Orlando’s festivals, performances, museums, and neighborhoods
As seen on Visit Orlando’s Virtual Travel Show
Festivals
Bach Festival
February : Since 1935, The Annual Bach Festival has been a Central Florida music tradition. Each February, the Bach Festival Choir, Orchestra, and guest artists fill Winter Park with choral, orchestral, and chamber music. Enjoy beautiful music in a remarkably beautiful setting on the campus of Rollins College.
Dazzling nights
December : Orlando’s Leu Gardens comes to life with an immersive holiday light experiences. It’s called Dazzling Nights, and it’ll take your breath away with large-scale installations, holiday treats, live entertainment, and lots of holiday cheer.
EDC
November : Music festival fans can’t miss EDC, the Electric Daisy Carnival. It’s three days of the best dance music artists from around the world… and so much more. With carnival rides, interactive performers and massive art installations, it truly is a ton of fun. And we can’t wait to welcome the festival back to Orlando.
Florida Film Festival
April : In 2021, the Florida Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary. The event takes place in April and features more than 180 films from 35 countries. 20 of those films are world premieres. And it’s so much more than just sitting in a theater. There are premiere events, fun food experiences, director talk-backs, and so much more.
Fusionfest
November : The annual FusionFest celebrates Orlando’s diversity. The festival takes place the weekend after Thanksgiving. It features hundreds of performers, tons of food, fashion and film representing cultures from around the world.
IMMERSE
October : IMMERSE features performances and interactive art across 10 city blocks in Downtown Orlando. Every October, the festival platform more than 1,000 artists. Whether it's acrobats from Cirque du Soleil hanging from cranes over the downtown streets; or Blue Man Group performing right in the middle of the city; or really unique interactive art in alleyways… there are hundreds of unexpected creative encounters over the three day festival. So make sure you get to Orlando the 3rd weekend of October to experience something you’ve never experienced before.
Orlando Fringe
May : Artists from around the world descend on Orlando to present original plays, musicals, performance art shows, and so much more. And on the weekends, there’s Kid’s Fringe too. So there’s something for everyone.
Zora NEale Hurston Festival
January : Celebrate the dominant female voice of the Harlem Renaissance era and her lasting impact on African American culture and art.
See more festivals here.
Performances and Venues
THEATRE, DANCE & FILM
dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts
No matter when you visit, there’s something for you at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Right now, you can catch some outdoor performances as part of the Frontyard Festival. They’ve transformed the outdoor Seneff Arts Plaza to be a safe, socially distanced performance venue. Every group of audience members gets their own booth. They’re presenting music, comedy and movies under the stars. And the Fairwinds Broadway In Orlando season is back! Beginning this fall you can catch a Broadway show in Orlando. This season includes The Prom, Disney’s Frozen and more!
ENZIAN
A single-screen, independent cinema cafe. Enzian shows the best in indie film and is home for the Florida Film Festival.
Garden Theatre
Experience critically-acclaimed live theatre in Winter Garden, FL. Housed in a former 1930s movie theatre, the Garden produces a seven-show season of plays and musicals, as well as several film series.
MAD Cow Theatre
One of Orlando's most respected professional theatre companies, presenting compelling works of theatre for a wide-range of audiences, with a passion for both classic and contemporary plays and musicals from the best of American and World literature.
orlando Ballet
Orlando Ballet’s shows will blow your mind. Immaculate sets, beautiful lighting, and lovely dancers. They’re always bringing something stunning to Orlando. This April, they’ll be presenting Peter Pan at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Orlando Shakes
Currently running : Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The show is performed outdoors on the beautiful Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola in the heart of Downtown Orlando. The professional production is sure to wow any audience member. Through April 17, 2021, so get to Orlando fast to experience it. But, if you’re coming later in the year, you can check out their performance of Little Shop of Horrors on the same, outdoor stage, May 5 - 23, 2021
Orlando REP
Quality, professional theatre for young audiences that enlightens, enriches and entertains.
SAK Comedy Lab
If you want to laugh, SAK Comedy Lab is the place. It’s right in the heart of Downtown Orlando, and it’s some of the best improv in the world. It’s smart, it’s fun, and it’s (mostly) family friendly. You’re definitely going to laugh together.
MUSIC
Blue Bamboo Center For The Arts
Orlando is home to world-class jazz musicians. They bring their music to Blue Bamboo. It’s also the venue for touring jazz musicians from across the country and around the world. Live music most nights of the week.
Central Florida Community Arts
Experience the nation’s largest community choir, a 160-member orchestra, big band, and a flourishing community theatre. CFCArts produces large community arts showcases and intimate community theater that are affordable and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.
Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra
Talented young musicians present concerts as a full orchestra and several ensembles. They may be young musicians, but their performances are excellent.
Opera Orlando
Opera Orlando promotes opera’s legacy by sharing emotionally compelling and unique stories. They introduce audiences - new and old - to the beauty and splendor of professional opera. From a cowboy opera at a saloon to “Carmen” set in Haiti, Opera Orlando reimagines what opera can be for today’s audiences.
