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Events & Things To Do in Orlando this Weekend September 15 - 17

Updated: Sep 18, 2023

Welcome to another weekend of things to do here in Orlando, as always, we've selected the best events that are taking place throughout the weekend. Enjoy!


The Best Things To Do In Orlando This Weekend

The Best Things To Do In Orlando This Weekend!




MULTI-DAY EVENTS



The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
Now - November 18, 2023

The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is dishing up delights at Walt Disney World Resort now through until November 18, 2023.


Get ready to sip and savor at more than 25 Global Marketplaces throughout EPCOT, including returning favorites such as The Fry Basket, Flavors from Fire, Canada, India and Spain. Several new Global Marketplaces will open later during the festival as summer turns to fall.


The festival has also welcomed back the popular Eat to the Beat Concert Series presented by Florida Blue Medicare at America Gardens Theatre.


And don’t forget to commemorate your EPCOT visit by bringing festival magic home with official event merchandise including apparel, home décor, trading pins and more.


2023 Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Select Nights, Now - November 1, 2023

Get ready for a spooktacular celebration with plenty of tricks and treats at this year's Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, happening now through November 1, 2023.


Enjoy spellbinding entertainment including shows, a parade, fireworks, Disney characters dressed in their Halloween best, and so much more.


This limited-capacity, nighttime event starts at 7 pm and allows guests to experience shorter wait times on attractions, themed food and beverage and more


Halloween Horror Nights At Universal Orlando Resort

Halloween Horror Nights At Universal Orlando Resort

Select Nights Now - November 4, 2023

Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) at Universal Orlando Resort is huge, its one of the biggest Halloween events in Florida, and features horror of all genres, from cinematic greats and crazed cult favorites to the park’s original abominations, and each year the legend grows and the experience reaches beyond your wildest nightmares.


Halloween Horror Nights 32 includes 10 terrifying haunted houses, 5 sinister scare zones and live entertainment.


This year's haunted houses include The Exorcist: Believer, Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count, Universal Monsters: Unmasked, Stranger Things 4, and The Last of Us..


Orlando Magical Dining

Visit Orlando Magical Dining
Now - October 1, 2023

Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining is back, celebrating Orlando's eateries, now in its 18th year, locals and visitors alike love this event, which is on now through Oct. 1, 2023, offering 6 full weeks and 45 delicious days of amazing food at a bargain price!


With more than 115 of Orlando’s best restaurants serving up three-course prix-fixe menus for either $40 or $60, as part of a new tiered menu system, Magical Dining is a great way to get out and explore Orlando's vibrant dining scene and discover new favorites for a really great price.


This year’s roster brings 16 new restaurants to the dining program, as well as seven restaurants recognized by the MICHELIN Guide.


Visit Orlando’s Magical Nights is also back, encouraging diners to turn their night on the town into an affordable, end-of-the-summer Orlando staycation with special savings and offers.


Orlando Shakes presents The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors
September 6 - October 1, 2023

Orlando Shakes presents The Comedy of Errors. Set during the revelries of Mardi Gras and featuring New Orleans Jazz, Zydeco and Delta Blues music, Shakespeare’s non-stop hilarious farce of love, mistaken identity, and two sets of twins separated as babies - gets swept up in the carnival celebrations. Bring your Mardi Gras beads and let the good times roll!


The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System

The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
Friday, Saturday & Sundays, Now - October 8, 2023

When the class gets lost on the way to the planetarium, Ms. Frizzle saves the day by blasting into outer space for an epic interplanetary field trip! But when rivalries both old and new threaten to tear the students apart, our young heroes must learn to pull together or risk getting forever lost in the solar system.


Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic. Presented by TheaterWorksUSA at Orlando Family Stage.


Busch Gardens Tampa Zombie Entertainer Scare Zone 2023 Howl-O-Scream - Sin City Zombies

Howl-O-Scream At Busch Gardens Tampa

Select Nights, Now - October 31, 2023

Tampa’s premier Halloween event returns earlier than ever with new frights & scares taking over the entire park with haunted houses, scare zones, sinister shows and more.


Until October 31st, unspeakable horror lives in every dark corner, including on Busch Gardens’ pulse-pounding thrill rides. Howl-O-Scream is bringing fear to the next level and once you’re in there’s nothing to fear but everything.


Haunted houses include fan favorite, The Residence: Home For The Holidays, plus Ms. Stranglewood is back for more haunts this spooky season, year, and has something sinister waiting behind every corner. plus, new this year is D.H. Baggums, Circus of Fear.


