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Orlando Attractions
Bus and Van Tours
Guided tours are a good way to make the best use of time in Orlando. Gator Tours, (407) 522-5911 or (800) 537-0917, offers day and overnight narrated tours, with pickup at your lodging.
Spectator Sports
From downtown Orlando to Walt Disney World Resort, fans have several venues to choose from when it comes to the city's various professional sports offerings. Orlando's premier sports arena, T.D. Waterhouse Centre, 600 W. Amelia St., hosts arena football, basketball and hockey games.
Recreation
Lengthy summers and mild winters create ideal recreation conditions in central Florida year-round, and locals make the most of it. The area's many waterways host a wide variety of activities, and drier pastimes abound as well. Phone the Orange County Parks & Recreation Department 24-Hour Parks InfoLine, (407) 836-6280, for more information.
Performing Arts
The strength of Orlando's appeal lies mainly with its family-oriented attractions and entertainment. While this is good news for the folks at Disney and Universal, it has detracted some focus from the city's cultural scene. Arts enthusiasts need not despair, though--local arts groups have begun to expand their presence. Theater offers the most varied slate, with dance and music filling in the gaps. As the film industry gains a foothold in the area, it is likely that the fine arts will enjoy even greater success, attracting new artists to practice their crafts in the City Beautiful.
The Orlando Ballet is the city's professional dance company. The season, which lasts from September to May, features concerts and programs ranging from classical to modern. The troupe also stages the Nutcracker ballet every Christmas, accompanied by a live orchestra of local musicians. Performances generally are held at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre; for information phone (407) 426-1733.
Rollins College brings in some of the dance world's brightest stars, including the Alvin Ailey Repertory and Pilobolus, to the Annie Russell Theatre to supplement the Rollins Dance student program; phone (407) 646-2145.
Alternative cinema finds a home at the Enzian Theater, 1300 S. Orlando Ave., offering filmgoers a varied menu of critically acclaimed American independent and foreign films. The Enzian also produces the annual Florida Film Festival. The theater itself is unusual--it is set in an old house, with audience seating at tables rather than in an auditorium. For information phone (407) 629-1088.
Despite lacking a full-time professional orchestra, Orlando does have a variety of groups dedicated to making beautiful music. The Orlando Philharmonic gives three concert series during the year. Performances are held at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre; the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave., in Loch Haven Park; and the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, in Loch Haven Park behind the Orlando Museum of Art; for additional information phone (407) 896-6700. The Festival of Orchestras, (407) 539-0245, imports full-size symphonies, featuring such esteemed groups as the Cleveland Orchestra; guests also play at the Bob Carr.
A favorite local event is the Bach Festival, a celebration of masterworks by Bach and other major composers. Held in late February or early March, the program is performed by the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra, which also offers the Festival Concert Series from October through April. The group performs at the Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College; phone (407) 646-2182.
Opera in central Florida is presented by the Orlando Opera, staging three major works from November through March, as well as special programs during the season. Performances are at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre with the venue for the company's operettas being the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at 1111 N. Orange Ave. For season and ticket information phone (407) 426-1717 or (407) 426-1700 for the box office.
One of the area's most popular theaters is the UCF Civic Theatre, 1001 Princeton St., (407) 896-7365. Another local favorite is the SunTrust Broadway in Orlando series, sponsoring touring Broadway shows at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. Tickets for the biggest hits often require several weeks' notice; phone (800) 448-6322. Theatre Downtown, (407) 841-0083, offers avant-garde and mainstream works just north of the city center at 2113 N. Orange Ave. The Orlando Theatre Project, (407) 328-2040, puts on a similar mix at Seminole Community College's Fine Arts Theatre, 100 Weldon Blvd. in Sanford.
The play's the thing at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, (407) 447-1700, dedicated to staging the bard's timeless plays in innovative ways. The festival, held each April at the Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola Park, produces additional works throughout the year, from classically-inspired independent pieces to the PlayLab Series, a selection of experimental plays, presented at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center at Loch Haven Park, 812 E. Rollins St.
The University of Central Florida features a full season of performances through Theatre UCF, (407) 823-1500. Rollins College also mounts a full season, with four productions at the Annie Russell Theatre running the gamut of theatrical genres; phone (407) 646-2145.
Special Events
On New Year's Day two top college football teams test their skills during the Capital One Bowl Football Classic. A parade and other related activities precede the big game.
In late January the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of Arts and Humanities celebrates the life of the noted interpreter of Southern rural African-American culture. This culture is celebrated further throughout February at varied events during the Black History Month Festival.
Orlando's moderate temperatures are ideal for art festivals. Most popular are the Mount Dora Arts Festival in early February; the Downtown Orlando Arts Festival in early March; the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival on the third weekend in March; and the Maitland Arts & Fine Crafts Festival in mid-April. A pair of Fiesta in the Park celebrations take place in April and November on the shores of Lake Eola.
For 10 days in mid-May, entertainers from around the world converge on downtown Orlando, treating theatergoers to a variety of unusual and cutting edge performances as part of the International Fringe Festival. Later in May more than 200,000 ears of corn are eaten during the Zellwood Sweet Corn Festival, also a showcase for big-name country musicians.
Two PGA golf tournaments are on Orlando's calendar of events. In March the Arnold Palmer Invitational is held at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge, while the Funai Classic at Walt Disney World is held at the Palm and Magnolia courses at Walt Disney World in October.
In early November the Walt Disney World Festival of the Masters is held at Downtown Disney Marketplace. During this 3-day event, major American artists display their works. The city of Winter Park rings in the holiday season with Christmas in the Park, which combines a concert by the Bach Festival Choir and stunning outdoor displays of lighted Tiffany windows on loan from the nearby Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.
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