Power boat racing returns to Lake Hollingsworth Saturday and Sunday as 100+ racers participate in the 83rd annual Orange Cup Regatta. This year’s event was postponed from its traditional March date because of COVID concerns, LALtoday reports. Races are scheduled from 10 a.m. to sunset and are free for spectators to watch from the lakeshore. | Tentative schedule
Independence Day fireworks and festivities in Polk County set for this weekend will be booming back now that the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020 are in remission. In addition to Lakeland’s fireworks display, cities around Polk County are also putting lights back in the sky at their Independence Day celebrations. More
LkldNow’s weekly newsletter, emailed on Thursday, included incorrect information for the Miss Florida Scholarship Competition, which takes place this week at the RP Funding Center. Here is the correct information: The preliminaries took place Thursday evening. Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen Preliminaries take place tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m. The finals for both Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen Pageant and the Miss Florida Scholarship Competition take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m, respectively. Tickets are $56 for preliminaries and a single $108 ticket for both finals. | LINKS: Fox 13 News preview | Miss Florida | RP Funding event info | Watch live ($18-$20 per event)
Florida Emancipation Day was celebrated in Lakeland Thursday with a ceremony at Lake Wire that included Buffalo Soldier re-enactors and a reading of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by Mayor Bill Mutz, News Channel 8 reports. Emancipation will be celebrated again next month with Lakeland’s annual Juneteenth observance June 19 at 3 p.m. at the Coleman-Bush Building. More
As Lakeland celebrates Mother’s Day and Mayfaire-by-the-Lake this weekend, a new event will create a block party atmosphere downtown on Saturday night complete with popup vendors, specialty foods and the debut of new festive lighting. More
People have lots of questions before visiting Mayfaire-by-the-Lake, Lakeland’s premiere outdoor art festival: Where should we park? What if I get hungry? (Where are the bathrooms?) Here is a guide, including Covid safety precautions and information about a first-ever virtual Mayfaire. More
LkldNow is introducing a new events calendar, one we think is the most comprehensive listing of things to do in Lakeland and Central Florida. More
As the U.S. Navy Blue Angels celebrate their 75th year at the Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo this week, they are debuting the F/A-18E Super Hornet, ABC Action News reports. It is 30% larger than the fighter jets the aerobatics team has flown for the last 35 years. More
After last year’s Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo was cancelled because of Covid, more than 200,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event, which started Tuesday and continues through Sunday, News Channel 8 reports. Pandemic precautions are permissive: People must wear masks into buildings, but are free to remove them once inside. | Schedule | Tickets | Guide for families
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at The Joinery on Monday brought together faith-based organizations and focused on “critical conversation” questions, News Channel 8 reports.
RELATED: City of Lakeland debuts MLK Day video
