Apr 18-23, 2018
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Pink proves she’s pop royalty at the Amway Center
Is it possible to endure creatively in the rubble of the pop music industry? Alecia Moore – better known as Pink – is a pretty compelling case that the answer is yes. A singer and performer who rose to prominence during peak-’90s MTV with “Get the Party Started,” Pink has stayed relevant through the age…
Get in touch with the planet at Central Florida Earth Day in Lake Eola Park
Ever since April 22, 1970, the entire planet has come together once a year to honor the pale blue dot we all live on that hurtles through space circling a giant ball of flaming gas. For the last 13 years, Central Florida Earth Day has been participating in that celebration. This family-friendly, dog-friendly event is…
Orlando Book Festival brings bestselling authors to Orlando Public Library
As an upgrade from those elementary school book fairs we know and miss, Orange County Library System is hosting a book festival with just a few similarities. S. Jae-Jones, the New York Times best-selling author of Wintersong, is the opening keynote speaker at the event. There are plenty of opportunities for bookworms to geek out…
Mayhem on Mills offers wrestling, bands and booze this weekend
During the WWF boom years of the early 1980s, a major factor in the wrestling fed’s crossover success was the Rock N’ Wrestling Connection, a scheme dreamt up by wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano and singer Cyndi Lauper that combined wrestling and pop music into an unholy union – and gave us a couple of…
Hourglass Brewing hosts Florida’s only qualifier for the National Air Guitar Championship
That’s right – you can actually play this instrument, unlike the guitar that’s collecting dust in the corner of your bedroom. Even better, it requires a minimal amount of talent, unless you count your best moves in the mirror as a real means of showmanship. So come out and make your parents proud, and bring…
SpaceX will launch NASA’s planet-hunting satellite today – stream it live here
Take two for SpaceX’s TESS project. SpaceX has rescheduled the launch of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, for Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite will go up this evening on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after the first launch attempt on Monday was canceled hours before the 30-second window. SpaceX…
Disney continues to pile on anti-gambling contributions in Florida
Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. contributed another $105,000 last month in its effort to pass a constitutional amendment that stymies gambling in Florida, bringing their total contributions to more than $4.6 million, the News Service of Florida reports. As of March 31, political action committee Voters in Charge, which is leading the charge for the proposed…
CRC panel nixes proposal requiring Florida businesses to verify employees’ immigration status
Florida businesses won’t have to worry about voters requiring them to verify the immigration status of new employees. The state Constitution Revision Commission on Monday rejected a proposal that would have asked voters in November to require businesses to use a system similar to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Employment Authorization Program, known as…
Publix recalls eggs after concerns of a salmonella contamination
Publix may have received a bad batch of eggs. The Lakeland-based grocer was on the Food and Drug Administration’s recall list yesterday after a possible salmonella contamination outbreak. Last Friday, Rose Acre Farms voluntarily recalled over 200 million eggs that were distributed to nine states, including Florida. The recall was prompted by the eggs’ potential to…
Big Tim Murphy brings together a comedy benefit for Osceola firefighters at the Improv tonight
Local “Poking the Bear” podcast host and comedy scene mainstay Big Tim Murphy has set up a night of comedy for a good cause. Tickets to this showcase – featuring talent like Rauce Padgett, Heather Shaw and Miguel Colon – benefit the Osceola Fire Department Benevolent, an organization that assists firefighters battling cancer caused by…
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit bring the best in Americana to the Dr. Phillips Center tonight
