Summer guide

Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

floridastateparks.org

Once a 19th-century house of refuge founded by the U.S. Life Saving Service — which aimed to create safe dwellings for shipwrecked sailors — the site’s name was changed in 1992 as a tribute to Floridian folk-music legend Gamble Rogers. (A fitting tribute, as Rogers had died a year earlier attempting to rescue a drowning man from the rugged waves of the Atlantic.) The Recreation Area is clustered along the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway — a scenic part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail — and spans 145 acres. It includes two camping sites, a boardwalk perfect for photo opportunities that overlooks the coquina-rich sandy beach, a buzzing butterfly garden and a salt marsh restoration area, as well as a beach dune system where visitors are encouraged to soak in the pastel-neon splendors of the coastal cotton-candy sunsets.

The Matanzas River and Fort Matanzas

nps.gov

Between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach flows the Matanzas River, an estuary of the Intracoastal Waterway parallel to the Atlantic Ocean. This 23-mile-long river is a prime location for recreational activities with saltwater creeks and marshes to explore where you’re likely to witness an array of freshwater and marine wildlife including alligators, dolphins, manatees and North Atlantic right whales. Find some shelter from the sun in shady hammocks as you paddle the waterways beneath the boardwalk of St. Joe Walkway and Palm Coast Linear Park. This park, also part of the Great Florida Birding Trail, is walkable as well as wheelfriendly. Also worth a visit: the Fort Matanzas National Monument, which improbably boasts a coastal hammock forest, sand dunes, and wetlands and swamps all at once.

Another gorgeous sunset at the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

PHOTO BY DEBBI GREER-DENNING, COURTESY FDEP

BEACHES, PARKS AND WATERFRONTS OFF THE BEATEN PATH

BY NICOLETTE SHURBA

If you’ve visited Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach to your heart’s and tan’s content and want to do a deeper dive into some natural splendor by the water, venture out to these hidden treasures of Central Florida and nearby zones, all perfect for brief day trips! These will not be, however, your typical days at the beach.

Egmont Key State Park

floridastateparks.org

Reachable only via watercraft (you can catch a ferry to access the Key) and looking not unlike a setting straight out of Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 sci-fi film Stalker, here is a beach paradise jarringly scattered with eroded remnants of gun batteries jutting out of the shell-strewn sands. Fittingly, it’s one of Florida’s most secluded beaches. (Though it is public land.) Egmont Key State Park and National Wildlife Refuge, part of Fort De Soto Park, is an island and former military base that features Fort Dade, a lighthouse, a historical center and a brick-paved ghost town atop white sands and an expansive, biodiverse palm forest. The Key has a deep and difficult historical value as the site of captured and interned Seminole Indians. Polly Parker (aka Emateloye) was captured during the Third Seminole War but eventually escaped back to Lake Okeechobee. Her descendants make up the Seminole Tribe today.

Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve

floridadep.gov/tomokamarshap

Tucked between Old Dixie Highway and A1A, just north of Ormond-by-the-Sea and south of Flagler Beach — and spanning Volusia and Flagler counties — is the Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve. Tomoka Marsh sprawls over 2,800 acres and is home to Nocoroco, the Timucuan native village. Here you can visit an archaic shell midden with multiple coastal mounds that date back at least 5,500 years and continue to pique the interest of archeologists. This state-owned site abounds in natural and historical beauty. It’s a perfect place for Floridians and out-of-towners alike to reconnect with the environment and their understanding of ancient cultures, mere miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

floridastateparks.org

Span time by interacting with Pleistocene-era geological formations at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. Pass an idyllic day away counting the waves crashing against the dissolved calcium carbonate shells that account for the miles-long stretch of coquina rocks on the beach shoreline. Or stroll alongside serene ponds and a rainbow array of rosegarden beds inside the park on its western side bordering the Matanzas River. The gardens section of this beach park also features a gazebo and an arching oak canopy, ideal for some quiet reflection and relaxation.

