{"id":410550,"date":"2026-09-25T18:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T18:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410550\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T18:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T18:16:11","slug":"downtown-orlando-braces-for-60k-visitors-heavy-traffic-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410550\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Orlando braces for 60K visitors, heavy traffic this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Credit: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

A perfect storm of country music, pro soccer and road construction is landing right here in Orlando this weekend.<\/p>\n

The City of Orlando expects more than 60,000 visitors between Friday and Sunday. And, of course, resulting traffic delays.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s core has a busy weekend ahead, with big concerts, performances and sporting events on the agenda. Garth Brooks performs at the Kia Center Friday through Sunday; the U.S. Men\u2019s National Soccer Team takes on Peru Saturday, the Lake Eola Farmers Market happens Sunday as usual, and the downtown construction areas are forever.<\/p>\n

The city says drivers should expect heavier traffic than usual. Peak traffic times are expected for Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Motorists should anticipate the most congestion in these areas:<\/p>\n

South Street from the SR 408 exit to Division Avenue, including the area around the\u00a0ThreatLocker\u00a0and City Commons parking garages<\/p>\n

I-4 eastbound off-ramp at South Street<\/p>\n

I-4 westbound off-ramp at West Anderson Street<\/p>\n

I-4 South Street Express off-ramps<\/p>\n

Road closures, including near Camping World Stadium and downtown, can be found on the city\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city advises visitors and attendees to plan accordingly, allotting extra time for expected traffic delays and parking, and to consider using alternative modes of transportation like the SunRail and Lymmo Bus. <\/p>\n

Orlando strongly encourages planning parking ahead of time. Downtown offers a variety of parking garages, surface lots and street parking spaces. Drivers can also reserve and pre-pay for event parking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Parking availability will likely be more limited (editor\u2019s note: that means cutthroat), so plan some extra time to park and walk to your destination.<\/p>\n

Orlando officials also encourage visitors to use this time to patronize downtown businesses. Rising costs are affecting locally owned downtown businesses due to Orlando\u2019s efforts to deprioritize nightlife in favor of a more family-friendly atmosphere.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a move outlined in Project DTO, the city\u2019s initiative to shift focus toward high-wage jobs and away from nighttime-centered businesses.<\/p>\n

Just this year, storied spots like Gringos Locos<\/a>, Los Tres Golpes<\/a>,\u00a0Tanqueray\u2019s<\/a>,\u00a0Cocktails and Screams<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Attic<\/a>\u00a0have all shut down. They all cited as key to their closures a lack of support or solutions from the city as they faced high costs and increased limits on alcohol sales, just one part of the Project DTO plan.<\/p>\n

Here are all the large-scale events taking place in downtown this weekend:<\/p>\n

Friday, Sept. 25<\/p>\n

Santiago Cruz, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 6:30 and 9 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Little Big Town, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Garth Brooks, Kia Center, 8 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday, Sept. 26<\/p>\n

USA vs.\u00a0Peru,\u00a0Inter.co\u00a0Stadium, 4:30 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Charly Reynolds, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 6 and 9 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Pride: The Rhythm of the Chosen Hearts, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Garth Brooks, Kia Center, 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Sept. 27<\/p>\n

Orlando Farmers Market, Lake Eola Park, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Garth Brooks, Kia Center, 2 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opera X: Flights of Puccini, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 5 and 7:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Stay<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Orlando\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe $3 million program has a goal of finding permanent housing for at least 400 people over a three-year period.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"UCF\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe results leave UCF fifth among the eight ranked Florida public universities\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nearly\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe cuts come as the school district continues to grapple with steep declines in student enrollment.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Shutterstock A perfect storm of country music, pro soccer and road construction is landing right here in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1623,57095,153210,82108,162876,3358,139,2505,141,140,162877,162878,14017,162879],"class_list":["post-410550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-apple-news","tag-downtown-orlando-parking","tag-garth-brooks","tag-inter-co-stadium","tag-inter-and-co-stadium","tag-kia-center","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-events","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-parking-garage","tag-orlando-road-closures","tag-orlando-traffic","tag-where-to-park-orlando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}