Jason Isbell has traveled many miles of significance to become one of the most decorated Americana artists of his generation. The Alabama son first emerged by proving his mettle enough to sit at the songwriter’s table alongside Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley in the Drive-By Truckers, a laurel that most would gladly ride into the…
Florida judge again supports allowing Tampa cancer survivor to grow marijuana
For the second time in less than a week, a Tallahassee judge has given Tampa strip-club owner Joe Redner the go-ahead to grow his own pot, rejecting a request from state health officials to keep in place a stay blocking the cancer survivor from cultivating medical marijuana. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers, ruling from…
20 attractions everyone should visit in Orlando
As the world’s tourist destination, Orlando has a little bit of everything – from an unforgettably magical experience at Cinderella’s Castle inside Disney World’s Magic Kingdom to gator wrangling and zip-lining over hundreds of toothy reptiles at Gatorland. No two things are alike, so we suggest you try them all. Airboat Rides at Midway 28501…
Tampa is the perfect city for repeated road trips
Our neighbor to the South is in many ways as much a study in contrasts as Orlando is. Both a college town (home of the University of South Florida and University of Tampa) and a tourist destination (visitors flock to Busch Gardens and the French Quarter-esque Ybor City) Tampa holds just as much local charm…
Ivanhoe Village is on the cusp of major change
Once an unassuming stretch of Orange Avenue, anchored at one end by numerous antique stores and at the other by Florida Hospital, Ivanhoe Village has in recent years hotted up into one of Orlando’s fastest-changing neighborhoods. The Alden Road warehouse district is gone, replaced by a massive and seemingly eternal construction project, but it’ll be…
2018’s biggest annual events in Orlando
APRIL Florida Film Festival April 6-14, 2018; Enzian Theater, 1300 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland; 407-629-1088; floridafilmfestival.com Whether you’re a fan of dramas, comedies, documentaries or shorts, the Florida Film Festival has it all. Florida Music Festival April 12-14, 2018; downtown Orlando, multiple venues; floridamusicfestival.com A downtown music festival geared toward artists looking to break into…
Downtown is the place where Orlando truly comes alive
To take downtown Orlando at face value – a skyscraper hub of businesses, banks and bars – is too simplistic. The city’s core is a mecca for the creative with a diverse culinary landscape, experimental art, theater spaces and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. It’s become the space where we hold emotions…
The best ways to experience Orlando’s vibrant arts scene
Considering the massive amount of creative talent required to keep the region’s theme parks cast, costumed, painted and polished to such a high degree of perfection, it’s not at all surprising that there’s a surfeit of artistic talent in this town. Dive in and enjoy. GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens 633…
10 reasons to visit Sanford, our charming neighbor to the north
Less “Orlando North,” as Seminole County officials dubbed it to attract more tourists, than simply north of Orlando, Sanford is one those small charming towns that make you want to say good riddance to the city and hello to the clean, crisp air. Bordered by lakes and a gratifying amount of eclectic culture, it’s both…
There’s more to explore in St. Augustine than just Castillo De San Marcos
The oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine is a beach town with all the tourist trappings, a college town with Flagler College nestled in the heart of the city, a city rich in historical architecture, and a party town all at once. But it’s also increasingly becoming known as a music town thanks…
Orlando’s Audubon Park neighborhood has an ever-expanding slate of cool
Nestled in a suburban stretch between the Mills Avenue and Semoran Boulevard corridors, Audubon Park may seem like a sleepy oasis away from the hustle and bustle of city life. But the network of restaurants, shops and bars surrounding the intersection of Winter Park Road and Corinne Drive have set a national example for neighborhood…
What do you even know about Orlando’s Conway area?
