coast and lived in fear of the saber cat, giant lion and wolf. The kids can dig in a sand pit for fossils, then learn about what they've found. It's $5, free for those 12 and younger, and it's 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Special Events Center at Florida State Fairgrounds at Interstate 4 at U.S. 301 N in Tampa. tampabayfossilclub.com.

$5 Like the programming on the community radio station WMNF-FM 88.5, the mix for the WMNF Skate Party will be eclectic, from polka to soul to Latin jazz and house party music. It's free for kids, $5 for ages 6 and older at Skateworld Town 'N Country, 7510 Paula Drive in Tampa at 5 p.m. Sunday. wmnf.org.

[Last modified: Mar 18, 2010 05:32 PM]