A few weeks ago, I told you a little about the upcoming Frontyard Festival, a six-month event hosted by Dr. Phillips Center, and this week I found out more details, including a start date, and initial acts booked for the festival.
The Frontyard Festival will be held literally in Dr. Phillips Center’s frontyard – the Seneff Arts Plaza. There are raised metal boxes set up in socially distant rows six feet apart to hold a small group of people each.
They will even have a section for accessibility-needs patrons. Those boxes weren’t installed yet, so I didn’t get a chance to see if they had small ramps, or were flush with the ground. But it’s good to know they will have these special boxes available.
During the media event, both Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings (left) and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke of the importance of supporting the arts and live entertainment in Central Florida, and why they were proud to back this festival.
Presented by AdventHealth, the Frontyard Festival already has an amazing line-up for the first month, which kicks off on December 5 with co-headliners Citizen Cope and G Love & the Juice.
Also on the schedule for December:
Dec. 6 – Songs of the Season. A heartwarming holiday tradition technically produced by Full Sail University and featuring musicians and vocalists from Rollins College music department.
Dec. 9 – Ragtime. Presented by students from Dr. Phillips Center’s AdventHealth School of the Arts, this will be a reimagined socially distant version of the Broadway hit.
Dec. 10 – An Evening with Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires. Enjoy a musical evening with the Grammy-winning musicians.
Dec. 11 – WJRR’s Acoustic Christmas feat. Smith & Myers of Shinedown. The band’s frontman Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers will perform for the radio station’s annual holiday concert.
Dec. 12 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Wild & Swingin’ Holiday Party. Enjoy a slew of holiday classics performed by this swing revival band.
Dec. 15 – CFCArts Presents Noel: The Carols of Christmas. A lovely holiday concert presented by CFCArts’ community choir and orchestra.
Dec. 19 – Michael James Scott’s A Fierce Christmas. The star of Broadway’s Disney’s Aladdin returns home for his first holiday concert accompanied by a 12-piece band and a 16-voice choir chosen from local youth theater programs and churches.
Dec. 22 – Victory Productions Presents: The Christmas Tenors. Opera fans will enjoy this holiday concert featuring internationally acclaimed tenors Fernando Varela, Craig Irvin, and Devin Eatmon, backed by The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro pasquale Valerio.
Dec. 23 – Mega Latin Christmas with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. It’s going to be a hot Christmas Eve Eve with Central Florida’s largest Latin holiday celebration.
Looking forward to 2021, the Frontyard Festival will welcome performances by: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis; Step Afrika; Keb’ Mo’; Tye Tribbett; Bethune Cookman University Concert Chorale; Orlando Gay Chorus; Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra; and the return of UCF Celebrates the Arts.
As you can see, there really is something for everyone to enjoy. Dr. Phillips Center has partnered with Foundation Presents (which operates downtown Orlando venues The Socal and The Beacham), along with iHeartMedia (which owns and operates 12 local radio stations, including WJRR and Rumba), to fill the six-month festival calendar with a variety of concerts.
All December shows, and a few 2021 one, are now on sale at FrontyardFestival.org and DrPhillipsCenter.org.
Ticketing for Frontyard Festival shows will be different from seats inside the Dr. Phillips Center.
Due to the nature of the boxes offering socially distant seating, festival guests will select their own private box for up to five people (minimum seat requirements will vary by show). Pricing will vary based on the artist, box location, and minimum number of tickets that must be purchased by box.
Two 16’x28′ LED screens will be located on either side of the stage to ensure good visibility regardless of the box location.
But the Frontyard Festival isn’t just all touring headliners and huge concerts. Coming up later this week, I’ll detail all the other events that will be presented during the festival’s run.
So which December shows are you excited to see? It’s ok if you say “all of them” but let me know in the comments.
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