Feature
Best Play
From the tastiest scoops to the splashiest influencers, here are your winners of the 2024 readers’ choice awards!
best kids programs
Gymnastics USA
Top-notch coaching. A supportive community. Skilled athletes. Diverse programming. And a fun, family atmosphere. Excellence shines through every routine.
Runner-Up: Winter Garden Fencing Academy
best nonprofit event/charity
Southern Cross Service Dogs | Always Beside You Golf Tournament and Gala
What’s not to love about an event that supports veterans and service dogs while golfing and dancing?
Runner-Up: Matthew’s Hope | Garden Party
best local golf course
Bella Collina
This Nick Faldo-designed beauty boasts impressive views, dramatic elevation changes, and undulating greens, challenging golfers of every skill level.
Runner-Up: Stoneybrook West Golf Club
best live music venue
Pilars Martini & Loft
Known for its captivating live jazz lineup, community-focused events, unique cocktails, friendly staff, and unforgettable vibe, Pilars is the ultimate destination for music lovers.
Runner-Up: The Attic Door
best artsy experience
Pinspiration
Sip, splatter, or splash your way into creativity at this vibrant DIY studio! From crafts to workshops to private parties, this is the place to go for unleashing imagination.
Runner-Up: Board and Brush Creative Studio
best local festival/special event
Spring Fever in the Garden
This homage to all things spring and gardening brings even the most reclusive to downtown Winter Garden for workshops, inspiration, shopping, eating, live music, and more.
Runner-Up: Horizon West Fest
best place to watch a sunset
Newton Park
Expansive, unobstructed views of the horizon make Newton Park an ideal place to watch the sun dip below the skyline.
Runner-Up: Silverleaf Horizon West
best place to read a book
The Swings by the Fountain
Go ahead and grab a seat under the shade and linger all you like.
Runner-Up: Matthew’s Hope | Garden Party The Attic Door Writer’s Block Bookstore
best artsy experience
Pinspiration
Sip, splatter, or splash your way into creativity at this vibrant DIY studio! From crafts to workshops to private parties, this is the place to go for unleashing imagination.
Runner-Up: Board and Brush Creative Studio
best local festival/special event
Spring Fever in the Garden
This homage to all things spring and gardening brings even the most reclusive to downtown Winter Garden for workshops, inspiration, shopping, eating, live music, and more.
Runner-Up: Horizon West Fest
best place to read a book
The Swings by the Fountain
Go ahead and grab a seat under the shade and linger all you like.
Runner-Up: Writer’s Block Bookstore
best place to watch a sunset
Newton Park
Expansive, unobstructed views of the horizon make Newton Park an ideal place to watch the sun dip below the skyline.
Runner-Up: Silverleaf Horizon West
Putting Your Money
Where Our Mag Is
$10,000 for local charities!
To everyone who voted, shared, and rallied behind our second annual Readers Choice Awards—thank you! Your enthusiasm helped spotlight the people and places that make this community shine.
We’re also incredibly grateful to those who donated, purchased event tickets, or sponsored this year’s Award Gala celebration at Pilar’s. Whether it was generosity, marketing savvy, or a deep love for your community—you helped raise $10,000 for two incredible local causes.
Matthew’s Hope
Matthew’s Hope fosters the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the homeless men, women, and children of our community by meeting basic needs, developing skills, and restoring dignity and independence.
Funds Raised: $5,000To Support: matthewshopeministries.org
Greater Clermont Cancer Foundation
Most cancer foundations focus on the future; their funds go to national-level research, aimed at one day finding a cure. What makes GCCF unique is that it focuses on reaching the people fighting cancer right here, right now.
Offering financial aid such as quality-of-life assistance, scholarships, and screening/test grants, as well as providing support, resources, education, and comfort, GCCF lessens the daily challenges encountered by patients and their loved ones. And as a volunteer-run organization, GCCF can ensure that 100% of funds raised go directly to the people who need it most.
Funds Raised: $5,000To Support: gccf.us
