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23 local holiday shopping ideas for your Orlando friends, family and loved ones
Our 2022 gift guide
Belarusian post-punk trio Molchat Doma to get moody in Orlando this spring
TikTok-famous post-punk trio Molchat Doma are heading over to the United States for a lengthy tour this spring, and Orlando is down to get dour with the trio. The Belarusian band will be touring North America for most of April and May behind breakthrough album Monument on Sacred Bones. The tour has only three Florida dates — Orlando,…
Legal Public Notices 12/14/2022
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below at the property indicated: January 3, 2023 at the times and location listed below. The personal goods stored therein by the following: 12:00 PM Extra Space Storage 1101 Marshall Farms Rd, Ocoee 34761 (407) 516-7221 Brayann Torres – Power tools.…
DuckTales-themed interactive game to go live at Epcot this week
The references might be lost on younger children, but their parents will likely be entertained by this week’s launch of a DuckTales-themed interactive game at Epcot. DuckTales World Showcase Adventure goes live at the Epcot theme park on Friday, Dec. 16, promising a scavenger-hunt-style jaunt through the World Showcase exhibit. The smartphone-based game, accessible through…
Just a reminder that ‘Riverdance’ is going to tap its way into Orlando in January
Outlasting all of the comedy skits from the 1990s poking fun at this Irish dance phenomenon and flamboyant then-lead Riverdancer Michael Flatley, Riverdance will jig into the City Beautiful in January to mark its 25th anniversary. This long-running showcase of traditional Irish music and dance will celebrate 25 years of exuberant (though stiff-armed) stepdancing and big…
Indie-rockers Death Cab for Cutie are set to play Orlando in 2023
Death Cab for Cutie are headed towards the City Beautiful early next year, on a tour marking a big milestone for album Transatlanticism. The Ben Gibbard-led project will be treading the boards throughout the U.S. to celebrate both recent album Asphalt Meadows and the 20th anniversary of breakthrough record Transatlanticism. Orlando is an early stop on…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledges grand jury investigation into COVID-19 vaccines
It’s the law of diminishing returns. You can only push the button that says you were a big, strong boy during the COVID-19 pandemic so many times before people stop caring. Since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a 2024 presidential bid to think about, he can’t peak too early. On Tuesday, DeSantis announced that he’s…
Orlando Magic fans get less from their devotion than any other NBA fanbase, study finds
A new study confirms what we all knew: that devoting your life to the blue and black doesn’t provide much in return. The collective phantoms of the Amway Center provide the least return on investment of any fanbase in the NBA, according to a new study from statewide sports betting booster FloridaBet. They set out…
Orlando’s newest attraction lets you crush a car with a tank
A new attraction in Orlando gives tourists the ability to crush cars in a real-life tank. Tank America opened a spot near Baldwin Park after moving from its original location in Melbourne. The concept is relatively straightforward, giving people the opportunity to drive a 17-ton tank through (or over) a series of obstacles. The 14-acre…
Florida legislature special session fast-tracking hurricane aid, toll relief
Homeowners ravaged by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole and toll-road commuters would get help in two bills that call for more than $1.25 billion in spending, as the Legislature meets this week in a special session. The Senate Community Affairs Committee on Monday unanimously backed a measure (SB 4-A) that would provide refunds for property…
Florida schools’ LGBTQ support guides come under scrutiny due to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law
The State Board of Education is slated this week to scrutinize LGBTQ support guides and bathroom policies for transgender students in 10 school districts, as state officials question whether they are violating a law known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and other measures. The Parents’ Bill of Rights relates to what families are entitled…
Artistry Restaurants will open a huge Park Avenue eatery celebrating the history of Winter Park
Artistry Restaurants, the Winter Park-based restaurant group behind Boca and Atlantic Beer & Oyster, are going large — like 6,700 square feet large — with their latest Park Avenue concept. The name of the restaurant is being finalized but, much like the vision, it will be a nod to the history of Winter Park. “We’re going…
Janet Jackson announces comeback tour and Orlando show both set for 2023
Janet Jackson — Miss Jackson if you’re nasty — has announced a return to the road in 2023. And Orlando will be one of her destinations. Jackson will be hitting the road in April 2023 as part of her Together Again North American tour. The trek kicks off in Florida with Orlando getting bragging rights as the second stop…
Feed your family for the holidays while helping end hunger with Second Harvest’s Catering for Good
Eliminate a big chunk of holiday stress while doing some good in the world? Sounds like a win-win proposition. Orlandoans have two more days to score that win-win by ordering holiday meal catering through Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Catering for Good service. Second Harvest launched their catering company in 2013, and 100% of the…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ally found dead amid sexual misconduct investigation
