Black Meetings & Tourism - What's Happening In Florida's Space Coast

Cultural Festivals
What's Happening In Florida's Space Coast
Outdoor Festivals and Events Highlight the Winter Season Jump right into the winter season with cool activities happening on Florida’s Space Coast! Between festive favorites and new events, there’s plenty to do to light up the holiday season. Here are a few highlights: The 16th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival – Titusville, Fla. Jan. 23 – 28 The nation’s largest birding and wildlife festival happens in the heart of Florida’s Space Coast. Visitors can walk through festival headquarters at the Brevard Community College and see vendors from around the world with booths showcasing bird watching tours, products and information. Other features of the festival include professionally guided field excursions and keynote speakers from the birding world. The festival’s headquarters is located at Brevard Community College’s Titusville Campus at 1311 North U.S. 1 Titusville, FL 32976. Event registration is $20. Certain activities may incur additional costs. Children under 12, accompanied by an adult, are free. For more information, visit www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.com. The State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon – Melbourne, Fla. Feb. 1 – 3, 2013 The State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon is coming back for its third year! Located on Florida’s Space Coast, this marathon has one of the most scenic, warm winter weather courses in the region, with four bridge crossings over the Intercostal waterway. Dozens of live musical acts also play along the course. Runners are also encouraged to bring their own music, as the State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon is a headphones-friendly event. Both the half and full marathons are USATF-certified courses with ChronoTrack timing perfect for runners of all ages and levels. Cash and prizes for the event total $17,000. The marathon is also a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon. Located 35 miles (56 km) east of Orlando, Florida’s Space Coast is home to Orlando’s closest beaches. Encompassing Cocoa Beach, Melbourne Beach, Palm Bay and Titusville, this family-friendly destination offers more than 10,000 guest rooms, and is an ideal, value getaway. With 72 miles (110 km) of beaches, the longest stretch in the state, and 250 square miles of wildlife refuge, the Space Coast is one of the largest intact eco-systems in Florida. It is home to one of the nation’s busiest cruise ports; is the nation’s East Coast surfing capital and is the location of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where all 135 shuttle missions launched and unmanned rockets continue to launch. The Space Coast will be home to the retired Atlantis shuttle in 2013, and is one of only four destinations nationwide where visitors will be able to view an orbiter. For more information, contact the Space Coast Office of Tourism at (877) 572-3224 or visit www.visitspacecoast.com. Visit www.spacecoastlaunches.com to learn about upcoming rocket launches. Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Florida-Space-Coast. Follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/flaspacecoast.

Cultural Festivals

What's Happening In Florida's Space Coast

Outdoor Festivals and Events Highlight the Winter Season

Jump right into the winter season with cool activities happening on Florida’s Space Coast! Between festive favorites and new events, there’s plenty to do to light up the holiday season. Here are a few highlights:

The 16th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival – Titusville, Fla.
Jan. 23 – 28

The nation’s largest birding and wildlife festival happens in the heart of Florida’s Space Coast. Visitors can walk through festival headquarters at the Brevard Community College and see vendors from around the world with booths showcasing bird watching tours, products and information. Other features of the festival include professionally guided field excursions and keynote speakers from the birding world.

The festival’s headquarters is located at Brevard Community College’s Titusville Campus at 1311 North U.S. 1 Titusville, FL 32976. Event registration is $20. Certain activities may incur additional costs. Children under 12, accompanied by an adult, are free. For more information, visit www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.com.

The State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon – Melbourne, Fla.
Feb. 1 – 3, 2013

The State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon is coming back for its third year! Located on Florida’s Space Coast, this marathon has one of the most scenic, warm winter weather courses in the region, with four bridge crossings over the Intercostal waterway. Dozens of live musical acts also play along the course. Runners are also encouraged to bring their own music, as the State Farm Melbourne Music Marathon is a headphones-friendly event.

Both the half and full marathons are USATF-certified courses with ChronoTrack timing perfect for runners of all ages and levels. Cash and prizes for the event total $17,000. The marathon is also a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.

Located 35 miles (56 km) east of Orlando, Florida’s Space Coast is home to Orlando’s closest beaches. Encompassing Cocoa Beach, Melbourne Beach, Palm Bay and Titusville, this family-friendly destination offers more than 10,000 guest rooms, and is an ideal, value getaway. With 72 miles (110 km) of beaches, the longest stretch in the state, and 250 square miles of wildlife refuge, the Space Coast is one of the largest intact eco-systems in Florida. It is home to one of the nation’s busiest cruise ports; is the nation’s East Coast surfing capital and is the location of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where all 135 shuttle missions launched and unmanned rockets continue to launch. The Space Coast will be home to the retired Atlantis shuttle in 2013, and is one of only four destinations nationwide where visitors will be able to view an orbiter. For more information, contact the Space Coast Office of Tourism at (877) 572-3224 or visit www.visitspacecoast.com. Visit www.spacecoastlaunches.com to learn about upcoming rocket launches. Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Florida-Space-Coast. Follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/flaspacecoast.