Oviedo hears proposals for new events, increased Independence Day funding

Oviedo residents may see some new events coming to the city next year. 

The idea came up during the Oviedo City Council’s Aug. 25 workshop session, where Recreation and Parks Director Paul Belden presented the council with an update on the department’s current state. 

“If we were to add these [new events] to the budget, staff would bring back a budget amendment requesting funding for next fiscal year,” Belden said.

Juneteenth is one event program Belden said he’d like to see the city take on in partnership with Johnson Hill-Washington Heights Community Outreach, in a similar fashion to its Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations. 

“We’ve already had discussions on this and they’d be more than happy to work with the city,” Belden said. “We feel that it would not be a heavily budgeted event…”

Other proposed events include conducting quarterly cultural center open house tours by full-time staff, hosting a country music event at Oviedo on the Park and developing a quarterly performing arts program. 

“We already have the Opera Orlando ‘Hansel and Gretel’ show that we’re going to offer at the park, but other ideas could be a small arts festival type of atmosphere and other performing arts taking place on the stage,” Belden said. “That could be a little budget to a high-end budget.”

Mayor Megan Sladek questioned if there were any extra funds to be diverted for the budget for those ideas, citing concerns about the currently balanced budget which has its first public hearing scheduled for Sept. 4. 

Belden said he planned to come back to the City Council in October following the budget’s passing after working out event specifics. 

“Maybe some of these costs could be absorbed in our budget next year, but more than likely we’ll be looking at adding a few of these next year at this time during the budget process,” Belden added.

“I think there’s some good ideas on there,” Deputy Mayor Natalie Teuchert said. “I guess it’s just seeing how the budget shakes out.”

There’s one existing event that residents likely won’t see next year, however, as Belden said the department had removed the city’s Bacon, Bourbon and Blues event from the budget. 

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great event,” Belden said. “…I think this year in the budget process, I felt this was the time to make that change and transition into either moving those funds to other programs or events because our costs have gone up or this is the time to implement a new program or activity.

He added the move will allow funds to be reallocated for other already scheduled events. 

Council member Jeff Boddiford questioned the decision to remove the event as it was “actually profitable.” Belden agreed the event had “made money,” but said it’s also seen dwindling attendance in recent years and faced issues with weather due to its scheduling during the rainy season. 

Sladek suggested the department also look into developing events to be more “inclusive” of residents who may not drink alcohol due to personal or health reasons. 

“That is not something that in our family-friendly town that all people feel is accessible,” Sladek said. “We’ve got a lot of events that are perhaps less alcohol centric than they once were, but [alcohol is] still a significant component.”

Ongoing and finished projects 

Belden’s presentation also included updates on the department’s ongoing projects and achievements, which he said staff has been working on in coordination with the city’s adoption of the 2025 Strategic Plan last December. 

“If you’ve been driving through Center Lake Park and the cross streets, that landscaping is ongoing right now,” Belden said. “We’re making progress. Our goal was to have that completed by the end of this fiscal year. We’ve had a few challenges along the way…however, we’re still on target and I feel confident that we’ll meet that goal.”

Another ongoing project involves future art installations at Round Lake Park that will be commissioned by four artists and includes paintings, a sculpture and a mosaic mural. 

“We actually recently had a survey that sought feedback from the community on what the theme should be for these artists,” Belden said. “We’re tabulating those results and we’ll be finalizing that within the next two or three weeks and then those artists will be working on their projects.”

Belden said the goal is to complete the project by December 2026. 

He added that other accomplishments had already been achieved, like the generation of $62,500 in sponsorship revenue from the city’s 100-Year Celebration, and increased senior and youth programming activity following the March reopening of Riverside Park Community Center, which had been closed since 2022 due to damage sustained by Hurricane Ian. 

“Staff just shared with me that we have 103 senior passholders now at the park, so it’s slowly growing,” Belden added. “We’re adding more programs as we speak.”

Plans for nation’s 250th celebration begin 

With the nation’s 250th anniversary coming up in 2026, Belden said staff has also been preparing ideas for the city to celebrate the event in conjunction with its current plans for Independence Day. 

The city has already allocated $53,000 for its Independence Day celebration, largely made up of $40,000 in fireworks show costs and the remaining funds to be spent on live music, a DJ and barricades for the event.

But Belden proposed potentially budgeting an additional $95,000 that would be used for items related to the 250th anniversary, bringing the total cost to $148,000 for both events. 

“We thought we’d present to you a sample budget of these items if we wanted to maybe do something a little bit higher end than what we’ve done,” Belden said. “Like for the fireworks, such as adding a drone show, some mapping on the outside of the building and some additional interactive characters and entertainment to celebrate our country’s history.”

Currently, funding for the 250th anniversary celebration is not included in the FY 2025-26 proposed budget and would require approval of a budget amendment. 

“We’re always going to search for more sponsors,” Belden said. “Obviously, the $75,000 drone show is the big ticket on this one to really provide that oomph of a celebration at the end of the fireworks.”

While Boddiford expressed interest in approving funds for the drone show, calling the 250th anniversary a “one in a lifetime event,” the idea was met with opposition from council members who felt the cost couldn’t be justified. 

“I am casually interested in the colonial characters — all the other stuff I think is too much,” Sladek said.

“I also think that’s steep,” Teuchert added. “Our Fourth of July celebration is awesome — like, we knock it out of the park.”

Council later directed staff to bring the budget proposal back for discussion in October, following the start of the next fiscal year.

In other news…

The top four logo designs for the newly created Oviedo Arts and Entertainment District at Oviedo on the Park were chosen by the city’s Public Arts Board on Aug. 20. 

Designs were sent to the city council for discussion, and the adoption of a resolution for the art district scheduled for Oct. 6. Once completed, an ordinance will be drafted and followed by two public hearings. Currently, no dates for either have been scheduled yet. 

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