Concerts & Events in Winter Haven

With the 2011 season looming large, FC Tampa Bay will attempt to pass, tackle, and score its way to NASL glory at the club's new home at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg. Currently headed up by English coach and retired professional footballer Ricky Hill, the FC Tampa Bay team are chest-trapping, banana-kicking, and head-butting their way back into the world of black-and-white-spotted balls. Watch them take on the Puerto Rico Islanders, who are hungry to work their way up the 2011 standings, or root on the roster as the team guns for the fleet-footed Atlanta Silverbacks, slippery Carolina Railhawks, or northerly FC Edmonton. General-admission seats allow frenetic fans to observe the fantastic flairs of NASL soccer savants as they attempt to sneak the European pigskin between an opponent’s legs and through the goal zone. The $20 gift voucher can be put toward merchandise such as a jersey, a scarf, or an oversized foam yellow card.

Florida Orchestra has delighted ears across the Tampa Bay area for 44 seasons filled with time-tested masterworks and sprightly pops concerts. Created in the 1968 merger between the St. Petersburg Symphony and the Tampa Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra ties the two sides of the bay together into one musical tradition. The ensemble has continued its program of outreach ever since, which has recently included cultural exchange programs with Cuba, collaborations with local institutions, and the tradition of allowing one lucky child to sleep inside a tuba during each performance.

Inspired by his own love of exotic cars, Joe Sabatini's Festivals of Speed has been parading a fleet of the world’s snazziest automobiles before crowds at several fancy Florida hotels and resorts for a full decade. His who’s who list of cars includes vintage and contemporary models from Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, and Aston Martin, some so frighteningly aerodynamic that the wind refuses to blow on them. All rest in silent repose, waiting to be unleashed to qualified drivers through a special Ride and Drive program.

To complement the automotive elegance, the event planners have made arrangements for soft jazz, luxury lifestyle displays, and sumptuous snacks perfect for tossing to Bentleys as they hop up on their hind wheels. The festival also attracts speedy species of watercraft, aircraft, and custom motorcycles, as well as classic and restored cars submitted by local auto enthusiasts. Alongside its vehicle lineup, the festivals also showcase jewelry, fine art, real estate, and culinary gems to cater to all manner of luxury aficionado.

Perched in Downtown Disney West Side, House of Blues Orlando resembles something of a backwoods theme park itself. Giant signs herald the venue from atop an old water tower taken from Mickey Mouse’s ancestral estate, and between trees wrapped entirely in twinkling lights stands a sprawling, neon-lit wooden roadhouse whose stage and lantern-strung patio bustle with boisterous entertainments nearly every night. A box of Delta Mississippi mud beneath its stage links it to its sister locations across the country.

Inside Terror on the Lake's haunted confines, actors garbed in macabre outfits, detailed animatronics, and holographic projectors immerse visitors in a horrifying environment where scares lurk around every corner. Ghouls, ghosts, and madmen prowl the halls of the haunted house in search of fresh screams. The Buried Alive! simulator gives visitors a taste of being trapped inside a coffin that is being lowered into the ground. Zombies dead set on feasting on flesh stand poised to break through the grounds at the zombie-shooting gallery, where only the sharpness of players' sight can save them and their friends from becoming something's snack. The only safe area at Terror on the Lake is in the fortune teller's tent, defended by carved jack-o’-lanterns that keep monsters at bay by offering poor directions.

The third annual St. Pete Oktoberfest, hosted by the Grand Central District Association, is St. Petersburg's largest beer festival, featuring craft-beer tastings and live music. Attendees can tipple samples from dozens of breweries, including Bell's Brewery, Dogfish Head, Sam Adams, Angry Orchard, and many others. A home brewer's challenge on Friday tests out homebrewed beers against old favorites, so home-beer enthusiasts can test out their recipes on actual people instead of the wild deer that show up in their backyards.

In addition to the extensive selection of microbrews and iconic beers, the two-day street festival also features live music, including performances from singer-songwriter John Kelly on Friday. Saturday's music merges rock, blues, jazz, and funk, with performances from Florida-native Damon Fowler, Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, and Serotonic.