This year's scare zone's include the all new Big Ed's Demolition Derby, which features a rather sinister Big Ed, and Sin City Zombies, another brand new scare zone for 2023.


SeaWorld Orlando, the Siren Twins, Frost and Flame at Howl-O-Scream Sirens of SeaWorld

Howl-O-Scream At SeaWorld Orlando

Select Nights, Now - October 31, 2023

Howl-O-Scream resurfaces at SeaWorld Orlando and this year you will have nowhere to hide. Howl-O-Scream has washed ashore, and this time, the fear is everywhere.

Returning for its third year on September 8, Howl-O-Scream runs select nights through October 31, and this year Howl-O-Scream isn’t just back at SeaWorld. It’s bigger and better than ever with ALL-NEW terrors.

Evade angry haunts as they rampage through scare zones. Seek shelter indoors, only to find you’ve entered a house of horrors. Deepen the thrill with nighttime coaster rides. Quench your thirst for fear at a fiendishly interactive bar. And feel the monstrous electricity of three live shows.


Scream-A-Geddon Haunt


Scream-A-Geddon

Now - November 4, 2023

If you go down to the woods this spooky season your in for a horrific surprise... Scream-A-Geddon in Dade City is BACK!


Spread across 20 acres in a remote corner of Pasco County, the scariest of horror parks, Scream-A-Geddon Horror Park has five haunted houses, a zombie paintball fight and monsters who can and will grab you!


Scream-A-Geddon is only a miserable 1 hour, 30 minute drive from Orlando, and it is so worth it, if you dare....


This years event features the all new haunted house, Breach. Enter if you dare, but you may never come out, plus returning this year is fan favorite's, Rage 3D, Floodwater Bayou, Ravenhill Asylum, Demon's Revenge, and of course it wouldn't be Scream-A-Geddon without Zombie Paintball Assault!!


The event also features Monster Midway with food, beer, and games, and Bono's Beer Garden.


The Garden Theatre announce season opener Every Brilliant Thing starring John O'Hurley

Every Brilliant Thing
Now - September 23, 2023

The incredible John O'Hurley will take the stage at the Garden Theatre beginning September 8 in the one-man play, Every Brilliant Thing.


You may know him from Seinfeld as J. Peterman, or from Dancing with the Stars, or you may have read one of his books. The multi-talented actor, author, composer, and game show host brings a moving, insightful, and hilarious story to the Garden.


Every Brilliant Thing is one-person play leading audiences through a remarkable journey that truly examines what makes life worth living, and the power of theatre to bring people together. Find out more by visiting: gardentheatre.org/shows.


Goblins & Giggles Weekends at Gaylord Palms Resort Orlando

Gaylord Palms Goblins & Giggles Weekends

Now - October 29, 2023

Bewitching thrills, chills and laughter will once again fill fall weekends as guests are treated to family-friendly Halloween fun beginning Sept. 9, 2023, when Gaylord Palms Resort kicks off its annual Goblins & Giggles Weekends celebration.


The much loved event which runs through Oct. 29, will feature live shows, interactive events, dance and costume parties, character experiences, spooky animal encounters, a themed scavenger hunt and escape room, and plenty of sweet treats.


Plus this year, Gaylord Palms Resort is offering two “Fall Into Family Fun” hotel packages with features like free resort credit, premium guest room views, and tickets to popular Goblins & Giggles Weekends events.



Busch Gardens’ Spooktacular
Select Days, Now - October 31, 2023

At Busch Gardens’ Spooktacular, from September 9 to October 31, guests will step into a whimsical world full of enchantment with Kandy, a witch-in-training!


Every Saturday and Sunday, plus Monday Oct. 30 & Tuesday Oct. 31, this event takes place during regular park hours, and is included with park entry. Busch Gardens’ Spooktacular will be casting magical spells, from 12 – 4 pm at the Festival Walkway.


A costume parade, story time and trick or treating are some of the activities guests will find in this immersive Halloween experience.


Splash into National Hispanic Heritage Month with Fiesta Aquatica at Aquatica Orlando!

Fiesta Aquatica!
Saturday & Sunday, Now - Sunday, October 15, 2023

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Aquatica Orlando at Fiesta Aquatica!


This fun-filled, festive event is happening every Saturdays and Sundays, until October15 and is included with park admission.


Enjoy a change in tempo with Latin beats and delicious treats located throughout the park.


