Five years ago, shortly after joining Oviedo Mall, Marketing & Events Director Josh Gunderson stumbled across a YouTube video describing the property as \u201cthe strangest mall<\/p>\n
in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was offended.<\/p>\n
Not because the description was inaccurate, but because he thought Oviedo Mall could aim higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember finding that video and thinking, \u2018Strangest mall in Florida? Is that all?\u2019\u201d Gunderson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently we\u2019ve made some progress. Now I won\u2019t stop until we\u2019re the strangest mall in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mission received some unexpected validation this month when Orlando Weekly named Oviedo Mall its 2026 Best of Orlando Staff Pick for \u201cBest Unhinged Event Schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its annual Best of Orlando issue, Orlando Weekly called Oviedo Mall a \u201crelentlessly quirky shopping center\u201d and singled out its year-round programming as a reason to reconsider the traditional mall. The publication highlighted a schedule that includes Goblin Market, Mall-O-Ween, book clubs, Mall Rat Market, mini comic conventions, 5Ks, teen photography classes and an ever-growing collection of events that do not always fit neatly into the traditional shopping center playbook.<\/p>\n
For Oviedo Mall, that is very much the point.<\/p>\n
As shopping habits have changed and traditional malls across the country have faced questions about their place in modern communities, Oviedo Mall has increasingly focused on giving people reasons to visit that have little to do with simply buying something.<\/p>\n
The result has been an evolving calendar of markets, festivals, book events, fandom celebrations, community programs and experiences built around a simple idea: a mall can still be a place where people gather.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stopped asking ourselves what events a mall is supposed to have and started asking what would actually make people want to come here,\u201d Gunderson said. \u201cSometimes the answer is a book festival.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s a goblin market. Sometimes it\u2019s hundreds of people dressed like their favorite characterswandering through the building. If it gives people a reason to get out of the house, find their community and make a memory here, we\u2019re interested.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy has produced a diverse lineup ranging from large-scale book festivals and geek-culture gatherings to specialty markets, family programming, community classes and smaller recurring experiences.<\/p>\n
It has also allowed Oviedo Mall to embrace something shopping centers have historically tried very hard to escape: being a mall.<\/p>\n
Rather than distancing itself from mall culture and nostalgia, Oviedo Mall has increasingly made them part of its identity, celebrating the generations who grew up meeting friends at the mall while creating new reasons for younger generations to do the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetail will always be an important part of what we do, but people are looking for places where they can exist outside of work and home,\u201d Gunderson said. \u201cMalls were one of those places for decades. We think they can be again. They might just need a few more goblins.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orlando Weekly recognition marks an important milestone in that evolution, particularly because \u201cBest Unhinged Event Schedule\u201d was selected by the publication\u2019s staff rather than through a public voting campaign.<\/p>\n
For the team at Oviedo Mall, however, the award is less a finish line than encouragement to keep experimenting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t be trying for a more hinged event calendar any time soon, we have an award to defend now,\u201d Gunderson said. \u201cThis was a dangerous amount of positive reinforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
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