Major Events | Food Festivals | Sporting Events | Arts and Cultural Events

It’s easy to find something fun to do on your spring getaway to Florida’s Space Coast. This season you’ll find exhilarating boat races and surf competitions on the beach; food, craft, and music festivals in our parks and historic districts; races and other sporting events in our world-class complexes, and of course tons of experiences you won’t soon forget. It’s a wonderful time to travel to the Space Coast, find your favorite event and book your spring getaway today! 

Major Events

Thunder on Cocoa Beach

May 15-18
Cocoa Beach

This year, Thunder on Cocoa Beach offshore powerboat races will be returning for its 16th year on Florida’s Space Coast, scheduled for May 15-18, 2025,. Join us for 4 days and nights of parties and lots of racing action. The Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix is one of the most popular attractions for the whole family in Central Florida. The event, one of the largest in Central Florida,  draws the top race teams in the World to compete in various classes with Class 1 reaching speeds over 175 mph. 

Brevard Symphony Orchestra: Ode to Joy

April 5
King Center for the Performing Arts | Melbourne

The Brevard Community Chorus and other area singers join the BSO’s season finale for Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9, also known as Ode to Joy. Other works include Haydn’s jubilant Te Deum and Mason Bates’ techno-inspired Soundcheck in C Major.

Brevard Symphony: Best of Broadway

May 3
King Center for the Performing Arts | Melbourne

5,6,7,8! Broadway veterans Alli Mauzey (Hairspray, Wicked, Hello, Dolly) and Jeff Kready (Les Misérables, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Great Gatsby) perform classic favorites from Rodgers & Hammerstein to Andrew Lloyd Webber and more to bring you the Best of Broadway.

Individual tickets start at $35 and are available at the King Center (321) 242-2219 and kingcenter.com.

Spring Fine Art and Craft Fair

May 10-11
Cocoa Village | Cocoa 

Head to Cocoa Village for the Summer Fine Art & Craft fair. See what more than 200 local artists create to make the world a more beautiful place as you walk the historic streets of Cocoa Village. This seasonal arts fair is not to be missed! 

Food and Beverage Festivals on the Space Coast

321 Tacos and Treats Throwdown

May 17-18 |  12- 8 & 11 – 6 pm 
Wickham Park | Melbourne 

Loosen those belts for the 321 Tacos and Treats Throwdown! $7 single day entry & $10 for the whole weekend/ Kids 10 & Younger get FREE ENTRY! Enjoy Brevard County’s largest Taco Festival and the opportunity to sample a vast variety of all the best from the Space Coast in one place! At this family-friendly event you’ll find local restaurants, bakeries, food trucks, and other eateries serving a Tasting Menu with items priced at only $1-$5. Taste your way through a sampling of all the best eateries up and down the Space Coast! 

Grant Seafood Festival

March 1-2 | 9 am 
Grant-Valkaria Fairgrounds | 4580 1st Street, Grant, FL 32949 

Fresh seafood is what the Grant Seafood Festival is all about!  Enjoy fresh seafood around every corner! Each food booth you’ll belly up to is unique and steeped in tradition; many have several generations working side by side using time-honored recipes. Free admission, free parking, over 125 crafters exhibiting, live continuous entertainment, along with a vast menu of delicious seafood makes this a weekend no one wants to miss!

Strawberry Festival

March 8-9 | 10 am – 5 pm
Castle Park- 3190 New York Ave  | Melbourne

Enjoy Family Fun & Festivities, Plant City Strawberries, Art & Crafts, Beer & Wine, Delicious Food, Free Bounce Houses, Organic Strawberries, Strawberry Shortcake, Classic Car Show, Live Entertainment, Free Rock Painting, Strawberry Fudge, Pony Rides, Free Strawberry Relay, Face Painting, Free Hula Hoop Contest, Pie Eating Contest, Free Petting Farm, Berry Cute Baby Contest, Free Sack Races, Train Rides, Free Corn Hole, Yummy Treats & Much More at the 5th annual Strawberry Festival. 

Grant BBQ Festival

April 11-13 | 10- 8 pm
Grant-Valkaria Fairgrounds | 4580 1st Street, Grant, FL 32949 

Experience the best Brevard’s barbeque scene as backyard teams compete with top-rated pitmasters! Come for the Barbeque competition stay for the live entertainment, marketplace and classic car show!

• Live Entertainment — All 3 Days! 
• Market Place with Arts. Crafts and Local Vendors
• People’s Choice Contest
• Classic Car and Motorcycle Show
• Free Admission — Free Parking

Sporting Events on the Space Coast 

American Cancer Society’s Gateway to Space 5k/10k

March 1 | 8 am
Kennedy Space Center | Merritt Island

In partnership with Space Florida the 8th Annual Gateway to Space 5K/10K will take place on March 1st, 2025 on the iconic Launch and Landing Facility (formerly known as Shuttle Landing Facility) at Kennedy Space Center. Join us on the ‘out of this world’ start line and keep your eyes open on the course for your chance to see landing marks from the shuttles of our past.

Arts and Cultural Events on the Space Coast

Downtown Melbourne Botanical Fest

April 12 – 8 am – 4 pm
Downtown Melbourne | Melbourne 

The Downtown Melbourne Botanical Fest is a FREE family-friendly event that attracts visitors from the region and features lavish landscape designs, garden sculptures, flowers and plants, trees and shrubs, unique gifts, garden-themed art, great food, and much more!

Melbourne Art Festival

April 26-27, 9:00am – 5:00pm 
Wickham Park | Melbourne 

Melbourne Art Festival offers FREE admission, FREE parking, FREE children’s art projects and FREE live entertainment throughout the weekend. The 39th Annual Melbourne Art Festival will be held among the trees and lakes at beautiful Wickham Park in Melbourne, FL April 27 & 28, 2024. The annual festival, which draws tens of thousands of art and music lovers, is a vibrant family-friendly event that promotes and encourages artistic endeavors, education, and appreciation of the arts in Brevard County.

2nd Infantry Regiment Living History Reenactment

May 24
Harry T. and Harriet V. Moore Cultural Complex | Mims

Experience history at the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Center on Saturday, May 24, 2025, at 12 pm for a presentation and battle reenactment by the 2nd United States Colored Troops Living History Association. This program brings to light the untold stories of battles in which the USCT regiments engaged, particularly in Florida.

Space Coast Symphony: Best of John Williams

May 24
Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy | Melbourne

Relive the magic of blockbuster classics when your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra fills the hall with the music of Williams’ most legendary film scores like Star Wars, E.T., Jane Eyre, Far and Away, The Cowboys, Jurassic Park, The Patriot, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and more. To experience the true power of the force, attendees are encouraged to dress up in their favorite Star Wars (or similarly themed) attire or costume. Selected youth musicians from around Central Florida will perform side-by-side on the second half with their professional SCSO counterparts in this incredible tribute.