Event Rundown 2024

The 2024 events will be notable for many reason.  Some events will see their conclusion, other events may be moving, and some events will be lost to other locales.

In this post-covid, high inflation world, the great events that we’ve enjoyed in the past are either changing or ending.  The news is grim here on the Space Coast for event enthusiasts. 

But, let’s start with the good news first:

The Space Coast ComicCon will return in full force to the Space Coast Convention Center.  Okay, it’s really just the ballroom (and not a very big one) of the Holiday Inn Express on the corner of 95 and 520 in Cocoa, FL. 

Side note: why wasn’t the old Sears property in Downtown Melbourne turned into a real convention center.  More on this in a later article.

The Melbourne Art Fest will be held once again in Wickham Park in April.  Once again, I am begging the Art Fest committee to figure out how to handle the band stand.  Please turn the band stand 90 degrees to the left to face the multiple pavilions in that direction and not face the lake.  The fish will not enjoy the music as much as the people dining and resting in the shade of the pavilions. 

As the stage has been setup for the last couple of years, the majority of attendees don’t even know there are any bands at the Art Fest.  While we are on the subject, is it really out of the question to bring back the Art Fest Saturday night concert?  There’s a big amphitheater sitting over there empty, just begging for some Saturday night action.

The Grant Seafood Fest and the Grant BBQ Fest will be taking place as usual this year also.  I’m glad all those people saying “this is the new normal” when these events were cancelled were completely and undeniably wrong.

The Native Rhythms Festival and the Downtown Melbourne Food Festival have already announced their 2024 dates.  This is a good sign for how strong and well received these events are.

The dates and locations of all of the above events can be found here on my Festivals & Events page.

Now for the Bad News:

As you might have heard, the Brevard Renaissance Fair has been kicked out of Wickham Park for 2025 and beyond by County Commissioner of District 4, Rob Feltner and the rest of the Brevard County Commission.

Many actions are taking place to try to reverse the decision of the County Commission, but if they are not successful there will be no Brevard Renaissance Fair in 2025.  For all the latest details on this unfolding saga, look to the Brevard Renaissance Fair Facebook page.

Speaking of lost events, neither Cocoa Beach nor Titusville nor Melbourne will have an Airshow in 2024.  The airshow that was last held in Melbourne moved permanently to the Sanford airport a few years ago.  On the bright side, both Cocoa Beach and Titusville will host airshows in 2025.

The Crossfit Eastern Quarterfinal, which was held at the Orange County Convention Center in 2023, moved to Knoxville, Tennessee for 2024.  The Mr. Olympia, which was also held at the Orange County Convention Center, will be moving back to Las Vegas for the 2024 season.

Last but not least, 2024 will be the last year that the Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion will be hosted by the VVB (Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard).  This team has been hosting this great event for 36 years in Wickham Park.  Initially, this event was to be done after 2024, but according to their website: “A new group of younger vets are taking the reins in 2025 but the reunion will happen”.  This is good news and a good time to wrap this rundown.

Event Rundown 2022

The 2022 spring festival season is wrapping up here on Florida’s Space Coast. So, let’s review what has happened this past season.

The Brevard Renaissance Festival finished up its 2022 five-weekend run in February.  Despite having cold or rain, or both, during most of the weekends, the turnout was very good.

The talent lineup and vendor list for this year was a bit smaller that last year.  This is uncharacteristic for this festival, which has been growing in both size and offerings since its inception.  This downsizing may have been due to the lingering effects of the pandemic.  Some of the entertainers are from European countries that have their own protocols to adhere to, and that could explain why those performers weren’t present.

It has already been announced that the Brevard Renaissance fair will run for 6 weekends in 2023 at Wickham Park.

This will be the first year in a long time that neither Melbourne nor Cocoa Beach will have an air show.  As of this writing, nothing has been announced for Melbourne, and Cocoa Beach has already announced that their next airshow will be in 2023. 

Not all was bad news on the airshow front, however.  The Space Coast Airshow, formerly the Tico Warbird Airshow, expanded their lineup for 2022.  This airshow took place at the Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville on May 21st and 22nd.

After taking two years off, the Grant Seafood Festival was held once again in 2022.  The crowds were huge to welcome this festival back.

The Melbourne Art Festival returned to Wickham Park in April.  When this event was held in downtown Melbourne, there was a massive Saturday night street party that featured nationally know bands.  It was an absolutely huge event for the town.  Now that it has been moved to Wickham Park, it has become just an art show.  I really wish the organizers would bring back the dual focus on art show and the live Saturday night concerts.  After all, the art show location is adjacent to the Wickham Park amphitheater which is ideal for live bands.

The Melbourne Art Festival organizers need only look to the Veterans to learn how to rock out in Wickham Park.  

The Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Annual Reunion was held in Wickham Park during the first week of May.  The Reunion encompasses an entire week of commemorations, activities, and rock concerts.  The events kicked off with the arrival of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall on Sunday, May 1st and ended the following Sunday, May 7th.  This is a huge event that attracts veterans from all over Florida.

