Winter Garden combining music, heritage for festival

WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE & MUSIC FESTIVAL

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11

WHERE: Historic downtown

Winter Garden

PERFORMANCES

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• City Hall Stage: Paul Q-pek & Jeremy Birdsall (rock)

• Lakeview Stage: Flight Scene (a cappella group, country, top hits)

• Main Street Stage: Garden Music School (various music)

1 to 2 p.m.

• Loop Stage: Freightliners (bluegrass)

• Centennial Plaza Gazebo: Dominic Gaudious (worldly original music, Australian Didgeridoo, drums/guitar/vocals)

2 to 3 p.m.

• City Hall Stage: L & G Live Duo (pop, soft rock, ’90s hits)

• Lakeview Stage: Hayfire (country)

• Main Street Stage: Brown Bag Brass Band (brass and funk)

3 to 4 p.m.

• Loop Stage: Shamanic Rootz (reggae)

• Centennial Plaza Gazebo: The Absent Trio (pop, soft rock, ’90s hits)

• Butterfly Sculpture Garden: Amanda Breivogel & Steve Peshek (acoustic duo)

4 to 5 p.m.

• City Hall Stage: Twojay Duo (rhythm and blues, jazz and soul)

• Lakeview Stage: Annika Chambers & Paul Deslauries (blues and soul)

• Main Street Stage: Bryce Mauldin (country)

5 to 6 p.m.

• Loop Stage: Selwyn Birchwood (blues band)

• Centennial Plaza Gazebo: Blewayle Duo (classics, Top 40)

• Butterfly Sculpture Garden: Chris Scalco Duo (Top 40, rhythm and blues)

5 to 7 p.m.

• Main Street Stage: We Flip Entertainment (variety show)

6 to 7:30 p.m.

• Lakeview Stage: Marlow Rosado & Orchestra (salsa & Latin)

6 to 8 p.m.

• City Hall Stage: We Flip Entertainment (breakdancers)

7 to 8 p.m.

• Main Street Stage: Spazmatics (’80s hits)

8 to 9 p.m.

• Centennial Plaza Gazebo: Big Ron Betts (blues, rhythm and blues, funk, soul)

• Butterfly Sculpture Garden: John Beck (rock and Caribbean, steel drums)

8 to 9:30 p.m.

• Loop Stage: Foreigners Journey featuring Constantin Maroulis (rock ’n’ roll)

9 to 10 p.m.

• City Hall Stage: Jose of Phenom Duo (sax soloist)

• Lakeview Stage: We Flip Entertainment (LED jumpropers)

• Main Street Stage: Michael Andrew & Swingerhead (jazz)

STAGE LOCATIONS n Butterfly Sculpture Garden, 240 W. Plant St. n Centennial Plaza Gazebo 101 W. Plant St. n City Hall Stage, 300 W. Plant St. n Lakeview Stage, 104 S. Lakeview Ave.

AMY QUESINBERRY COMMUNITY EDITOR

Winter Garden’s celebration of music and heritage Saturday, Feb. 11, will include a few nationally known names — children’s entertainer Blippi; and two “American Idol” contestants, rockers Constantin Maroulis, who was the sixth-place finalist in Season 4, and Bo Bice, who was runner-up to Carrie Underwood that same season.

The city of Winter Garden — established in 1903 — is commemorating its 120-year history with the Winter Garden Heritage & Music Festival. The free, all-day event will include more than 30 musical acts on six stages, strolling performers and many opportunities to learn about the city’s rich past through exhibitions and tours.

In addition, 120th anniversary tote bags will be given to the first 120 guests at the Winter Garden Farmers Market’s information booth starting at 8 a.m. A Valentine’s Day Celebration from 9 a.m. to noon includes live music, family-friend games and craft making at the Kids’ Zone tent at the parking garage plaza.

WINTER GARDEN HISTORY n Guided history walking tour n “Reflection in Time: Tribute to Local African-American Artists” — This exhibition, in the Art in Public Places Gallery at City Hall, 300 W. Plant St., explores the journey of black artists from the local community and surrounding areas. n “Railroads of Winter Garden” n “History Preserved: New Images of Winter Garden’s Architectural Legacy” — Photographs highlighting many of the local architectural treasures documented in a 2021 survey of Winter Garden’s commercial and residential historic districts are on display at the SoBo Art Gallery, 127 S. Boyd St. The photographs are from the archives of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

There are several opportunities to learn about the city of Winter Garden’s 120-year history and its placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Walking tours will give a history of downtown’s buildings, monuments and trees; and downtown’s free museums and art gallery will have exhibitions, artifacts and memorabilia depicting Winter Garden and West Orange County’s history.

— The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation will host the downtown walks at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

— Presentations at 10 and 11 a.m., noon, and 1 and 2 p.m. will provide highlights of the history of railroads that served Winter Garden.

It takes place at the Central Florida Railroad Museum, 101 S. Boyd St. The museum features an abundance of railroad artifacts and memorabilia.

LIVE TUNES

Enjoy the classic rock songs of the ’80s at the Garden Theatre, 160 W. Plant St., in “Rock of Ages.” This live production pays tribute to the era in an energetic tribute featuring favorite rock anthems and power ballads. Among the performers is Bice of “Idol” fame.

Performances are at 2 and 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit bit. ly/3lfDeHO.

More than 30 performers — including a number of local artists — will share their musical talents on six stages throughout downtown Winter Garden.

Amanda Breivogel, of Amanda and Steve Music, lives in nearby Oakland Park and is thrilled to perform in her own city.

“Winter Garden just does a really good job of putting on these communal events, so we’re just excited to be part of one,” she said. “We like going as attendees, so it will be cool to actually be performers this time.”

The other half of this acoustic duo is Steve Peshek, Breivogel’s boyfriend and musical partner. The pair met at Universal Studios Florida when they shared a cubicle. Peshek comes from a musical family and was a music major in college. He primarily plays drums. Breivogel minored in theater at the University of Central Florida and has her undergraduate and master’s degrees in hospitality management.

“My passion has always been in performing and musical theater,” Breivogel said. “When Garden Theatre did ‘Beauty and the Beast’ last April, I was in that. I was a villager/ napkin/wolf. I wore many hats.”

The couple works in the talent development field by day and creates music together in the evenings. They also play at the Clermont Farmers Market on Sunday mornings.

Their music is a healthy mix of acoustic covers of performers the likes of Dave Matthews and John Mayer, as well as some jazz. The two are training for the New York Marathon in November and proceeds from Saturday’s event will go toward Fred’s Team.

The country cover band Hayfire includes two local residents: Takara Speagle of Winter Garden and Brooks Vaughan of Minneola.

“It’s always good to stay local,” Speagle said. “Most of our band members are all over the place, so it’s nice to have a place close to home. I think our demographic loves live music, no matter the genre. We’re going to bring some backyard and do what I love to do,”

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Friedrich Hayek

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