Go 386: Taste of Ormond, and 4 other things to do this week msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
For veteran concertgoer Gary Benson, the waiting is the hardest part.
“I haven’t seen anything for a year, going on a year-and-a-half,” said Benson, 70, of South Daytona, who has been impatiently waiting as shows have been postponed or canceled as the concert industry has been sidelined nationally for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve still got concert tickets ready to go from 2019 that I bought,” said Benson, a retired postal worker and voracious classic rock fan who typically buys tickets for roughly 10 major concert tours annually.
Now, at long last, Benson and other music fans are starting to see the drought finally end, as vaccines continue to rollout nationally, pandemic restrictions ease and more acts take to the road.
DAYTONA BEACH When thousands of Jeep vehicles and the people who love them roll into Volusia County for the annual Jeep Beach celebration this week, it marks another welcome sign of optimism for the area’s tourism industry, hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic over the past year.
Hoteliers anticipate sold-out rooms over much of the event, which shifts into high gear on Monday and runs through Sunday, April 25. Likewise, restaurant managers and other tourist-related businesses also are expecting the Jeep fans to boost sales.
The beachside Hard Rock Hotel, the event’s headquarters hotel, will be Ground Zero for many of the week’s activities. The list includes “Jeeps At the Rock,” two days of beach activities on Wednesday and Thursday that feature a surf school, games, vendors, prize raffles, drink specials and a pool party.
DAYTONA BEACH On the sidewalks, in the hotels, restaurants and grocery stores, the cheerleaders are seemingly everywhere this week at the World’s Most Famous Beach.
Thousands of students on cheerleading teams and dance units representing roughly 140 colleges and universities nationwide are in Daytona Beach to compete in the College Cheer and Dance National Championship sponsored by the National Cheerleaders Association and the National Dance Alliance.
The five-day event runs through Sunday at the Daytona Beach Bandshell and the Ocean Center.
It’s a milestone edition of the long-running competition, which is marking both the 40th anniversary of the event itself and its 25th year in Daytona Beach.