Ocoee to host free community concert

Gospel singer CeCe Winans will headline Ocoee’s Inspire, Uplift & Unite community concert.

By Danielle Hendrix
| 11:45 a.m. May 27, 2021

West Orange Times & Observer
News

It’s been a while since concerts were the norm, but Ocoee is setting the stage for its first community music event since the pandemic began.

The city will host Inspire, Uplift & Unite — a spiritual and inspiring concert for members of the community — Saturday, May 29, at Bill Breeze Park. Presented by the organizers of the Ocoee Music Festival, the event was born out of a desire to bring people together once again.

There is some star power set to hit the stage, too. Gospel singer and 12-time Grammy award-winner CeCe Winans will headline the show. Winans has also won 23 GMA Dove awards, earned more than three million certified record sales and even has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Joining her in the lineup are Brotherly Love, The Isaacs and some local acts.

Michelle Bergstein, an Ocoee resident and marketing specialist for the event, said the team is planning on holding the Ocoee Music Festival in 2022. In the meantime, Mayor Rusty Johnson proposed the Inspire, Uplift & Unite event to commissioners, she said.

“His intention was really kind of a kickoff after everything that’s kind of gone on with the pandemic — an event to unite our community,” Bergstein said. “We really wanted to do that type of event to inspire, uplift and unite the community. It’s really exciting … and we’re doing this all with the help of sponsors.”

The concert is free for all attendees, and the city will be following CDC guidelines with socially distanced seating. Attendees should bring lawn chairs and blankets.

“Our community is so diverse, and music is that underlining unifying factor,” Bergstein said. “I think it’s a good time — especially now as we round the corner of the pandemic — that we come out and look toward being optimistic about the future and having music bring us together again.”

“I believe everybody’s going to enjoy it,” Johnson said. “I just wanted something that we could kind of kick off the summer … and have an enjoyable weekend, enjoy the music and enjoy the view of the lake.”