We’re always looking for fun things to do in Central Florida on the weekends. Our friends @VivaJazzOrlando shared this great event with us.

Viva Jazz Orlando is an outdoor music event that is open to the public. It is a Latin Jazz event for enthusiasts of all ages. Some of the top musicians in the category will perform at the Amphitheatre in Lake Eola.”

Sounds fun, right?! So what are you doing tomorrow night from 4:30-9:00pm?

Guess what’s returning to Orlando??

May 12 at 6 p.m. Lake Eola will be transformed once again into a chic outdoor lounge featuring music, food, drinks, fireworks and fashion!

Buy advance tickets here.

Big thanks to Taste of College Park for a great evening last night. Ashley’s a College Park smarty and correctly guessed the number of college-themed street names as part of a fun Facebook contest and won two tickets to the event (WooHoo!)

The event was super fun … there were so many yummy food and drink vendors.  We enjoyed wine from The Naked Grape (loved the Moscato!), a frozen John Daly from The Margarita Man, a Tap Room Slider from The Tap Room, BBQ from Wildside and delicious desserts from The Yum Yum Cupcake Truck and Cookie Cousins.

It was fun to see friends, listen to the music and just relax with the backdrop of College Park’s Historic Dubsdread Golf Course behind us.  Can’t wait until next year!

Next week is gearing up to be a big week in the “Taste of” category.

Start with Taste of Winter Park on Wednesday, April 18, at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market featuring a bunch of your favorite Winter Park eateries including 4 Rivers, Cocina 214, Mellow Mushroom, Winter Park Fish Co. and so many more. Tickets for Taste of Winter Park are all-inclusive and can be purchased here.

Next, get geared up for the weekend by spending your Thursday evening at Taste of College Park, where restaurants like K, The Tap Room, Citrus and more will be serving up their edible delights at the Historic Dubsdread Ballroom.  There will be food, wine, live music and a silent auction!  Tickets for Taste of College Park can be purchased here.

Ready, set, eat!

OK, friends, as promised we would post the results of the winning entry in our promotion to give away a pair of FREE tickets to Van Halen’s performance next week at Amway Center. Of those who entered (boo…we got no fun photos or videos!) we utilized Random.org to…well, randomly select, and the winner is Karlajane! Congratulations! She is the 11th comment in the comments field (obviously if myself or Kim would’ve come up in the results we would’ve drawn again).

If you’re Karlajane or know this individual, please contact us by noon this Friday (4/6) for instructions on how to redeem your tickets. If we do not hear from you by this time, we’ll select another winner.

Thanks to all who participated! Hopefully we’ll have another awesome promotion like this again in the near future.

Van Halen is Coming!

You can win tickets to see Van Halen for free at Amway Center Next Month!

Seriously. We’re not kidding. We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Van Halen (yeah, you know ‘em) live in concert at Amway Center on April 12th.

No catch*. You don’t even have to be a California Girl (see what we did there?).

To enter, simply leave us a comment here in this post about why you’d like to win the free tickets. Leaving a comment does not ensure a win. Those leaving a comment will be included in a random drawing.

Increase your winning chance! If you’re a die-hard Van Halen fan and want to increase your chance of winning, make a video of yourself jumping 80′s style, or take a picture of yourself jumping (or just submit an old one). We’ll post it on the blog for all of our readers to see. Submitting a video or photo to pulseofcentralflorida@mail.com will give you two entries into the random drawing. Perhaps this will give you a little inspiration?

Tweeting is not required nor does it increase your chance of winning. However, if you chose to Tweet about this contest please include the hashtag #VHNA2012.

Contest runs through 6pm (EST) on April 3rd, and winners will be announced by 6pm the following day. Good luck! Additional details about the Van Halen tour are available here.

*OK, tiny catch. Only open to U.S. residents. Also, we have no input as to where the seating is located.

Cannot wait for this show!!!  Will you be there???

Relive the 80s Saturday night with an Art Show at Redlight Redlight!

The show starts at 8 p.m. and will feature 80s-inspired art, all for sale during a silent auction.

Along with some of the best draft beer (they have 23 drafts to choose from!) in Orlando, you can also enjoy music by Red Soda starting at 9.

Redlight Redlight
745 Bennett Road
Orlando, FL

Food + Wine + Music + Orlando = Weekend fun!

Next weekend, more than 40 Orlando-area restaurants will gather at Lake Eola for the Downtown Food & Wine Fest.  You can pair your eats from places like Dexter’s, Ember, Taverna Opa, The Meat House (and more!) with wine from Arroba, Beringer, Sebastiani (and more!).  And, don’t worry, if you’re not a wine drinker, you can enjoy more than a dozen craft beers, or mixed drinks from the Libation Station.

David Cook headlines Saturday night followed by the Little River Band on Sunday with many familiar musical acts in between.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the gate, and can be purchased at Mercedes-Benz or Centennial Bank locations throughout Central Florida.

Don’t bring your pets, any outside food or drinks or coolers, but do bring cash and lawn chairs or blankets.