A prominent donor and ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was found dead in a parking lot in North Florida last week. Jacksonville defense contractor Kent Stermon died of an apparent suicide outside of the Mayport post office on Thursday. Stermon owned the company Total Military Management and had donated more than $60,000 to DeSantis election funds.…
Orlando comedian Ken Miller hosts 11th annual toy drive in downtown Orlando Monday night
In Orlando, comedy is king, and Orlando’s king of comedy Ken Miller is hosting his Holiday Toy Drive for the 11th time. Head out out Monday night for laughs at the Harry Buffalo, and bring an unwrapped gift for a child. Delight is guaranteed: Miller is the host with the most. Every year, Miller shows…
Former UCF tight end Jake Hescock dies of sudden heart attack
Former University of Central Florida tight end Jake Hescock died of a sudden cardiac arrest while jogging earlier this month. He was 26 years old. Hescock’s family shared that he passed away while jogging in Boston on December 6. UCF Football shared a tribute to the former TE on Facebook, saying they were “devastated” by…
Florida orange crop expected to hit lowest production level since Great Depression
The forecast for Florida’s orange crop has dropped 29 percent after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, putting the citrus industry on a path toward its lowest production since the Great Depression. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday released a report that said Florida is expected to produce 20 million boxes of oranges during the…
Florida medical marijuana operator Trulieve faces lawsuit over employee layoffs
The company said it was ‘consolidating redundant positions’ after a merger last year.
Florida Rep. Joe Harding, charged with defrauding PPP loan scheme, resigns but claims ‘I repaid every penny’
The disgraced pol was also the sponsor of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
Universal Orlando opens movie-themed escape room in CityWalk
Did you think the escape room trend was cooling? Universal Orlando would have you believe otherwise, with this week’s opening of Universal’s Great Movie Escape in their CityWalk entertainment complex. Continuing a big week in Universal announcements, Universal’s Great Movie Escape opened its doors to the public earlier this week, promising a “next-level escape room…
Democrats say so long to the Senate’s most attention-seeking member, Kyrsten Sinema
And don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.
Holiday special from Central Florida boy-band Backstreet Boys pulled by ABC amid sexual assault allegations
A Very Backstreet Holiday, an upcoming Christmas special from Orlando-originating boy-band Backstreet Boys, has been pulled from ABC’s broadcast schedule amid rape allegations involving band member Nick Carter. A Very Backstreet Holiday was originally scheduled to air on Dec. 14, featuring the BSB members performing songs from their recent A Very Backstreet Christmas album. The…
Black religious leaders come together for national summit in Orlando next week
The Conference of National Black Churches is set to host a three-day-long ecumenical convention at the Rosen Centre Hotel on International Drive from Dec. 13-15. The assembled leaders will discuss issues facing the Black community and ongoing work to improve the daily lives of those in their communities. The annual conference invites top religious leaders, activists and…
Florida school library workgroup roiled by conflict with Moms for Liberty members
The moms want to make changes beyond the scope of HB 1467, like banning books that ‘address CRT’ and preventing librarians from helping students register to vote.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ sponsor Joe Harding does say ‘I resign’ amid fraud indictment
State Rep. Joe Harding resigned his House seat Thursday after being charged with fraudulently obtaining coronavirus-related business loans. Harding, R-Ocala, submitted his resignation a day after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced a grand-jury indictment on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements. In a prepared statement…
Anberlin postpone this week’s residency at Orlando’s Social until January
Still not out of the woods. Anberlin have postponed a multi-night residency at the Social that was set to start this week, due to multiple band members testing positive for COVID-19. A three-night, three-albums stand at the Social in downtown Orlando was going to kick off on Saturday, but will now be pushed back until…
Experience medieval life at the Orlando Renaissance Festival this weekend
Hear ye, hear ye! The final weekend of the Orlando Renaissance Festival is nigh! From Friday-Sunday, Dec. 9-11, all manner of pride and pageantry will be on offer at ye olde Southport Community Park, for the second weekend running. Lords and ladies are invited to travel through time back to the 14th century, where fairies…
Free Will Astrology: Taurus musician David Byrne believes neurodiversity is a super power
Your horoscope for Dec. 8-14
K92’s Jingle Jam brings some hot country acts to Orlando this weekend
K92.3’s Jingle Jam is back just in time for the 2022 holiday season. The Orlando country radio station is hosting an all-star evening of talent including Walker Hayes, Parmalee, Easton Corbin and Nate Smith. This holiday-themed event will bring country fans an early present of some up-and-coming acts in the genre. The lineup has something…
Cleveland-based chain Barrio Tacos opens first Florida location at Orlando’s Waterford Lakes
There’s a new entrant to a crowded taco field in Orlando. Barrio Tacos, a chain based in Cleveland, Ohio, has this week opened the doors to a location in Waterford Lakes. The new restaurant, adorned with Day of the Dead-inspired designs and artwork, is one of 18 Barrio Tacos locations that include spots in Ohio,…
A Minion Land is opening in Universal Orlando next summer
Do you have what it takes to be despicable?
