UPDATE: Ceremony formalizes Sarasota's newest sister city

A ceremony held Friday, Dec. 10 celebrated the addition of Merida, Mexico, as Sarasota’s newest sister city.

Mayor Kelly Kirschner and Merida Mayor Angelica Araujo were both present at the ceremony, held at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, to sign a treaty establishing a sister-city relationship between the two cities.

“This is just the first step in many years of a fruitful relationship,” said Kirschner, who alternated between speaking English and Spanish throughout the ceremony.

The Sister City Program aims to promote cultural understanding and citizen diplomacy between cities around the world with similar interests. Sarasota and Merida, located 180 miles west of Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula, both share similar tropical temperatures and a love of the arts.

Merida is Sarasota’s eighth sister city and joins Dunfermline, Scotland; Hamilton, Ontario; Perpignan, France; Tel Mond, Israel; Treviso, Italy; Vladimir, Russia; and Siming District, Xiamen, China.

To learn more about the Sister Cities program visit www.sarasotasistercities.org.

Contact Maria Amodio at [email protected].