The Gram Parsons Derry Down Historical Marker in Winter Haven

PHOTO BY BRIAN COSTELLO A PILGRIMAGE TO GRAM PARSONS’ DERRY DOWN CLUB OFFERS UP SOME DEEP FLORIDA TRUTHS

BY BRIAN COSTELLO

It’s no fun being a Floridian these days. The rents are too damn high, the manatees appear to be dying out, and our most prominent statewide elected officials are fascist goons too busy bullying our most vulnerable as a cynical ploy to score cheap “culture war” points on the right-wing media shrillfest circuit to bother doing anything about it.

It makes one desperate to find something about Florida history and culture to really celebrate. Something beyond the truly unique flora, fauna, and creatures. Something beyond the latest tragicomic shenanigans of the (wait for it) Florida Man. Something and someone beyond those we usually take pride in — your Zora Neale Hurstons, your Tom Pettys, your Teddy and the Frat Girls, etc.

Something from here, of here, that the region actually didn’t raze to the ground in deference to a homogenous and truly satanic conception of “progress.”

All that is to say, it’s worth the day trip to Winter Haven to see Gram Parsons’ Derry Down — if not to go inside and see bands, then at least to spend a few moments reading the historical marker commemorating the man and his musical legacy, and how it all started right here in Florida and nowhere else.

There are some misguided souls out there who want to tell you that our Gram is a Georgia boy. And, yes, while he did spend his childhood years in Waycross, Winter Haven was always the primary base of operations. The family on his mother’s side were titans of the citrus industry at a time when citrus dominated Central Florida, instead of tourism and providing a place for the elderly to run out the clock.

According to the Parsons bio Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons by Ben Fong-Torres, the aforementioned Snivelys owned 20 percent of all the citrus trees in Florida in the mid-20th century. Their next-door neighbor was the late tourist destination Cypress Gardens, to which Parsons’ grandfather provided financial backing. Nowadays, the land that was once Cypress Gardens is Legoland, where you can still find Magnolia Mansion, the former home of Parsons’ grandfather.

It was against this backdrop of family wealth — and the kind of distinctly Southern family implosions that make Faulkner stories look like lighthearted romps — that Parsons began playing and performing music. His first live gig was in nearby Dundee. His bands had names that were typical of the pre-psych 1960s — The Pacers, Legends, Rumors, Village Vanguards, Shilos.

From all of this, Parsons began to home in on what he would define as “Cosmic American Music.” And while some have given it the lazy label “country rock” — and while the cynics among us might just dismiss it as the origins of the beast that ended up being all that warbling 1970s California cocaine cowboys with pretensions of being wild west outlaws — what emerged afterward in no way negates the magic and beauty and sadness of Parsons’ work with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds on the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and his solo work with Emmylou Harris before his death in Room 8 of the Joshua Tree Inn.

You can easily say about Florida what you can say about Gram Parsons and his relationship to his family — and his stepfather in particular, the stepfather who had Gram change his last name to Parsons when he was a tween: It’s, well, complicated. And, like so much of Gram Parsons’ too-short life, there’s not enough space to go into all of what happened then and after.

But to read the historical marker and to stand outside Derry Down on Fifth Street NW in Winter Haven, it’s not difficult to imagine all the kids hanging out there on the sidewalk. It’s reminiscent of being a kid and standing around outside the Hardback in Gainesville in the good gone days, or outside Uncle Lou’s and Will’s Pub today.

For once, you feel a real-deal connection to Florida. Something that wasn’t destroyed by the wrecking ball or corrupted by greed. Why history — musical or otherwise — is important, and why some in power don’t want us and our kids to comprehend that.

And as you drive back to Orlando, you can tune out all the bullshit long enough to throw on the Parsons-penned “One Hundred Years From Now” by the Byrds, take solace in the sounds and hold out hope that the lyric “everybody’s so wrong that I know it’s gonna work out fine” contains all the truth that you hope it might.

Mxmtoon plays the Beacham Tuesday, May 31

PHOTO BY LISSYELLE LARICCHIA BIG-NAME FESTIVALS AND CONCERTS YOU CAN’T MISS THIS SUMMER

BY LYNNETTE CANTOS AND MATTHEW MOYER

Summer is here (look it is, even if in calendar terms it “isn’t”) and sure it’s damn hot out there, but so is the concert calendar. Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest fests, stadium shows, and new and notable headliners heading through the City Beautiful in the next few months.

