SWFL Symphony Pub Games

The Olympics has been over for a month now, but thanks to the Southwest Florida Symphony, the competiveness and excitement that the Olympics bring are still here in Southwest Florida.

The Southwest Florida Symphony is planning on adding a fun twist to the Olympics called the Pub Olympics.

“The Pub Olympics is a fundraiser which is put on by the Symphony society. What it’s going to be is an event where people are going to play darts, shuffleboard and pool. They’re going to have rounds to play each event and the winners will win prizes,” says Mary Larkin, who is a marketing associate in the Symphony. 

The Southwest Florida Symphony, which debuted as a group on April 15, 1961, is a group of people who are committed to bringing the joy of music to the Southwest Florida community. In hopes of achieving this, the Southwest Florida Symphony puts on many concerts for the enjoyment of the community.

“We are a professional orchestra that performs twenty times a year. So our season is from November to April, and we perform classical, pops, and chamber music. We perform at Barbara B. Mann and Sanibel,” says Larkin.

While their main focus is on music, the Southwest Florida Symphony attempts to reach all aspects of the community.

“In addition to the concert season, we also do have an education program. We have a youth orchestra and within the orchestra we have ensembles; we have a concert orchestra and a performing orchestra and we have about ninety kids in the orchestra who are under eighteen. They’re all auditioned and trained by professionals,” says Larkin.

Other education programs that the Southwest Florida Symphony offers are ticket programs for disadvantaged or at-risk youth and scholarships for high school seniors who are planning to major in music. The Symphony also offers a “rush ticket” program for college students, which allows you to get a $5 ticket up to one hour before the concert.

While the Symphony does do a lot for the community, the fact that they still need money to function cannot be avoided. This is where the Pub Olympics come into play. “This event is proving to be very difficult. We are cognizant of the fact that we cannot market it to our regular clientele. We are hoping to get 125 people so this can be a closed event,” says Roz Lesser, coordinator of the Pub Olympics. 

 The Pub Olympics will be held on Sept. 30 from 4 p.m.-9 p.m. at Dublin Ale House on Chiquita Blvd in Cape Coral. The cost for admission is $45, which includes a beer tasting and your choice of two pints of beer. Call the Symphony Office at (239) 418-0996 for information or reservations.