Weekend Top 6 Picks for Aprtil 28th and 29th

Posted on by Thor

Saturday April 28, 2018

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. $5 Oktoberfest. German American Society, 381 Orange Ln, Casselberry, FL 32707. The most authentic Oktoberfest in Central Florida. What makes the festival stand out above others is the dedication to
providing authentic and traditional German music, food, beer, and
entertainment. You will find a live band playing German
music in the Fest hall as well as a large outdoor beer garden. The food
menu offers home cooked schnitzels, sauerbraten, goulasch, wursts,
potato salad, potato pancakes and more. These items are prepared and
cooked by German American Society members. The plentiful bars offer genuine Hofbräu beers
imported from Germany as well as wine, German schnapps, and liquors. The
Orlando Trachtenverein provides traditional Bavarian dancing and entertainment on our large dance floors.

Vendor partners provide additional food items,
German/Bavarian clothing and souvenirs, children’s activities such as
bounce house, face painting, and more. The drink ware tent offers a
selection of steins, glassware, and boots you can purchase and take with
you to the beer tents.

Due to the popularity of this event and limited space, presale tickets are offered as a discounted price that will guarantee your
admission. Same day walk-up tickets are also available on a first come,
first serve basis. Parking is available at the
end of Orange lane through a 3rd party for a $5 fee. There are limited
disabled parking only spots on our property. Other business around the
area also offer parking.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. SPRING ART SALE (Just in time for Mother’s Day!) Crealdé Main Campus 600 St. Andrews Blvd
Winter Park, FL 32792. Crealdé artists sell their work.

5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Paint Out Garden Party. Part of the Witer Park Paint Out. Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, 633 Osceola Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789.  Dress in comfy shoes–it’s a LONG night and it can get very warm in the gallery with so many people (400+)! There is no dress code, but I’d say cabaña chic/garden cocktail attire. Artists will be mingling with guests and engaging folks in conversation about their art. This is their night to shine and showcase your body of work that you worked so hard to produce!

****RIDE THE SHUTTLE

— On site parking is not available, but you can catch the Garden Party Shuttle from

the Sun Trust parking lot a few block away.

There
is NO PARKING permitted on Osceola Court, Henkel Circle or Trismen
Terrace. Visitors parking on these streets are subject to towing per the
parking restriction by the City of Winter Park.

10:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Free but get food and or drinks.  Son Flamenco. Ceviche Tapas Orlando, 125 W Church St, Orlando, FL. Hot blooded Flamenco dancing to live acoustic guitar.


Sunday April 29, 2018

Noon to 1 p.m. Donation based. Yoga. Lake Eola park near the Red Gazebo.

2 p.m. to 10 p.m. $20 – $40. Poca’s Hottest 7th Annual Sauce Cook-Off.  Will’s Pub 1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida 32803. A fun filled family friendly event loaded with great food, killer tunes, and all the sauce you can handle.

SPiTFIRE

The Ludes

The Legendary JC’s

The Goldminers

Beemo

Sideshow Revival

Druid Lord

Tears of a Tyrant

Leisure Chief

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free but get a drink.  Stephan Mikes – Sitarist with Riad Abdulsalam on Tabla. The Imperial at Washburn Imports 1800 N Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida 32804. Stephan Mikes performing his original music on Sitar accompanied
by Riad Abdulsalam on Tabla. Traditional Indian sounds combined with a
bit of rock reggae blues and electronica!

Federation Square in Melbourne Australia is party central.

Posted on by Thor

In the morning, Terry and I hopped on the free trolly that circles Melbourne Australia‘s central business district. This rectangular grid of real estate stretched 10 blocks South West to Port Phillip Bay and four blocks North and South. It is offset from the rest of Melbourne grid of streets at a forty five degree angle. The trolly circled the business district which made it convenient to explore the city with ease. A bridge crossed the Yarra River to the South and we walked through the botanical gardens and parks. Terry had a memory of being pushed into a lake in the botanical gardens and we tried to find the site of the crime. Finding the exact spot was difficult considering it had happened so long ago when Terry was a high school senior.