Megacon was held once again at the Orange Country Convention Center.  This event took place from May 19th through the 22nd.  The amount of celebrity appearances was on the lower side again in 2022, but attendance was strong.

Many summer and fall events are still upcoming.

The UBU Expo Orlando, formerly called the Europa Games, has downsized for 2022.  This bodybuilding, sports contest, and fitness expo will be held on only one day this year – Saturday,  July 2nd.  Previously, the Europa had been a 2-day event and filled the weekend with activities.  It remains to be seen how they are going to fit all the physique and sports contests into only one day.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about that name change.  The “Europa Games” was a well established and recognized brand name.  Last year, the organizers changed the name to “UBU”.  This name change is absurd.  “UBU” sounds like a silly social media name for a selfie convention.

Perhaps this downsizing of the UBU is a reaction to the cluster of NPC bodybuilding events in the Orlando area around the same time as the UBU.  I’m not sure what the NPC is thinking in scheduling all these events in the same area all around the same time, but there are at least 3 NPC events in Orlando this summer.

Speaking of bodybuilding, late this year the NPC National Championships will be held at the Orange County Convention Center on December 2nd and 3rd .  For the first time in its history, the 2021 NPC National Championships had a proper fitness expo associated with its physique contests.  The fitness expo will be back again in 2022.

Also speaking of bodybuilding, in 2020 and 2021, the Orange County Convention Center played host to bodybuilding’s premiere event, the Olympia.  It was an absolute privilege to attend this prestigious event in 2021 and its equally impressive fitness and sports expo.  Sadly, the Olympia returns to Las Vegas for the 2022 season.  However, rumors among some insiders claim that the event was so well received in Orlando that organizers are planning to return the Olympia to Orlando for 2023.  The Olympia will then swap back and forth between Las Vegas and Orlando in alternate years.  let’s hope these rumors are true.

Another event worth checking out is the Native Rhythms Festival.  This is North America’s largest Native American flute festival.  This event is a celebration of Native American music, food, and culture.  This event will be held from November 11th through the 13th in Wickham Park.

Event Rundown 2020

2020 will see more changes to local events than we’ve experienced in the past.  Unfortunately, on the Space Coast we’ve lost more than we’ve gained.

Let’s start with the good news.  In 2020, the Brevard Renaissance Fair has increased the number of weekends from 3 to 4.  The Brevard Renaissance Fair will be open on the following weekend days (10 AM to 6 PM):
January 11 & 12
January  18, 19, & 20
January 25, 26, & 27
February 1 & 2
Brevard Renaissance Fair takes place in Wickham Park, Melbourne, FL.

The organizers of Space Coast Comic Con finally moved the date of the event out of Hurricane season and into Florida festival season.  This event has been cancelled a few times over the years due to an impending Hurricane.  This year the Space Coast Comic Con will take place on February 8th and 9th at the Holiday Inn Express, 301 Tucker Lane, Cocoa, FL.

Now onto the bad news.

The Melbourne Air & Space show has been cancelled.  Coincidentally, the same organizers will be putting on a brand new airshow in Sanford, Florida in 2020.  It’s been reported that the organizers were unhappy with the viewing location being moved from the North side of the Melbourne runways to the South side of the runways.  This is due to Embraer needing to secure the area around their North side facilities.  This is a sad loss for Melbourne.

The Grant BBQ fest is April 3rd through the 5th.  We attended in 2019 and it was disappointing.  There were only a handful of vendors /competitors and the bands were ways too loud to enjoy the festival.

Speaking of which, this BBQ fest takes place on the same grounds as the huge Grant Seafood Festival.  Is it out the question to put up some catering tents so that attendees of the Grant Seafood Fest can have a little shade to eat under?

Can we talk about the Space Coast State Fair?  This is the event that takes place in that vacant plot of land across the street from the baseball stadium in Viera.  This is not a state fair.  This is a carnival.  I suspect this event was named by people who have never been to a real state fair, because if they had been to a real state fair they would be embarrassed to call their little carnival a state fair.  Real state fairs have the following:
– A Grand Stand where concerts and shows take place
– An arena for bull riding contests and livestock shows
– A midway with tons of rides
– Halls for exhibits for such things as crafts, horticulture, livestock, and art
-A racetrack for harness racing, car racing, demolition derbies or big truck rallies
– Hundreds of independent food, souvenir, and craft vendors.
The Space Coast State Fair has none of those things, and it takes place on a tiny parcel of land.  It should rightfully be called something like “The Stadium Parkway carnival”.

Looking at out of town events, MegaCon continues to grow and be awesome at the Orange County Convention Center.  I describe MegaCon as the ComicCon of the Southeast.  MegaCon will be held from April 16th through the 19th in 2020.

Europa Games & Fitness Expo, also at the Orange County Convention Center, remains fun for both participants and spectators.  The Europa Games will be held on May 23rd and 24th in 2020.

For a more information on all of these events, click on the Festivals & Events link above.