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Experience a wide variety of symphonic music performed by incredible professional musicians. Concerts include traditional Classics, Pops, and Family experiences in a wide variety of venues throughout the Orlando area. They enrich, inspire, and serve the Central Florida community through the transformative power of live music.
Timucua Arts White HOuse
Orlando’s artistic living room. Literally. This three-story venue is built inside of a home. And it hosts some of the best contemporary classical and jazz musicians living today. This is a unique art experience that you’ll cherish for a long time. Timucua is celebrating the return of live music with performances by four incredible jazz artists in the month of April. Get your Jazz Pass and you won’t miss a note!
Will’s Pub
This dive bar and music venue will connect you with Orlando’s indie bands as well as touring acts from across the US.
Museums
Albin Polasek Museum
Explore the inspired world of internationally acclaimed Czech sculptor Albin Polasek. Tour his home, galleries and sculpture gardens located in the heart of Winter Park on Lake Osceola.
Art and History Museums Maitland
Explore the inspired world of internationally acclaimed Czech sculptor Albin Polasek. Tour his home, galleries and sculpture gardens located in the heart of Winter Park on Lake Osceola.
Crealde School of Art
Currently showing, “One World: International Women Artists of Florida” through May 8. An invitational showcase of work by nine professional working artists and Florida residents from different countries — each with a distinctive style that lifts up the individual woman’s love of their art form with influences from their country of origin and life experience.
Downtown Arts District and Cityarts
Discover local art at one of the many art galleries and performance venues located throughout downtown Orlando.
Holocaust Memorial Center
The mission of the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida is to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to build a just and caring community free of antisemitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry..
Mennello Museum of American Art
Temporary exhibitions, programs, educational initiatives, and publications that celebrate outstanding traditional and contemporary American art and artists across a broad range of disciplines to reflect the rich diversity of American art.
Orange County Regional History Center
Orange County Regional History Center showcases the vast collections of the Historical Society of Central Florida in a restored 1927 courthouse in the heart of downtown Orlando. Four floors of permanent exhibits take visitors on a journey through Central Florida’s fascinating history, limited-run exhibitions bring nationally important shows to the region and engaging programs for all ages bring history to life throughout the year.
Orlando Museum of Art
Orlando Museum of Art presents the most compelling art for the public to experience and to positively affect people’s lives with innovative and inspiring education programs. Be inspired with creativity, passion and intellectual curiosity by connecting with art and new ideas
ORLANDO SCience Center
Orlando Science Center provides four floors of learning and discovery to engage and inspire people of all ages. From early learning activities for preschoolers to experiences for lifelong learners, the Science Center offers countless opportunities to explore, discover and grow with a rotating slate of touring exhibits and films plus permanent exhibits that run the gamut from astronomy to dinosaurs to physics to food science.
SNAP! Orlando
Experience the world’s best photography and new media art. SNAP! Orlando curates and hosts world-class photo exhibitions.
Neighborhoods
College Park
A vibrant neighborhood located just outside of downtown Orlando where you can experience urban living with a small town feel. This community is made up of some of the finest local retailers, award winning restaurants, and small businesses found in Central Florida. Check out the College Park Jazz Festival.
Gateway Orlando
Experience Orlando’s “Diverse Dining and Culture” in Gateway Orlando. This district is along SR 436 and features more than 100 local restaurants representing cultures from around the world.
Hourglass District
Home to hand-made goods, breweries, and local restaurants. The Hourglass district is home to some casual dining and coffee.
Ivanhoe Village
Explore Orlando's indie side in Ivanhoe Village. Its offbeat, authentic, crave-able, bikeable side—the culturally casual side that weaves together art museums and renegade retro retailers. Novel Ivanhoe Village restaurants and watering holes are fused by the warm lake breezes flowing from downtown’s liquid playground.
Mills/50
Mills 50® is a centrally located, culturally diverse, progressive minded, eclectic urban district! Home to some of the best bars and music venues. This is also the district to visit for a taste of Orlando’s rich Asian food scene.
The Milk District
A widely recognized cultural hub for Orlando through food, music, art and fashion. The Milk District is founded on independence. Great events and small, local bars make this a great destination.
Thornton Park District
This district has a cosmopolitan feel and is home to some exclusive restaurants and condos. The area has become a lively 24/7 neighborhood, with a diverse mix of people. Make a day trip to Lake Eola on the east side of Thornton Park and get lunch or dinner at one of the nearby restaurants.
Winter Garden
The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation helps you experience the local history and architecture of Winter Garden while creating new cultural experiences. Two museums and a Visitors’ Center in the heart of Winter Garden’s Downtown Historic District welcome tens of thousands from all over the world..
Winter Park
The City of Winter Park is a great destination for strolling Park Ave, doing some shopping, and getting lunch or dinner. You can dine in some of the best restaurants in Central Florida, or take your food to go and eat in Central Park. The park hosts free arts and culture events throughout the year.