Curry Ford Road has always had its fair share of quick eats, being a main connector for the city since the days when the thoroughfare actually led to a literal ford across the Econlockhatchee River. But the area’s stepped up its game in recent years, bolstered by determined restaurateurs and craft beer purveyors determined to…
Florida’s Space Coast is more than just Elon Musk’s backyard
Though the Space Coast went through some tough times after the local economy was dealt a heavy blow following the shutdown of NASA’s space shuttle program in 2011, things are looking up now. Much has been made of real-life comic book character Elon Musk’s space cannons or whatever he’s doing out there, but the area…
15 ways to experience Winter Park and Maitland
It’s absurd to try and capture all of Winter Park and Maitland in the space of a couple of pages, or to define it as a “neighborhood” – both are vibrant cities with neighborhoods of their own. So we’ll just try to hit some of the new highlights and old favorites of this leafy, genteel…
Avoiding Orlando’s I-Drive means missing out on a whole lot of gems
It’s funny how Orlando’s biggest industry is also the bane of every resident’s existence. For many, International Drive is strictly a workplace – and there’s little room to hang out among the millions of tourists who clog the tourism district every year. If our annual visitors don’t discourage you from dropping by one of I-Drive’s…
Kissimmee is a lot of different things – but dull is not one of them
Forever in the shadow of Disney World and surrounding theme parks, Kissimmee often gets stereotyped as a place where there’s nothing to do. But that’s not true – you just have to know where to look. For kitschy attractions and tourist thrills, head down Highway 192 to check out Capone’s Dinner and Show or the…
Over at UCF, come for a football game and stay for everything else
The University of Central Florida serves 66,000 students, but it doesn’t really feel that way in this close-knit community. Despite being a diverse bunch with interests ranging from engineering affordable prosthetics for children to creating art on the global refugee crisis, the one thing that unites Knights is extreme school spirit. Even before its football…
There’s new life in historic Parramore
The neighborhood is changing, but whether or not that’s for the better, there’s undeniably new life in the air. Still, there’s just as much of the classic vibe as always in this historic part of the city, from the old, like the Wells’ Built Museum, to the new, like the West Art District. EAT Chef…
Thornton Park is one of the more chic and aesthetically pleasing Orlando neighborhoods
Arguably one of the more chic and aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods in the City Beautiful, Thornton Park is where you go if you’d like to soak in some of the city’s historical charm while getting in touch with your bourgeois side. But do us a favor, please, and resist the temptation to climb into the fountain…
Mills 50 is at the intersection of major change
A quick trip around the main strip of what is known as Mills 50 (coined from its ground zero at the intersection of Mills and Colonial) will show ample evidence of a neighborhood in the midst of some major change. Buildings and rents are going up, and every night more and more people come to…
7 reasons Mount Dora is one of Central Florida’s hot spots
The quaint little town has long been a destination for antique hunters – the streets of the downtown area are lined with shops full of collectibles, and nearby Renninger’s holds Antique Extravaganzas three times per year, welcoming vintage and antique dealers from around the country. But it’s not all antiques these days, with a flowering…
Orlando’s Milk District is the definition of authentic, for now
As the last few years have demonstrated, this neighborhood is definitely on the up and up. Dubbed after the T.G. Lee dairy plant, which borders the area, the Milk District offers an assortment of both dining and drinking options. Its cool bars and vintage boutiques exude the sort of hip vibe that brings in fancy…
Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood has come into its own
It wasn’t long ago that SoDo was barely a neighborhood, just a strip of a few restaurants to service the employees of and visitors to Orlando Regional Medical Center. This area that runs along Orange Avenue from the 408 to a little past Michigan has truly come into its own in the last few years.…
It’s time to start taking Orlando’s Gateway District seriously
The Gateway Orlando District is the city’s newest Main Street District, according to their new website: “Welcoming Orlando’s visitors and residents to the multicultural business district just north of Orlando International Airport.” We’re just glad to have a name to put to the corridor of deliciousness that locals know runs along that stretch of Semoran…
Dr. Phillips is the perfect neighborhood for restaurant lovers
Between the celebrated “Restaurant Row” stretch of Sand Lake Road and the ever-growing string of higher-end boîtes and steakhouses along Dr. Phillips Boulevard, this has become the neighborhood to visit if you’re looking for a festive restaurant experience. Rapid growth has created traffic woes along the main strip, though, so if you’re looking to satisfy…
It’s an exciting time for night life in Orlando
Local and live music in Orlando is reaching critical mass at present, with more touring acts coming through the City Beautiful and scores of new bands, projects and performers. To accommodate all of this activity, a handful of new venues have opened to augment an already diverse array of performance spaces. It’s an exciting time…
Welcome to the 2018 Orlando Weekly City Guide
Dear Orlando, Change is the only constant, as the old saw goes. And it’s just as true here in the City Beautiful as anywhere else. While new things are popping up all the time – restaurants, bars, galleries, neighborhood names – the old standbys continue to delight in ways that connect us to our personal…