‘Don’t Say Gay’ sponsor Florida State Rep. Joe Harding indicted on fraud charges
State Rep. Joe Harding has been indicted on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in an alleged scheme to defraud the Small Business Association and obtain coronavirus-related business loans, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. Harding, R-Ocala, “obtained and attempted to obtain more than $150,000 in funds from the SBA to which he…
The Backseat Lovers are ‘Waiting to Spill’ on an Orlando stage next year
After finishing out a sold-out 2022 tour in their hometown of Salt Lake City, the Backseat Lovers are ready to hit the road again next year and bring their “Snowbank Blues” to the Sunshine State. The Backseat Lovers will play Orlando’s House of Blues on Monday, May 22, 2023. The four-piece alt-rock band has another…
Haan Coffee soft opens in Mills 50; Jollibee pushes Orlando opening date into 2023; Kaya to host Noche Buena dinners
And lots more Orlando food news
Project Opioid distributes Kloxxado to downtown Orlando businesses for safe overdose treatment
The $15 million comes from a large pharmacy settlement.
Iconic Orlando ice cream stand Goff’s Drive In will not reopen historic OBT location
The shop has been open since 1948
A ‘Jaws’ inspired burger joint will open near Universal Studios in April
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water…
Hey Florida, your power bill is going up in January — and then again in February, probably
Hope you didn’t spend all your money on Black Friday.
Central Florida’s Strawberry Festival completes 2023 music lineup with Ludacris, Walker Hayes and more
And what a berry sweet lineup it is.
Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase gives him the power of chaos, not the wisdom for governance
Let’s definitely let a South African narcissist define what our First Amendment rights mean
Universal Orlando’s new Epic Universe park on track to open by summer 2025
Universal Orlando’s new Epic Universe theme park is on track for completion by summer 2025, according to Universal officials during a news conference this week. Originally announced in 2019 with an opening date in 2021, work on Epic Universe fell behind schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic grinding things to a halt. Construction for the…
Santa will be drinking something stronger than milk at Thornton Park’s SantaCon this weekend
An armada of Santas are coming to Thornton Park this weekend, and the line between naughty and nice might get a bit fuzzy. As part of SantaCon events around the country — simple concept: a bunch of people dress up as Santa and hit their local bars — Thornton Park will host an Orlando iteration of this boozy tradition.…
Death Grips are really going to play Orlando show as part of 2023 U.S. tour
Experimental hip-hop trio Death Grips have surprisingly announced a North American tour in 2023. Even more mind-boggling? They’ll be hitting Orlando as part of that run. The cult-favorite band have confirmed a 27-date U.S. run starting in May. There will be an initial run of dates, then a lengthy break for a few months before…
‘Life in the Stupidverse’
Chronicle of a clusterfuck foretold
‘No Smitebacks!’
‘I smite thee, Ron DeSanctimonious!’
The Ren Theatre’s naughty ‘Office Holiday Party Musical Extravaganza Show’ hits the spot
For those of us who don’t look forward all year to the Hallmark Channel’s December lineup
The rant is due, Orlando: Lewis Black returns to Florida (willingly!)
