Welcome to Thursday Morning, Orlando!
Can someone tell the weather that it’s still March?? Kinda feels like we just might skip over spring and head right for summer!
Now, in today’s issue:
- Four Sunsets and a Jar of Tang
- UpTown Art Expo
- Spring Flower Festival
- + lots of weekend recs
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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 ⏲️
Four Sunsets and a Jar of Tang
When John Glenn lapped the Earth in 1962, he caught four sunsets in a single orbit, a cosmic flex that Miami artist Dennis Scholl couldn't stop thinking about.
The result is his new Orlando Museum of Art exhibit through June 14th, stuffed with space-age treasures: mission patches, declassified documents, crystallized Tang powder, and a Challenger newspaper photograph guaranteed to wreck anyone who was in elementary school in 1986.
Scholl spent five to six years hunting these artifacts down, sorting through up to 30,000 objects a month. The stuff itself isn't really the point, though, your reaction to it is. Consider yourself provoked.
(Learn lots more about Dennis Scholl's "A Day of Four Sunsets" with Matthew J. Palm, right here)
Pull Up a Chair, Ladies
Women business owners in Central Florida aren't just building companies, they're building each other up.
At NAWBO Orlando, success is measured less by revenue and more by the ripple effect you create in your community. And the party just got easier to join.
Founded in 1975, NAWBO represents more than 12 million women-owned businesses nationwide, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. economy. The 5-Star Award-winning Orlando chapter is rolling out the welcome mat this spring with $75 off new memberships.
A seat at the table is waiting. Or skip the wait, build your own, and bring every woman you know.
Orange County Schools Is Finally Having the AI Talk
This past Tuesday, Orange County Public Schools stopped pretending AI wasn't already in the building, and actually sat down to figure out what to do about it.
Board members huddled over community survey results gauging how parents feel about AI in classrooms, what benefits they see, and perhaps most urgently, what keeps them up at night.
Data privacy and student identity topped the worry list, with leaders making clear that outside tech companies won't be getting a free pass to harvest student information.
The district already has a toe in the AI waters. Now it wants a rulebook, and hopes to have one ready before next school year kicks off.
(Learn more about the debate over AI in Orange County classrooms with Mark Lehman, right here)
WEEKEND SPOT HIGHLIGHT 🔦
UpTown Art Expo
Source: Uptown Art Expo
📍Cranes Roost Park. 274 Cranes Roost Blvd, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday, March 27th through Sunday, March 29th
There's a weekend in Altamonte Springs worth clearing your calendar for.
The UpTown Art Expo at stunning Cranes Roost Park brings together over 140 artists and fine craft exhibitors, live tribute concerts celebrating Van Halen, Tom Petty, Journey, and Santana, plus a chalk street art competition rooted in a tradition dating back to 16th-century Italy.
Add serious food trucks, craft beer, and a mile of lakeside walkway through a 45-acre European-style plaza, and you've got the full picture.
👉 Check It Out
TOP 3 FUN RECS FOR THE WEEKEND 🍊
Japan Festival Eustis 2026
Source: Arching Oaks Art & Cultural Center
📍Historic Downtown Eustis. 111 N Eustis St, Eustis, FL 32726. Map to this location.
🕐 Saturday, March 28th, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Eustis isn't exactly where you'd expect to find Japan, but this year, that's precisely what's on offer.
The Japan Festival Eustis brings together traditional Japanese food, live calligraphy demonstrations, a kids zone with authentic crafts and games, an interactive gaming booth, and a cosplay contest.
A Japanese-themed photo booth rounds out the experience. Ancient traditions and modern pop culture, all in one place, no passport required.
👉 Get more info, right here
Orlando Boat Show
Source: Orlando Boat Show
📍Orange County Convention Center, West Concourse Hall B2, B3, B4 & C. 9800 International Drive, Orlando, FL, 32189. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.– 5 p.m.
Spring in Florida means one thing: get on the water, and the Orlando Boat Show at the Orange County Convention Center is your official excuse to answer.
Twenty-one top dealers, 600+ boats across 90 lines, and show-exclusive deals.
Kids reel in live trout, Twiggy the Waterskiing Squirrel steals the show daily, Captain Jim Ross drops two decades of fishing wisdom, and one lucky attendee sails home with a free 2025 Yamaha SX190 jet boat.
Come for the boats. Stay for everything else. Tickets are CHEAP!
👉 Get the full details
Spring Flower Festival at 4Roots Farm
Source: 4Roots
📍4Roots Campus. 1101 John Young Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32804. Map to this location.
🕐 Saturday, March 28th, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Dust off your garden gloves and head to 4Roots Farm's first-ever Spring Flower Festival.
Pick fresh-cut blooms, score plants from top nurseries like Lukas and Tutti Frutti, and pull vegetables straight from the 4Roots Market Garden.
Hungry? A lineup of local food vendors has you covered.
Bring the kids, there's a full Kids Zone waiting. Gardening workshops, crafts, and good vibes round out the day.
Consider this your official invitation to embrace the season.
👉 Check it out, right here
THIS WEEKENDS HAPPENINGS 🎭 🥁
Multi-Day
3rd Annual John P. Thomas Memorial Volusia Valor Days | Sat & Sun | DeLand | More
UCF Knights Baseball vs. University of Arizona Wildcats Men's Baseball | Fri, Sat, Sun | UCF | More
Twice | Fri & Sat | City District | More
Ian Bagg | Fri & Sat | I-Drive | More
Friday
The Happiest Market: Sparkle of Imagination Market | 6 p.m. | Kissimmee | More
In Bloom: Opening Night with Kathleen Safi | 6 p.m. | Milk District | More
Velvet Unplugged featuring Crystal Bowersox | 7 p.m. | I-Drive | More
Void, Phantom, Herakleion, Midnight Vice, Antagonizer | 7 p.m. | Winter Park | More
Shaun Young, Jonny Safford, and Skinny McGee and the Handshakes | 7 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
DJ BMF | 10 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
DeafNation Expo | 9 a.m. | City District | More
Saturday
🔥 Free Orlando Death Collective | 1 p.m. | City District | More
Collective Corner | 4 p.m. | Ivanhoe Village | More
MoviEat Parties Presents: Shrek | 7:30 p.m. | Altamonte | More
Hamlin Craft Beer Festival | 3 p.m. | Winter Garden | More
K-Pop Rave | 9 p.m. | Winter Park | More
4Roots Spring Flower Festival | 9 a.m. | College Park | More
7th Annual Audio Excellence Jeep Show | 10 a.m. | Oviedo | More
The Great Duck Derby | 10 a.m | Winter Park | More
Major League Volleyball All-Star Match | 12 p.m. | UCF | More
La La Land in Concert | 2 p.m. | City District | More
This World Is Not My Own: Film Screening | 2 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
Sunday
Ali Wong Live | 4 & 7 p.m. | City District | More
Street Racer, Mattias, and Mirror Parts | 7 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
Orlando Storm vs. Columbus Aviators | 8 p.m. | City District | More
Sister Kill Cycle, Heidi's Arcade, The Year After, and Sardaukar | 7 p.m. | Winter Park | More
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THANKS!
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We’ll see you on Monday.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
