A great egret makes a snack out of a bluegill sunfish on Lake Sybelia in Maitland on April 30, 2025. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Dancers from Visit Orlando entertain with colorful balloons as the Come Out With Pride parade makes its way down Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, Oct. 18, 2025. Come Out With Pride is an annual day-long festival at various venues in downtown celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community in Central Florida. More than 200,000 visitors were expected to attend the festivities, including the parade, fireworks, live music, and more. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Leila, a chocolate Lab, shows off her unique style at the Global Pet Expo at the Orange County Convention Center on March 26, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A baby manatee does a belly roll as it drifts down the run with its mother at Blue Spring State Park, Dec 1, 2025. The park’s official seasonal closure to tubers and swimmers started Nov. 21 with manatees beginning to arrive for their famous annual winter sojourn. The manatees are drawn to the relative warmth of the spring’s 72-degree waters, with an average of about 100 currently in the run daily, according to Save The Manatee Club specialists on-site at the park. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Actor and advocate for veterans and first responders Gary Sinise walks with Amber Rodriquez, left, and Jennifer Eggers through the Remembrance Garden set up at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. Rodriquez and Eggers have both lost loved ones who were in service in the U.S. Armed Forces, and they are now ambassadors for the Gary Sinise Foundation, sharing their stories of grief and healing as speakers at this year’s Snowball Express healing retreat, held for the 600 families who have lost loved ones while in military service, hosted by the actor’s foundation at the Walt Disney World Resort. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Old English Sheepdog Sawyer Truman gets his coat brushed out by owner Ashley Olt from Haddon Heights, New Jersey, at the AKC National Championship at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando on Friday, December 12, 2025. Olt said that getting ready for the show takes about three hours of detailed teasing and an additional three hours to dry him out to get 3-year-old Sawyer Truman, a Conformation Grand Champion, ready for the ring. “People don’t know how much product goes into these dogs — a lot of hairspray, cornstarch, and chalk to make them look like they do in the ring and on TV,” said Olt. Billed as North America’s largest dog show, with over 5,500 competition dogs from all 50 states and around the world competing for a top prize of $50,000, the event is taking place at the Orange County Convention Center through Sunday. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
In this view looking straight up from the 20-foot deep spring pool at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, a young snorkeler navigates July 9, 2025. The park’s popular magnitude-one spring — best known for hosting hundreds of wintering manatees — has reopened to swimmers, snorkelers and tubers after a 13-month closure, from April 2024 to May 2025, for shoreline stabilization and a new boardwalk. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Individuals participate in a Diwali prayer service, passing among one another a lit flame called an Aarti, for a blessing of good fortune during the Diwali Hindu New Year celebration at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Orlando on Oct. 21, 2025. A theme of unity served as the backdrop for the multi-day New Year’s gathering, held in honor of the Hindu Festival of Light, which is celebrated around the world in recognition of the victory of light over darkness .On this day of the celebration, marking the beginning of the New Year, participants prayed and expressed gratitude in front of an Annakut—a Diwali food mountain created as a symbolic offering of thanks during the harvest season and shared with one another. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Lexi, a 4-year-old miniature bernedoodle, with her owner Vicki Lock, glances around the theater during previews at a dog-friendly showing of “Tron: Ares” at the Regal Winter Park Village theater on Oct. 17, 2025. The special showing was organized by The Barkade Society with dog-ready seating for owners and their pets, dog snacks and a gift bag. The Barkade Society is a new, dog-focused events company based in Orlando that produces premium canine-inclusive entertainment and experiences. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performs with the backing of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Orlando chorus conducted by Steven Mercurio at Kia Center in Orlando on Oct. 9, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
A school of mullet swims in the pristine waters at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City on July 9, 2025. The park’s popular magnitude-one spring — best known for hosting hundreds of wintering manatees — has reopened to swimmers, snorkelers and tubers after a 13-month closure, from April 2024 to May 2025, for shoreline stabilization and a new boardwalk. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan signs cases of his Real American Beer during a launch party event for his promotional tour for his signature brew at Pats Liquor Leaf & Wine, adjacent to UCF in Orlando, on Jan. 22, 2025. During the meet-and-greet event, fans had a few moments to take pictures, shake hands and purchase cases of beer signed by the entertainer. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Festival-goers make their way into EDC Orlando, as seen in the reflection of a totem, during the final event day at Tinker Field outside of Camping World Stadium on Nov. 9, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
Shakira performs on her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” world tour at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on June 4, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
A jogger cools down while passing the fountain at Lake Lily Park in Maitland on Aug. 29, 2025. The centerpiece of the 10-acre park near downtown Maitland, the fountain was installed in 1985 — marking its 40th year in July — and was updated during renovations in 2022. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Elliott Pritsker gets a dragon painted on his arm by Andi Durkin while at a Children’s Valentine’s Day party at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children on February 12, 2025. The event, held by the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Cardiac Department, was to celebrate the successful treatment of hundreds of current cardiac patients and present patients, and also give the other young patients at the hospital, like Elliott, who is being treated for leukemia, a much-needed diversion. Elliott was excited with the opportunity to tell his dad he got a tattoo, even if it was not a permanent one like his dad has. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Post Malone performs during the “Big Ass Stadium Tour” at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on June 10, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
A Florida Sandhill Crane gazes at visitors on the Lake Nona medical campus in Orlando, Aug. 18, 2025. The Florida sandhill crane is a non-migratory species that lives year-round in the state and is smaller than the population of Greater sandhills that migrate from the Midwest in the winter months. The birds are classified as threatened in Florida, protected by state and federal law. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Alan Jackson performs on his Last Call: One More for the Road Tour at Kia Center in Orlando on March 7, 2024. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Dave Clifford, 59, skates at Wheel Park West, a new skate park in Casselberry, on June 30, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
A pair of Florida manatees float in Three Sisters Springs during a tour with Crystal River Watersports in Crystal River on Nov. 19, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)
Lionel “Lee” Montells who is directing a documentary on the house, “Starry Fight: A Canvas for The World,” retouches as Caleb Phillips, co-owner of Central Florida Precision Paint, paints the floor of the Van Gogh house in Mount Dora, on March 19, 2025. Florida Paints painters and community members are repainting the iconic Van Gogh Starry Night House in Mt Dora with donated color-matched paints. The project is expected to be completed by the end of April, and will include a new 20’ by 9’ sculpture.
(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas arrives at Port Canaveral on Aug. 9, 2025. The company’s second Icon-class ship is the world’s largest cruise ship. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
The Weeknd performs at Camping World Stadium in Orlando during his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour on Aug. 24, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
Disney Destiny is in port at Disney Castaway Cay in the Bahamas on Nov. 12, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
Fans sing along while All Time Low performs during Vans Warped Tour at Tinker Field outside of Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Nov. 16, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
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A great egret makes a snack out of a bluegill sunfish on Lake Sybelia in Maitland on April 30, 2025. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)