Welcome to Rockville

Thursday-Sunday, May 19-22

One can certainly argue that this annual rockfest reached its apex last year when Brass Against singer Sophia Urista peed on a (willing) audience member from the stage. But then Rockville’s organizers said, “Hold my beer/energy drink” and proceeded to recruit frankly jaw-dropping headliners like Nine Inch Nails, Kiss and Guns N’ Roses for this year’s event. Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona, welcometorockville. com, $119.99-$614.99

Skyline Festival

Friday-Sunday, May 27-28

Orlando is playing host to yet another big dance-music festival this year, with Skyline set to take over the Orlando Amphitheater’s grounds. Going down over Memorial Day weekend, the fest offers up more than 30 artists getting down on three stages, including Adam Beyer, Eric Prydz and Green Velvet. Skyline’s 2021 debut in Orlando was at the Vanguard downtown, and the new setting should provide much more elbow room. Orlando Amphitheater, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, orlandoamphitheater.com, $69.95-$189.95

mxmtoon

Tuesday, May 31

With over five million monthly listens on Spotify, mxmtoon knows the power of music on social media, having uploaded ukulele covers to YouTube at 17 years old and built a community of 2 million followers on TikTok. At the Beacham, mxmtoon will be performing her signature chill-pop songs with fellow YouTuber-turned-indie-pop songwriter Chloe Moriondo. 6:30 p.m., The Beacham, 46 N. Orange Ave., foundation-presents.com, $25

Florida Funk Fest 2022

Friday-Saturday, June 3-4

The Central Florida Fairgrounds is the place to get funky at this two-day festival, where you’ll find R&B icons such as Mary J. Blige, Jazmine Sullivan, Trina and Tweet performing on Friday night. R&B quartet Jodeci and soul singer Anthony Hamilton headline Saturday’s show, alongside the No Limit reunion, which brings Master P, Mystikal, Silkk the Shocker and Mia X together on one stage after way too long. Orlando Amphitheater, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, orlandoamphitheater.com, $65-$450

Vibra Urbana Festival

Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12

After a very successful first year, the reggaeton-heavy Vibra Urbana returns to Orlando for another go. This time around the outdoors fest features Farruko, Ivy Queen, Myke Towers, Eladio Carrion, Lunay, Tokischa and Nio Garcia. Orlando Amphitheater, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, orlandoamphitheater.com, $75-$289

Lil Boom

Sunday, June 12

What do you get when you mix a love of anime, memes, cartoons and porn with intimate trap beats and lyrics that push you out of your comfort zone? You get Lil Boom. The Orlando-grown rapper and viral sensation comes back home to the Social, for the last stop on his End of the World tour. 7 p.m., The Social, 54 N. Orange Ave., foundation-presents. com, $15

Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison

Sunday, June 19

It’s like every big-time rocker who didn’t get invited to Rockville threw their own damn party, thank you very much. (Not true, but rock & roll thrives on myth-making, so we’re here to help.) What is true is that these three titans of “hair metal” are hitting stadiums all over the country during the perfect season to indulge in these debauched anthems from a very different time. And to balance out the testosterone, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts round out the bill. 4:30 p.m., Camping World Stadium, 1 Citrus Bowl Place, campingworldstadium.com, $49-$3,153

Sad Summer Festival

Friday, July 15

If you’re a fan of emo- and punk-adjacent sounds and feeling a little sad about … well, anything really (lack of a Warped tour, impeding climate crisis, overturning Roe v. Wade are all acceptable answers), then this touring minifest is for you. The stacked lineup features Waterparks (marking their second time in Orlando in just under a year), Neck Deep, Mayday Parade, State Champs and Hot Mulligan. 2:30 p.m., Orlando Amphitheater, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, orlandoamphitheater.com, $45-$99

