Celebrate Black Culture Every Month in Orlando
Black History Month shouldn’t occur just once a year, but should be part of travel and culture all year round, as it is in Orlando!
While Orlando, Florida, is known globally as the “Theme Park Capital of the World,” it’s also a major, vibrant city with a metropolitan population of over 2.5 million, and that means lots of Black culture. Affordable, sub-tropical, and family-friendly, Black families and businesses have thrived here for decades. Each Black History Month, visitors have the pick of limited-time exhibitions and live performances — plus year-round cultural attractions, historic tours, and a thriving community of Black-owned businesses. The destination offers meaningful ways for both visitors and locals to celebrate Orlando’s Black heritage year-round.
Currently on show, the African Americans and the Arts Exhibition (until March 31) at the Terrace Gallery at Orlando City Hall presents an opportunity for local artists to showcase African American history and celebrate the many lasting contributions Black Americans have had on visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, music, and cultural movements. This year’s exhibition showcases 48 works by 28 local visual artists, inspired by the 2026 national Black History Month theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations.”
Orlando offers opportunities to explore African American culture and local history throughout the year. Just outside the tourism districts, the historic town of Eatonville – home to celebrated author Zora Neale Hurston – was one of the country’s first self-governing African American communities. It honors Hurston’s memory with the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts and events throughout the year, including HATitude Cultural Flair (Oct. 17). The Hurston also displays work by legendary and emerging artists of African descent.
The only Commercial National Registered Historic District in Orlando, Parramore is Orlando’s oldest and largest African American neighborhood with a diverse collection of historic buildings like the Wells’ Built Hotel, now the Wells’ Built Museum of African American History and Culture, dedicated to preserving the memory of Orlando’s African American heritage with Civil Rights artifacts and memorabilia.
The Orange County Regional History Center features a permanent African American history exhibit highlighting the triumphs and tragedies of African Americans in Central Florida’s past, along with luminous paintings of Florida’s Highwaymen, a group of acclaimed African American landscape artists.
A community founded for black families in 1881, Historic Hannibal Square is home to the Hannibal Square Heritage Center, which welcomes visitors to explore the district’s origins and offers guided walking tours of the historic landmarks of “West Winter Park,” describing the hardships and the triumphs of the African American community from the 1900s to the present. Visitors can also experience small-business shopping, free yoga, food and music during the SOKO Marketplace every Saturday morning, where proceeds support the development of culturally relevant programming for the historic African American community of Hannibal Square. Also at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center is the permanent home for the Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories of Winter Park, documenting the lives, hardships and triumphs of the city’s African American community through archival photos and recorded interviews, preserving their unique contributions and history.
Visitors and locals can join Juneteenth (June 19) celebrations throughout Orlando, particularly in Eatonville and Hannibal Square. Also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day and Emancipation Day, Juneteenth commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States.
Support Black-Owned Restaurants and Businesses Around Orlando
With an exploding food scene, Orlando is home to a multitude of Black-owned restaurants offering flavors across various cuisines.
BBQ and southern food fans can dine at Pete’s Famous BBQ in Downtown Orlando on the weekends. For seafood or wings, visitors can support Stonington’s Fried Shrimp in Metro West. Chicken Fire in Orlando specializes in Nashville-style hot chicken.
For delicious Caribbean-inspired eats, foodies can enjoy Mark’s Jamaican Bar & Grill or Virgin Island Thyme in East Orlando, or Oley’s Kitchen in Downtown Orlando.
Those looking for soul food can visit Nikki’s Place (featured in Orlando’s Kitchens: Recipes and Stories From Our Neighborhoods), and P&D Soul Food Kitchen in Downtown Orlando, and Soul Food Fantasy on Orange Blossom Trail.
For a healthier kick, there’s Vitality Bowls in the Dr. Phillips area. And for a sweeter option, head to downtown Orlando for the award-winning Sister Honey’s serving all kinds of sugary delights, including pies, cookies and pastries.
Downtown Orlando’s The District GastroBar pays homage to old world American taste and cuisine where legendary musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles and B.B. King performed at the South Street Casino that once stood nearby.
The Pretty Peacock Paperie specializes in custom stationery and invitations in Winter Park, while the Naked Bar Soap Co. offers all-natural bath and body care products made from sustainable ingredients. Bloom in Glory is a full-service floral design company.
Continuous updates on Orlando happenings can be found at VisitOrlando.com, the official visitor information source for the destination.
