Welcome to Thursday Morning, Orlando!
Monday holiday = week flies by. As we head into another weekend, enjoy yourself. I’m going to see what trouble I can get myself into at one of Orlando’s fine eating establishments!
Now, in today’s issue:
- One Very Cool Dome
- Florida Stationary Fest
- Schoo’s Out!
- + lots of weekend recs
Did a neighbor forward this to you? Subscribe here.
Let’s roll!
- Philip
P.S. Want some hawt community sourced foodie recommendations? Check out the Orlando Signal Restaurant Guide, right here.
P.P.S. Check out tons of open Orlando area jobs at the Orlando Signal Job Board, right here.
3 QUICK NEWS BITS ⏲️
Pink Floyd, the Founding Fathers, and One Very Cool Dome
While the rest of Florida melts, the Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium at Seminole State College has other plans, and they involve a legendary rock album, the American Revolution, and a dome full of mind-bending visuals.
Tomorrow (May 29th), Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon gets the full cosmic treatment: 42 minutes of surround sound and custom-built visuals stretching across the planetarium dome.
Then NEXT Friday (June 5th), Professors Diana Reigelsperger and Nicole Reale transport audiences inside Independence Hall, 360-degree footage, live Washington reenactors, Valley Forge and all, streaming live nationwide via Domecast.
👉 Beats sweating through another summer rerun. Find tickets and details, right here.
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Orlando's Coolest Date Night?
Imagine a science museum after dark. No school groups, no juice boxes, just cocktails and optical illusions. Yes, please.
Science Night Live at the Orlando Science Center takes over on Saturday, May 30th, and it's bringing the fun with it.
From 8 to 11:30 p.m., the 18-and-up crowd gets full run of the place, including PHENOMENA, a new exhibit of mirror mazes and brain-bending illusions that will make you question everything you think you know.
Artist-engineer Austin Lubetkin talks brainwave tech, local designers debut wild original board games in the Founders Room, and Trivia Master Curtis Earth keeps the energy up in 4Roots Café.
🔥 Check out this fun event, right here.
Orlando's Parks Are Playing Catch-Up
Orlando is doing a lot of things right, like spending $176 per resident on parks, putting green space within walking distance of nearly 71% of its neighborhoods.
So why does the city rank a humbling 73rd out of America's 100 largest cities in the Trust for Public Land's latest ParkScore report, tied with Memphis and down nine spots from recent years?
The data points to one persistent problem: available land because of sprawl.
Just 6.3% of Orlando is parkland, against a national average of 18%. Experts point to car-dependent development patterns that left Southern cities scrambling for green space their walkable northern counterparts smartly locked in a century ago, a gap that gets harder and more expensive to close the longer the city waits.
(Learn a ton more about Orlando's parkland shortage with Molly Duerig, right here)
WEEKEND SPOT HIGHLIGHT 🔦
Milk Mart’s 10th Anniversary Birthday Bash
Source: Party in the Parking Lot
📍Robinson and Bumby intersection of The Milk District. 2432 E Robinson St, Orlando, FL 32803. Map to this location.
🕐 Sunday, May 31st, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Ten years ago, a street corner in Orlando's Milk District became something bigger than anyone planned. Now, Milk Mart is celebrating its 10th Anniversary Birthday Bash, and the whole neighborhood is showing up for it.
Spanning seven beloved local venues, over 300 artists, chefs, makers, and small businesses will take over Robinson and Bumby for a free afternoon of live music, original art, incredible food, and cold drinks.
Ten years of community. Come celebrate it.
👉 Check It Out
TOP 3 FUN RECS FOR THE WEEKEND 🍊
Florida Stationary Fest
Source: Itoya Studio
📍The Florida Hotel & Conference Center. 1500 Sand Lake Rd, Orlando, FL 32809. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday, May 29th and Saturday, May 30th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. & Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There's something quietly powerful about the right notebook or a perfectly chosen pen. For stationery lovers, it's a creative language.
Three days of vendor marketplaces, hands-on workshops, community meetups, and exclusive limited-edition finds from local and national makers.
Whether you own seventeen notebooks or just discovered washi tape, this is your people.
