New Gasparilla Island Magazine out for July/August
Above, the July/August Gasparilla Magazine cover image captured by H Wetzel in Key West in 2023.
The new Gasparilla Magazine is out for July/August 2026.
Inside are a bevy of stories in one of Florida’s award-winning magazines.
The lead story is “Summer in Paradise,” a guide to resort deals across Florida. As things slow down across the state, there are great deals at Florida’s resorts. The cover image, keyed to the roundup of statewide summer travel deals, is by H Wetzel, taken in Key West.
The magazine also includes the forgotten story of the son of impressionist painter Paul Gauguin. Emile Gauguin was buried in Lemon Bay Cemetery in Englewood, nearly 5,000 miles from his birthplace in Paris. So the question is, how did the son of this major player in art history end up in Englewood, Florida?
For food, there has been a renewed interest in that old-school morning drink, the Bloody Mary. Restaurants are adding all sorts of things to the tasty tomato drink, giving the classic cocktail new life. Move over, martini!
We also have a thorough report on the Hermitage Artist Retreat and its expansion. After enduring four destructive hurricanes and a county-mandated closure, the Hermitage Artist Retreat on Manasota Key has re-emerged stronger than before, expanding its footprint with additional acreage and a second campus while also stepping in this March to take over and revive the Englewood Art Center. The center was previously operated by the Ringling College of Art and Design.
There is also a roundup of locally invasive plants, animals and reptiles. The issue of invasive species is important to our ecosystem. At nearly every local government meeting about land use and new housing developments, concerned citizens speak out against the negative impacts of unchecked growth on our local flora and fauna. They worry that this “invasion” of more people into our area will destroy the environment and the paradise they know. But there is also another silent invasion that has been growing for years, one that involves invasive species other than humans. These animal invaders upset the delicate balance within our local ecosystem that supports the native plants and animals we treasure and can also, slowly but steadily, destroy our paradise.
Six Gun Territory, once a dusty roadside attraction near Silver Springs, still fires imaginations decades after its final gunfight. The attraction blended showmanship and nostalgia, leaving a legacy that lingers today. While Six Gun Territory existed for only about two decades, the park remains such a legend that its retired gunfighters and other memories live on in nearby Williston, where the Six Gun Territory Wild West Weekend festival is held at Kirby Family Farm twice a year. The festival includes gunfights, can-can dancers, historic train rides, robberies and memorabilia from the park, which operated from 1963 to 1984.
In our flashback, we look at old images of the Boca Grande Fire Department, including a fire ladder atop The Gasparilla Inn & Club.
Gasparilla Island Magazine, Tarpon Times & More and the Visitor’s Guide earned 16 awards, including four first-place Charlie Awards, at the 2026 Florida Magazine Association Charlie Awards competition. The magazine received recognition in writing, photography, illustration, design and advertising categories, competing against publications from across Florida.
Visit your local newsstand, or call us at the Beacon office at (941) 964-2995 for your copy or to subscribe.