Head to Banana Beach Cookout and Ke-Re’s Bar Saturdays 1:30 – 6:30 p.m. and Sundays 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. for live music and dancing.


Adult Vampire Experience, Nosferatu returns to Orlando this fall

Nosf3ratu at The Ren Theater
September 15 - November 5, 2023

Nosferatu is returning to Orlando for year 3! Renaissance Theatre Company have revealed that the re-re-vamped adult horror experience Nosferatu is back following a sold out run in 2022. This years experience has been totally re-vamped, so returning guests will join new patrons to experience it all for the first time.


Every inch of the Ren's 15,468 square foot warehouse in Downtown Orlando will be converted into an exciting maze of elaborately designed shadowy scenes, with the audience moves from room to room, encountering performers behind every secret door.


The great thing about this experience is that every guest has a unique experience, with the cast of 32 vampires leading the audience into hidden corners of the building, where they play out scary, and sexy scenarios during the 90-minute experience.


One the experience is over, new this year is VBar, the sexy nightclub where thirsty vampires meet their prey opens late for a completely different experience. Sexy vampires, live entertainment, and bloody good cocktails. See the show, stay for the party.


Nosferatu is for adults 18+ Strong sexuality including nudity. Sadism, blood, gore, and violent themes. Expect haze and fog, strobing and moving lights, complete darkness. Loud sounds and music throughout. Audience will move from space to space through dark corridors on foot. Check out rentheatre.com for details.


SeaWorld Orlando Halloween Spooktacular

SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular

Select Dates, September 16 - October 31, 2023

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular is back with fun surprises, candy, costumes and more! Kids love trick-or-treating (with purchase of reusable bag) during this daytime event as they explore the decorated trail and meet colorful characters.


This year be sure to check out all their immersive family Spooktacular Festivities and plan your visit this fall.


SeaWorld Spooktacular runs select days, Sept. 16 – Oct. 31, and is included with park admission.


LEGOLAND Florida Brick-or-Treat

LEGOLAND Florida Brick-or-Treat
Select Days, September 16 - October 29, 2023

Families will be screaming in excitement at LEGOLAND Florida Brick-or-Treat this year, with more candy, more LEGO characters and more spell-binding surprises than ever before.


This Halloween spectacular will bewitch families with so many amazing experiences including V.I.M. Dance Party Hosted by Lord Vampyre, the new show The UnbeLEAFable Halloween Night and NEW 4D Movie: The Great Monster Chase.


Enjoy live shows, costume contests, meet and greets, spooky LEGO decorations and Monster mischief around every corner – all included with general park admission and select Annual Passes.



Duel of Fools at SAK Comedy Lab
Weekly, Friday and Saturday

This is SAK’s signature improv show! Two teams of professional improvisers compete for your laughs with audience judges selected at the start of the show. The actors make up songs, scenes and characters right in front of your eyes with the help of the audience’s suggestions and participation. Appropriate for all ages. 7 pm.


King Of The Hill at SAK Comedy Lab
Weekly, Friday and Saturday

In this knockdown, drag-out comedy battle, a cast of our professional performers pair up in teams of two and use audience suggestions to create scenes, songs and characters on the spot. After each round, the audience decides which team wins and which team loses. The winning team stays for the next round while the losers form new teams to dethrone the Kings. By the end there can only be one King of the Hill! 9 pm.



 


FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2023


Art After Dark at Lake Nona

Art After Dark at Lake Nona
Weekly, Every Friday

Every Friday night, Art After Dark takes over Lake Nona Town Center from 6 pm.


Enjoy a stroll through our Town Center as you explore hand crafted artisan products, and tasty cuisine. Be sure to grab a glass a wine, stay a while to enjoy the art displayed on the six story art installation, The Beacon.


Sunset Walk’s Fired-up Fridays

Sunset Walk Fired-up Fridays

Weekly, Every Friday

Friday nights, the Promenade at Sunset Walk presents Fired-Up Fridays, a free Car & Truck Show event with all makes, models, and years welcome of show car quality.


Featuring music by DJ Scotty B and Company, plus the very best regional live bands.


Winter Garden Friday on the Plaza

Winter Garden Friday on the Plaza
Weekly, Every Friday

Come enjoy live music every Friday night on the Plaza, at Downtown Winter Garden, Centennial Plaza Gazebo.