As we walked back at the end of the day, we entered Federation Square. Across from the square is the Historic Melbourne Station which is always full of hectic travelers. By the time the sketch was done, he was gone. I spotted a young woman sitting on the ledge of her hotel room window three stories up sketching the station. That must have been a great vantage point for taking in the architecture. Terry had to get dressed for her reunion so she rushed back to the Windsor Hotel and I stayed behind to sketch. A Bollywood film was being shown on a big screen in the square. People sat all around Federation Square watching the film. Two star crossed lovers were working together as wedding planners. They worked together to plan a huge opulent wedding  and in the mad rush of preparations they began to realize that they should always be together. Bright yellow and crimson gowns sparkled and flowers bloomed on every table. In the end the boy took the girls hand and they danced in a glistening choreographed dance scene. Soon everyone was dancing with them in unison. Destiny had been fulfilled.

In the square, I sketched the only aboriginal man I had seen on our trip. He sat on a stone retaining wall and once in a while he would talk to passer’s by. I wondered what Dream Time tales he might be telling people. Workers were busy setting up barricades in the square. I asked one worker what they were setting up for. The next day the Square would be home for Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light. This Hindu festival is celebrated in autumn every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness. Terry and I returned the next day. Food trucks offered an endless variety of sweet savory Indian dishes. The scents were intoxicating. The crowd was so dense that we had to hold hands to keep from being separated. A short walk down the Yarra River there was an Oktoberfest Festival. Women dressed in Tyrolean dresses and men wore Liederhosen. All the German beer vendors were at the top of a large grass hill. One couple in costume rolled down the hill together. These two festivals intermingled in the middle since they were both so large. Busty Tyrolean dresses pressed their way through the crowd of sparkling Indian Saris and Anarkalis. As the sun set large canisters burst over the crowd sending colorful confetti everywhere. A gust of wind lifted the confetti and sent much of it towards the train station. I’ve never experienced a festival so large and so uplifting. Melbourne offers endless possibilities for sketching events. Federation Square is party central.

The most authentic Oktoberfest in Orlando is at the German American Society.

Posted on by Thor

Each year I like to get to the German American Society (381 Orange Ln, Casselberry, FL) to sketch during Oktoberfest. This year, on October 24th, I was joined by a young UCF journalism student named Deanna Ferrante.I met Deanna at Artlando in Lock Haven Park and she seemed quite fascinated by what I do. She decided to use me as a subject for an article she has to research for her journalism class. So far she has interviewed my wife and several others. Since I consider my daily sketches a form of journalism, it makes sense for her to find what I do interesting.

Parking was hard to find, and for the first time I paid $5 to park at a nearby business. Getting into Oktoberfest is also $5, which gets you a wristband. Most of the action is behind the Liederkranz hall. A gazebo was set up for music and dancing in the center of the back yard. Long tables filled the yard with crowds of people drinking beer. I decided to go inside where a stage was set up in front of a huge photo of a German castle. Several accordion players and a saxophone player provided the music for traditional German dances. Tyrolean liederhosen outfits were everywhere. A small banner in front of the performers announced, “Beer is proof that God loves us.” There was a collection of different sized cow bells, but they weren’t used in the time I was sketching.

Where I sat was right next to where the teen aged dancers would congregate before they went out on the dance floor. The women wore white puffy sleeved blouses and a black bodice that cinched their wastes tight. The blue plaid dress and apron would billow out like a whirling dervish whenever they danced. The men would stomp and slap their heals as they danced. They would also help guide the women in a direction as they were spinning. One female dancer spun out of control as she exited the dance floor and she tripped on the stage. She wasn’t hurt and the adrenalin kept her spinning just as fast for the next dance.

The dancers became fascinated with my sketch and several crowded around to see what it looked like. Deanna used the opportunity to interview several of them. The main reason she stopped out was to observe first hand what a typical sketch excursion is like. She also interviewed people at my table. She didn’t ask me any questions, instead letting me work. Once in a while I would shout out a thought or two, trying to be helpful.

With the sketch finished, I decided to call it a day. The sketch opportunities were endless, but I decided to get home. I bumped into artist Leslie Silvia and her husband Jared on the way out, so I could have lingered and drank a beer, but I’m a lightweight when it comes to drinking. I get a headache the second I take a sip. Deanna said she got what she needed for the article and she headed back to UCF. I liked her approach. She gets right into the thick of the action to find the story. I’ll be curious to find out what the article turns out like.