Nik Wallenda's Daredevil Rally at Nathan Benderson Park features tightrope walking, acrobatics and BMX tricks.
By
Brendan Lavell
| 9:30 a.m. March 8, 2021
East County
Neighbors
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From a platform nearly 80 feet above the ground, Nik Wallenda acknowledged the past year has been a difficult one.
His business typically relies on people gathering, which hasn't happened much since the COVID-19 pandemic started. And that problem, he said, was the inspiration for creating the drive-in Nik Wallenda's Daredevil Rally at Nathan Benderson Park in his native Sarasota.
Then, he stepped off the platform as the flag behind him whipped in the wind — and answered audience questions while walking a tightrope.
This death-defying stunt was just one of many to which the audience was treated. There were also BMX flips, human cannonballs, trapeze tricks and more.
Rosedale resident Sue Painter received her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in February and said the rally was one of the first events she had attended in nearly 14 months. She said she was grateful to spend time with her friends again.
"It's a good way to get outside without being in a crowd," Painter said.
Sarasota residents Brenda Zumbro and Linda Bates and Greenbrook residents Violet Cadavid, 9, Maya Cadavid, 5, and Lili Allen react to a stuntman being launched from a cannon.
Nik Wallenda walks a tightrope and simultaneously answers audience questions nearly 80 feet in the air. The wind speed on the ground Sunday was about 15 miles per hour.
Palma Ranch resident Tom Miller and Rosedale resident Sue Painter are friends who met when they and their spouses lived in the same Nashville neighborhood.
Myakka residents Albert Noe and Theresa Delaney watch Galaxy Girl balance on a pole 127 feet above the ground. Noe once wrote a song for Nik Wallenda called "Grand Canyon Walk with Jesus" that he performed for Wallenda in church.
Tina "Galaxy Girl" Winn does flips 80 feet above the ground.
Zadyn Rivers, 7, and grandparents Linda and Chuck Cargin, who are from Sabal Harbour in east Bradenton, watch BMX riders do tricks. The Cargins love Nik Wallenda's work, but Rivers had never seen his show before.
Devin Allan, 13, Cody Rhoades, 8, Parker Krstonich, 10, and Jacob Krstonich, 13, are friends from Parrish. They enjoyed the BMX tricks and human cannonball the most.
Tina "Galaxy Girl" Winn balances on a pole 127 feet above the ground. Wind speed on the ground Sunday was about 15 miles per hour.
Sarasota residents Beatrice DeGuzman, 11, and Holden DeGuzman, 9, hold their 7-year-old Labrador retriever, Marker. Beatrice enjoyed Galaxy Girl's performance most, while Holden liked the BMX riders.
Jackson Grim, 7, Ralph Macri, Cheryl Macri, Mark Feldman and Elizabeth Grim, 5, came from Tampa to watch the show. The Grim siblings enjoyed watching Galaxy Girl the most.
Passersby and Nathan Benderson Park visitors gather outside the park fence to watch Nik Wallenda's Daredevil Rally.