Bad Bunny

Friday, Aug. 5

Bad Bunny returns to the City Beautiful for the second time this year, as part of another world tour promoting his latest album, Un Verano Sin Ti. If you missed “El Conejo Malo” at the sold-out Amway Center shows in late March, you can still secure tickets for arguably the summer’s hottest tour. 7 p.m., Camping World Stadium, 1 Citrus Bowl Place, campingworldstadium.com, $105-$1,750

Daddy Yankee

Friday, Aug. 26

After decades of breaking language barriers and international record sales, Daddy Yankee announced his retirement on social media days before the release of his last album, Legendaddy. During his farewell “La Última Vuelta” tour, the Boricua rapper known as the King of Reggaeton will perform in Orlando in late August (and then again in December!) at the Amway Center. 8 p.m., Amway Center, 400 W. Church St., amwaycenter.com, $170-$6,500

Aaron Malkin returns to Fringe Festival with Dandelion

PHOTO BY CHELSEA STUYT/VIA ORLANDO FRINGE THIS YEAR, THE ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL FRINGE THEATRE FESTIVAL IS TRULY INTERNATIONAL ONCE AGAIN

BY SETH KUBERSKY

After two years of scaling back, virtualizing or outright canceling events, the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival (May 17-30; orlandofringe.org) has bounced back in a big way, bringing more than 70 delegates from around the world to Loch Haven Park for this weekend’s World Fringe Conference. Those representatives of far-flung Fringe Festivals will be joined by dozens of foreign artists, who are once again flocking to Florida from as far away as Sweden, Germany and Japan — not to mention the resurgent crowds of Canadians — for the longest-running event of its kind in the U.S.A. Brace yourself, because with over 100 acts performing across 14 days, 2022’s Orlando Fringe is certain to be Central Florida’s biggest cultural convergence since COVID-19 arrived.

To make room for all that entertainment, Renaissance Theatre has officially become home of the new Teal and relocated Purple venues, while downtown’s Stardust Lounge (stepping in for Haös on Church) joins the Abbey and Savoy in offering “Bring Your Own Venue” performances. Hopping between all those venues on weekends should be easier this year, thanks to new free GoPegasus shuttles servicing the theaters and the free overflow parking lot at Lake Highland Prep. On top of the mainstage shows, be sure to check out Visual Fringe’s dedicated gallery inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center; free international Kids’ Fringe acts on weekends at the Orlando Garden Club; and free daily concerts and events on two Outdoor Stages.

Of course, this two-week creative carnival comes with a cost, and although the mandatory Fringe buttons still cost only $10, top ticket prices have increased to $15 (100 percent of which goes directly to the artists), plus a $2 per ticket fee. Drown your inflation-induced sorrows on the Festival lawn with Ivanhoe Brewing’s exclusive Curtains Up white stout or a candy-themed cocktail while chilling in your own private cabana, or save money on snacks by donating $25 or more to Club Fringe for access to OMA’s air-conditioned lounge.

skubersky@orlandoweekly.com

THE ABCS OF FRINGE: POST-PANDEMIC EDITION

Whether it’s your first Fringe or your 31st, you’ll want to review our updated guide to getting the most out of the festival. Check out show details, festival policies and venue maps at orlandofringe.org/may2022, where you can also buy tickets, and read all Orlando Weekly’s show reviews at orlandoweekly.com.

Accessibility

To make Fringe more accessible to all, ASL interpreters will be present at more than a dozen shows, and audio descriptions are available to blind or low-vision Fringe attendees for six shows this year; see orlandofringe.org/may/accessibility for details.

Bars and restaurants

Food stalls on the Fringe Lawn include everything from carnival-style fast food to high-end treats, along with the ubiquitous beer tent and a full liquor bar. There are also ample opportunities to stop for a drink or a bite to eat along Orange and Mills avenues and Virginia Drive. Go to orlandoweekly.com for reviews of hundreds of local restaurants, searchable by neighborhood.

Bathroom

Go first, because there’s no re-entry if you leave a show. The ones inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center and the Orlando Repertory Theatre are the best — avoid the portables on the lawn unless you are desperate.