“Every day is brighter and more wonderful,” says Lewis Black, over the phone from his home in NYC. It was a passion for theater that first drew him there, after earning his MFA in drama at Yale. He didn’t get serious about comedy until he was well into his 30s, although he’d been dabbling for…
Hulu debuts a series based on Octavia A. Butler’s masterful novel ‘Kindred’ on Tuesday
Plus everything else that’s new on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and the rest
Avant-industrial luminary JG Thirlwell to play new work in Orlando on Friday
This eye-popping booking at Timucua Arts Foundation comes courtesy of Modern Music Movement and, mere days away, we’re still having trouble believing the engagement is a reality. Unpredictable and influential electronic musician and composer JG Thirlwell will play an ambitious new solo work, Silver Mantis, in the confines of the Timucua house show space. Depending…
Conceptual horror experiment ‘The Shining: Forwards and Backwards’ screens in Orlando on Friday
Everyone’s heard of the “Dark Side of the Rainbow” or “the Wizard of Floyd” — the enduring high-dea that Pink Floyd’s psych opus Dark Side of the Moon album syncs perfectly to Technicolor brainwarp The Wizard of Oz, if you hit play on the album at the same moment as the MGM lion’s third roar.…
Lunacy and Kontravoid bring haunting masks and icy synths to Orlando on Friday
Given our well-documented love of both haunted facewear and dark synth, it’s only natural that the co-headlining “Meeting of the Masks” tour between Kontravoid and Lunacy would have us intrigued. Philadelphia’s Lunacy makes some of the iciest, most emotionless minimal synth we’ve ever heard, rendered all the more unsettling by a full-head mask that obscures…
You think you know Jason? First Jason is going to give Orlando a musical lesson
OK, so this is the band project of Ari Lehman, who happened to be the first actor to play a young, pre-hockey mask Jason Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th. What First Jason is not, however, is some unintentionally terrible Corey Feldman deal. Rather than a former child actor’s attempt at earnest pop music,…
See some cinema from the outer limits at Orlando’s BizarroLand Film Festival this weekend
The Sick n’ Wrong Film Festival returns with a new name, look and locale this weekend. Now freshly rebranded as the BizarroLand Film Festival, the core mission is very much the same, to spotlight films with plenty of “body fluids, pitch-black gallows humor, and skin-crawling awkwardness.” The ghastly screenings are happening at the Downtown Arts…
Doom upstarts Early Moods lumber into Orlando next week
Metalheads of the slow and low school rejoice, for this week brings to town what will very likely be your new favorite band. Influenced by acts like Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble and Sabbath, L.A.’s Early Moods are the strapping young studs in the stable of premier heavy label Riding Easy Records. A perfect slab…
Rapper-producer 454 plays big homecoming show at Orlando’s Henao Center on Saturday
Count rapper-producer 454 among the latest class of ascendant homegrown talents. The Longwood skater kid born Willie Wilson first distinguished himself as a seriously gifted street shredder sick enough to be featured in TransWorld Skateboarding (RIP). Since moving to New York, he’s quickly making a hot name for himself as a musician. With a psychedelic…
It’s a homecoming of sorts when Grand Buffet return to Orlando this week
Anyone who was part of the buzzing and fertile Orlando indie and hip-hop scenes in the 2000s can attest to the left-field genius of alt-rap heroes Grand Buffet. Although they were actually from Pittsburgh, they were one of the flagship acts on Fighting Records — one of the leading Orlando indie labels of that era…
Orlando’s Fowl Play releases a new ‘Collection’ of alien beatscapes
As one of the central acts in the Jonesy Collective orbit, Fowl Play comes from the decidedly more cerebral side of the city’s electronic scene, with music more conducive to tripping and vibing out than to shakin’ dat ass. Rather than just continuing his signature sound, new two-track release Collection advances it, rendering his bubbling…
Boom boom (out go the lights) when Pat Travers steps on to the stage at Orlando’s Plaza Live Thursday
As classic rock uneasily segues into its inevitable geriatric decline, there are two different stories being told, and both are true. One is about the rarified handful of Boomer icons selling off the rights to their publishing, recordings and even likenesses to venture capitalists for many multiple millions of dollars. The other story is more…
Nigerian pop sensation Burna Boy headlines Orlando’s Addition Financial Arena
Nigerian singer and producer Burna Boy is bringing his “Love, Damini” tour to Orlando just in time for some holiday fun. The Grammy-winning artist has a diverse musical palette, with songs mixing reggae, dancehall, Afrobeat and pop. With a career spanning over a decade, his most prominent collaborations include work with Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Sam…