Friday Muscle Car Show & Cruise Old Town Kissimmee

Friday Muscle Car Show & Cruise
Weekly, Every Friday

Join the heart pounding excitement of high-performance engines and true horse power for our Muscle Car Show every Friday night at Old Town in Kissimmee. The Friday Muscle Car Show will begin at 3:00pm and the qualifications are show-quality muscle and factory-performance cars from 1964 and newer and classics from 1985 and older. Cars will cruise at 8:30pm and all cars registered can participate.




 


SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2023


Disney Springs Kids Club

Disney Springs Kids Club
Weekly, Every Saturday

Dance, play and be entertained at engaging shows for kids of all ages at the Disney Springs Kids Club, taking place every Saturday. Free Entertainment and Free Parking.


Saturday Nite Classic Car Show & Cruise

Saturday Nite Classic Car Show & Cruise
Weekly, Every Saturday

Join Old Town in Kissimmee every Saturday and take a trip down memory lane. The Old Town Classic Car Show has been a local tradition for over 30 years, it is one of the premier weekly car shows in Central Florida. The Saturday Classic Car Show begins at 1:00pm and welcomes show-quality 1985 and older hot rods, street rods, and antiques. Cars will cruise at 8:30pm. The event is free for participants and free for the public to attend.


Live Music on the Lawn in Lake Nona

Live Music on the Lawn in Lake Nona

Weekly, Every Saturday

Live on the Lawn is your Saturday oasis to relax and recharge while listening to live music and playing lawn games with family and friends. Join Lake Nona from 11 am – 3 pm every Saturday!


Show Car Saturday Nights at Promenade at Sunset Walk

Show Car Saturday Nights at Promenade at Sunset Walk
Weekly, Every Saturday

The Promenade at Sunset Walk is home to Show Car Saturday Nights. All makes and models are welcome and displayed along Margaritaville Boulevard.

Car enthusiasts will enjoy the music of DJ Scotty B while admiring an amazing collection of classic to modern automobiles, with live bands performing on the Promenade Plaza Stage nightly.


Orlando Area Sunday Farmers Markets

Orlando Area Saturday Farmers Markets
Weekly, Every Saturday

The Winter Garden Farmers Market is your hometown market open every Saturday from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm. in beautiful Historic Winter Garden.


The Winter Park Farmers’ Market is one of the best produce and plant markets in Central Florida which takes place every Saturday morning from 8 am - 1 pm in Central Park.


The Lake Mary Farmers Market features local vendors of produce, plants, baked goods, and arts and crafts. The market is open every Saturday, from 9 am - 1:30 pm at Lake Mary City Hall.


Visit every Saturday at the City of Longwood Farmers Market at Reiter Park from 9 am - 2 pm, with locally sourced seafood and produce to handmade crafts and more.


Join in every Saturday morning in Lake Nona, the Lake Nona Farmers Market takes place in the beautiful Town Center from 11 am - 3 pm, shop local with the freshest produce and more.



 


SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2023


Ren Fair at The Renaissance Theatre Company

Ren Fair at The Renaissance Theatre Company
Weekly, Every Sunday

Renaissance Fair at The Ren, is a unique outdoor and indoor event, featuring drag shows, live music, and more. Diverse and Queer-friendly, 18+.


Shops! Vendors, Artists, Crafts, Food Vendors/Trucks, Plants, Merchandise.


Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola Park

Orlando Area Sunday Farmers Markets
Weekly, Every Sunday

One of the most popular farmers markets in Central Florida, Orlando Farmer’s Market is located in the heart of Orlando at Lake Eola park, and takes place Sundays 10 am - 4 pm.


Every week at Celebration Farmers Market there are multiple vendors here selling everything from fresh food and produce, to local crafted jewelry, and much more, with a beautiful backdrop of Lakeside Park, this is a must go to farmers market on Sundays, 9 am - 2 pm.


The popular East Orlando Farmers Market offers hand selected produce, creative local small business owners, along with botanical varieties to chose from. Every Sunday 11 am - 4 pm.


Clermont Farmer's Market features over 60 vendors selling seafood, organic produce, and other household items, this popular market is the place to go on Sundays 9 am - 2 pm.


Mount Dora’s open-air Mount Dora Village Market in Sunset Park is open Sundays from 9 am – 2 pm offering fresh products from over 50 market vendors



 


Whatever You Decide To Do, Have A Great Weekend!


For the latest news and information from throughout Central Florida, here at Gotta Go Orlando we keep you informed throughout the day, every day.


You can also keep up to date with us on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Plus, subscribe to the Gotta Go Orlando YouTube Channel, for the best of Orlando.



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