Sarasota dads enjoy Dad’s Day at the UTC Mall

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The most popular mall in Sarasota may be used to having hundreds of people on a weekend afternoon, but the Saturday before Father’s Day was a little more special.

Father’s Day festival, or as the Mall at University Town Center coined it “Dad’s Day”, was a day for dads to kick back, relax, play mini-golf, throw axes, enjoy free food and live music, and much more.

The Mall at University Town Center opened its doors Saturday, June 17 to dozens of vendors and dads in an early celebration of Father’s Day. Dads said there were lots of reasons to come to the mall on a busy weekend.

“It’s great, it’s fun to be appreciated. Just having something fun to do, especially something that’s free and close by and in the A.C. All this is great,” said Adam Burnside.

The attractions ranged from axe throwing, batting cages, to meet and greets with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lightning, as well as free food and drink sampling. Vendors said it was a great opportunity to show support to the fathers in the area.