Siesta Key Drum Circle, Sarasota, Florida
by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
Bongo player is oblivious to the crowd, focused on his music
Every Saturday evening for the last twelve years, a group of committed musicians has gathered on Siesta Key at sunset to conduct a free drum circle. The event was small at first, attracting only a few dozen people. But as word spread about the event, more and more people came down to the beach to see what it was all about. Over the years, the Siesta Key Drum Circle has attracted belly dancers, fire spinners, acrobats, and hula-hoopers, in addition to tourists and residents. Eventually it grew so large that the event had to be moved from its original location to the Siesta Key Public beach in order to accommodate a regular attendance of several hundred to several thousand people.
On a recent visit, I watched half a dozen rag-tag hippie musicians beat out a rhythm on tambourines, smaller drums carried underarm, and bongos. One young man even hauled a traditional drum set down to the beach, complete with bass and cymbals. As the last of the daylight faded, the intensity of the drumming ratcheted up. The crowd was perhaps twenty or thirty deep around the drummers. Bikini-clad teens and belly dancers in silk scarves pushed their way into the center of the circle and begin to trance dance, while tattooed bikers stood at the periphery, hoping to catch a glimpse of the more scantily clad dancers. Many of the spectators brought instrument as well: flutes, maracas, drums of their own. Under the cover of darkness, they lost their inhibitions and joined in, gleeful in their anonymity.
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, attend the free Saturday night drum circle
Today, the Siesta Key Drum Circle is one of the largest in the nation. Although its popularity may have something to do with “freak factor” - with their long dreadlocks, raggedy T-shirts, and expressions of transcendental bliss, the drummers are a sight to behold, and many of the spectators provide additional eye-candy. But my theory is that the Drum Circle; by its very nature free, uncontrolled, and spontaneous; is an event where people can forget about their daily stresses, walk on a beautiful beach, bang on a drum till their hands hurt, and dance to exhaustion.
Everyone loses their inhibitions and gets in the act
Siesta Key is one of several lovely Gulf Coast barrier islands located within the city of Sarasota, Florida. In addition to hundreds of attractions and events held throughout the year, the area boasts some of Florida’s finest beaches and provides accommodations to suit all budgets.
Photos courtesy of Barbara Weibel