Box office

There are three (the main one in the Lowndes, plus one at the Rep and one at the Renaissance) where you can buy tickets in person, but you’re better off buying online in advance; BYOV tickets must be purchased online. Tickets cost up to $15, and no matter where you buy, you’ll pay a $2 service fee per seat.

Button

The $10 button is a one-time purchase that funds Fringe’s operations — ticket sales (minus the service fee) go directly to the shows themselves. Buttons can be purchased at merch tables or at a festival box office. Without a button and a ticket, no one over the age of 12 will be admitted to any show, so hang onto it.

Capacity

Social distancing measures are no longer in effect in the Fringe venues. But still, secure your tickets early because popular shows are sure to sell out, and all sales end five minutes prior to showtime.

Club Fringe

Join Club Fringe with a minimum donation of $25 to access the air-conditioned private lounge inside OMA, featuring free refreshments, phone chargers and other perks; visit orlandofringe.org/ clubfringe for details.

DigiFringe

During the festival, shows will be recorded and then available to view from June 3-17. As with “regular” Fringe, DigiFringe will return 100 percent of all ticket sales to the artists. A one-time DigiFringe digital “button” purchase will be required to view the online performances.

Discounts

All Fringe shows have the option of offering $2 off to students, seniors, military and/or theme park employees. The only catch is that you must buy your tickets in person at a box office to get those savings.

Fringe Lawn

Between the Lowndes and the Rep lies a broad grassy swath where you’ll find the beer and wine tent, food vendors, an ATM, and a full liquor bar, not to mention a seething mass of theatrical humanity. The lawn opens at 5 p.m. on weekdays (noon on weekends) and closes at 1 a.m. nightly.

Kids Fringe

The hippest kids in town attend Kids Fringe inside the airconditioned Orlando Garden Club (710 E. Princeton St.), which is packed on both weekends (Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) with free entertainment — puppetry, concerts, hands-on art activities — that parents will enjoy too. Capacity for indoor shows is limited; free tickets are distributed 15 minutes prior to each performance. Follow @kidsfringe on Instagram and Facebook for updates.

Lateness

Even if you’ve paid for a ticket, once the doors close, you’re not getting in. Arrive at least 30 minutes before showtime and leave plenty of time to park and walk to the venue; it may be on the opposite end of the complex.

Outdoor stage

It’s always free to hang out on the lawn, where there’s food, drink and local bands playing throughout the festival. Starting Wednesday, May 18, you can take in music, dance, comedy and spoken word every weeknight from 6-11 p.m. and weekends from 3-11 p.m.

Parking

Limited as always, with the Rep and Lowndes lots sure to be filled to capacity at all times. Magruder Eye Institute is open for Fringe patrons on nights and weekends; limited free street parking can be found along Mills and Orange avenues, Alden Road and Princeton Street. (Parking in AdventHealth’s Alden Street garage is also gratis, but don’t tell them Fringe sent you.) If you can, walk, bike, take SunRail or Lynx, or ride-share instead of driving.

Show schedule

Find the daily down-low at orlandofringe.org/may/dailyschedule. You’ll also want to have a QR code reader handy for scanning the digital programs that are replacing dead trees, and for tipping the artists.

Social

Follow the festival at facebook.com/orlandofringefestival, on Instagram (@orlandofringe) and on Twitter (@OrlandoFringe and the hashtag #OFringe31) for late-breaking announcements.

Vaccination status

The Renaissance Theatre (where you’ll find the Purple and Teal venues) requires either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 6 hours for entry. Tests are available for those who need one.

Venues

Each venue at the Fringe has a color-coded name. Blue, Orange, Pink, Brown and Yellow are all inside the Lowndes Center; Purple and Teal are inside the Renaissance Theatre; Green and Silver are at the Orlando Rep; and Gold is in the Orlando Museum of Art. BYOV shows are held at the Abbey (100 S. Eola Drive), Savoy Orlando (1913 N. Orange Ave.), Stardust Lounge downtown (431 E. Central Blvd.) and other site-specific locations. Make sure you leave enough time between shows if your venues are far apart.