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Orlando Weekly •

City of Orlando kicks off year-long 150th anniversary celebration

The City of Orlando launched this week its year-long 150th anniversary celebration at City Commons Plaza hosted by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orlando City Council.
Dyer, alongside city officials and community representatives, unveiled a commemorative banner and highlighted the festivities to come.
For Orlando’s Sesquicentennial, a grand celebration will be hosted on the city’s birthday, July 31, with free admission to some of the city’s popular attractions, like the Mennello Museum and Leu Gardens.
Orlando Weekly •

Peer Support Space hosts Valentine-themed event to show support for Orlando’s trans community

During a time of hostility and political crises, Orlando community members are looking to spread some much-needed love.
Peer Support Space and Queer Trans Project are partnering with other local organizations to host a Valentine’s Day-themed event in an effort to support our transgender neighbors in Orlando.
Happening on Friday at 6 p.m., the event will have snacks and music to create a welcoming environment for volunteers. The goal of this evening is for interested volunteers to create 75 care packages — each filled with comfort items such as plushies, skin care, fidgets and trans pride keepsakes. Additionally, each care package will contain four handwritten cards made by volunteers.
Orlando Weekly •

Ulysses Owens Jr. is back in Orlando with the 904 Jazz Organ Trio

Feted jazz drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. is returning to Orlando this week as a featured performer in Timucua Amplifies Black Voices programming. It's the Timucua Arts Foundation's performance series celebrating innovative regional Black artists.
For this return engagement at the Timucua house venue, Owens is joined by jazz guitar legend Barry Greene and award-winning Hammond B3 organist Pat Bianchi to play as the 904 Jazz Organ Trio.
Orlando Weekly •

Things are ruff in the world right now, maybe Paws in the Park at Lake Eola will help lift our spirits

Set the stress of a ruff week aside to have a ball this Saturday at the 31st Annual Paws in the Park. Hosted by Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, the pet festival returns to Lake Eola for an afternoon of fur-friendly fun.
Humans can wind down at the beer garden with live entertainment, shop around the vendor market and grab a bite at one of the food trucks. Dogs in attendance can paw-take in lure courses, a doggie fun zone, dock diving and a slobbery kissing booth. And an adoption zone will show off some local shelter pets looking to find their furever homes.
Orlando Weekly •

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld comes to the Dr. Phillips Center for two shows this week

Iconic stand-up Jerry Seinfeld heads to Orlando for two performances this weekend.
Seinfeld is best known for 1990s sitcom Seinfeld — a show about nothing (yet so much more) — and an even longer comedy career that’s seen him perform on stages around the world.
Most recently, Seinfeld helmed the film Unfrosted, a comedy he directed, co-wrote, produced and starred in alongside Amy Schumer and Hugh Grant. Unfrosted sadly garnered the comedian Razzie nominations for Worst Actor and Worst Director. They can’t all be winners!
Orlando Weekly •

Faded Kingdom Beer Fest tops off Orlando Beer Week at Tactical Brewing

Cap off Orlando Beer Week the right way by coming to the block party that is Faded Kingdom Beer Fest.
Hosted at Tactical Brewing Co., Faded Kingdom guests can expect more than 70 breweries and a lineup of food purveyors from the greater Orlando area and neighboring cities. This is Faded Kingdom’s third year capping off Beer Week, a collaborative “ale-liance” to pro- mote local breweries. The afternoon will include live entertainment from a DJ and... apparently an armored battle.
Orlando Weekly •

French brasserie Chez Les Copains now soft open in Orlando’s City Food Hall

Ivanhoe Village diners looking for a culinary experience reminiscent of eating at a friend’s house can now venture into the area’s newest eatery, Chez Les Copains.
The French brasserie is now in soft-opening mode inside the upcoming City Food Hall, located at 1412 Alden Road. Chez Les Copains is a collaborative project by chefs Michael Collantes (Soseki, Bar Kada, Sushi Saint) and DJ Tangalin (Danilo’s Pasta Bar), with a menu that features a raw seafood bar and a selection of entrees from land and sea, including locally sourced fish.
Orlando Weekly •

New Japanese claw machine arcade Mirai Arcade opens in Orlando

As Japanese blind boxes and collectibles grow in popularity across the U.S., Orlando is hopping in on the movement with the opening of a new Japanese "clawcade."
Specializing in all things cute and collectible, Mirai Arcade hosts its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, in the Waterford Lakes Town Center. The event will include special promotions, including no card activation fees until Jan. 27, and complimentary raffle fees when purchased.
Orlando Weekly •

Florida Storytelling Festival to showcase yarn-spinners of all ages in Mount Dora

The Florida Storytelling Association presents the Florida Storytelling Festival, a celebration of oral storytelling by a community of storytellers across the state, happening through the weekend in Mount Dora.This year’s event features storytellers including Carol Birch (Life in the Palace, The Fog Line, Jamrach’s Menagerie), folk- and fairy-tale spinners Johnny Thomas Fowler and Paul Strickland, folklorist Linda Chancey Guice (folk tales and tongue-twisters) and Tamara Green presenting urban tales and African folklore and history.
Orlando Weekly •

Global Peace 360 and Orlando Science Center team up for kids film series

Saturdays are now for sharing storytelling magic and fun with the little ones at the Orlando Science Center.
Global Peace 360, the team behind the Global Peace Film Festival, and the Orlando Science Center have partnered up to produce the monthly Storytime Cinema. The program will feature children’s films that highlight friendship, empathy, self-awareness and educational lessons of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).
Orlando Weekly •

You are cordially invited to 'Masquerade of the Red Death' at the Plaza Live this weekend

Interested in an evening of sinister style and wicked dancing? Look no further than "Masquerade of the Red Death."
Big Bang Boom Collective and Wicked Hot Events bring back their crowd- and critic-pleasing Fringe show for one evening in the Milk District. "Masque" is an innovative yet faithful burlesque interpretation of "Masque of the Red Death," the classic short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando's Freehand Goods and Impress Ink release limited shirt to raise funds for L.A. fire relief

Fundraisers to aid victims of the recent fires in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades have sprung up across the nation beyond the Golden Stately the way to the City Beautiful.Orlando print artisans Freehand Goods and Impress Ink have united to raise funds for disaster relief through sales of a limited-edition T-shirt. The shirt's stylish design, created by Tampa artist Veronica Steiner, features a bear and a gator with floral designs in a unique rendering of coast-to-coast support.
Orlando Weekly •

'Printing the Revolution' showcases innovative printmaking by Chicano artists

Rollins Museum of Art is showcasing works on paper created by Chicano artists from the 1960s to the present. ¡Printing the Revolution! is curated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and features nearly 100 printed pieces.

The traveling exhibition presents inventive examples of how Chicanx artists pushed printmaking forward in the U.S., creating works informed by the social activism of the times while simultaneously centering their own voices and perspectives.
Orlando Weekly •

Och aye! Central Florida Scottish Highland Games returns for a 47th year

The Scottish-American Society of Central Florida invites Orlandoans, regardless of heritage, to come out for a weekend of boulder-lugging, scone-scarfing, border collies and bagpipes.

The 47th annual Central Florida Scottish Highland Games has it all, really: Highland traditional athletics (stones, timbers and hammers will be thrown), Highland dancing, whisky tasting and child-friendly activities for the wee bairns. Two separate stages at the festival host live music performed by a lineup of Celtic bands.

The Scottish Heritage Tent will showcase Scottish history and culture, featuring participating clans. This is prime time to search for one’s own clan affiliations and maybe even meet a distant cousin or two.