The Sarasota-Manatee area is ripe with an abundance of superior cultural life: opera, symphony, professional and civic theater companies, music and a flourishing visual arts community. Arts and culture has been shown to positively increase the quality of life in the region and with this Festival it is hoped that community leaders and citizens grow to further recognize and embrace the unique value arts and culture plays in the local, regional and statewide economy. The great news is the Festival is a catalyst for bringing several of the major arts organizations in town together to collaboratively market the arts during the Festival and afterwards throughout the cultural season. Every step, large or small, will help further reaffirm Sarasota and Manatee’s, and Florida at that matter, reputation as a leading arts and cultural destination throughout the world.