👉 Get more info, right here
"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC: BIGGER & WEIRDER 2026 TOUR
Source: “Weird Al” Yankovic
📍Kia Center. 400 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday, May 29th, 8 p.m.
There's a particular kind of magic that happens when a room full of people, ranging from college students to their grandparents, all sing along to a song about Amish people gangsta-rapping.
That's the power of "Weird Al" Yankovic, and in 2026, he's bringing it back bigger than ever.
The Bigger & Weirder 2026 Tour features Yankovic's full multimedia comedy rock show, expanded band, classic hits like Eat It and White & Nerdy, and fan favorites never before performed live.
Opening the night: Puddles Pity Party, a 7-foot sad clown whose voice the Los Angeles Times calls "comparable to any Grammy winner." Inexplicably, that's completely accurate.
👉 Get the full details
SCHOOL’S OUT SHAKEDOWN WEEKEND
Source: Boxi Park
📍Boxi Park. 6877 Lake Nona Blvd, Orlando, FL 32827. Map to this location.
🕐 Thursday, May 28th through Sunday, May 31st
School's Out Shakedown Weekend runs this weekend, and Boxi Park is pulling out all the stops.
Kick things off Thursday with Run Club at 6:30 PM and DJ Adam Wells, then catch Lovestruck Robot on Friday and Rhythm Me Up with DJ Todd on Saturday.
Sunday's Family Fun Day brings the whole crew together: Red Mint, The Rundown, bounce houses, face painters, balloon artists, and themed crafts.
Summer starts here.
👉 Check it out, right here
THIS WEEKENDS HAPPENINGS 🎭 🥁
💦 Together with Once Upon A Room. The kids (or grandkids) need somewhere to be this Sunday, and Splash for a Cause is the answer.
Water slides, splash zones, and an afternoon that means something, because Once Upon A Room turns hospital rooms into places of wonder for children in active medical treatment.
Fun for yours, hope for theirs.
THIS Sunday, May 31st | 2–6 p.m. atCoCo Key Water Resort on I-Drive
Tap/Click here for more info & grab tix
Multi-day
Spooky Empire | Fri, Sat, Sun | I-Drive | More
Formula Drift Orlando Scorched | Fri & Sat | City District | More
Friday
Michael Mastroianni "It's a Musical Life" | 8:00 pm | Winter Park | More
The Salty Do-Knot Night | 6:00 pm | Audubon Park | More
Kowboy Crawl | 6:00 pm | City District | More
ROZ | 10:00 pm | City District | More
Reggae Bash World Tour | 9:00pm | Lake Buena Vista | More
NITE in Orlando | 7:00 pm | Mills 50 | More
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC | 7:00 pm | City District | More
All Your Friends: The Indie Dance Party | 8:00 pm | Winter Park | More
Offshoot | Pegasus PlayLab | 7:00 pm | UCF | More
The Art Show | 9:00 am | Casselberry | More
Saturday
Pick Up Sports Social | 11:00 am | Winter Park | More
Petals In Motion - Walk Club | 8:30 am | Mills 50 | More
Roberto Carlos | 8:00 pm | City District | More
Marcus King | 6:00 pm | Apopka | More
49 Winchester w/ Marfa | 8:00pm | Milk District | More
Your Neighbors "Live In Real Life" Tour in Orlando | 7:00pm | Winter Park | More
Aurelio Voltaire | 7:00 pm | City District | More
Veteran Wellness & Resource Fair | 10:00 am | West | More
Sunday
🔥Orlando Gay Chorus: Fierce & Fabulous | 6:30 pm | City District | More
Kurt Rosenwinkel | 5:00 pm | City District | More
Cooper Alan | 7:00 pm | Milk District | More
Los Hermanos Rosario | 8:00 pm | Lake Buena Vista | More
Bubba Dub @ Funny Bone | 6:00 pm | I-Drive | More
Orlando Farmers Market | 10:00 am | City District | More
Exotic Cars & Coffee | 10:00 am | Kissimmee | More
Painting For All Levels with Master Painter Joe Yakovetic | 10:30 am | Leu Gardens | More
🎭 Have an event to share?Submit it here.
THANKS!
🧠Interested in reaching smart Orlando readers like you? Grow with us right here.
🌟 Know a community superstar? Tell me about them, right here.
We’ll see you on Monday.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
