It started with a wild idea. New York and Vero-based architect Scott Johnson (now part of the Clearpath development team for Three Corners) is friends with cellist David Finckel and his wife, pianist Wu Han , co-directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center . "Come see our old power plant in Vero Beach and help us a design a future place there for CMS," Johnson said. So they did — and gave an impromptu concert. Soon after that, CMS began organizing three concerts

Last Monday, the McKee Botanical Garden centennial season opened not with speeches, but with a spectacle of rhythm summoning guests toward the palms.

In the world of theatre, preview nights are the industry's best-kept secret. They are the high-stakes final stage of production where the director and crew finally have a chance to test the show on a live audience before it is "frozen" for the official run. The countdown is on for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder  at Riverside Theatre , but the true insiders aren't waiting for Opening Night. They’re eyeing the dates just before: January 9-11. The paint is metaphoricall

Years of living in Vero Beach, hearing the rave reviews, seeing the signs — and I'd never set foot in the Environmental Learning Center.

Austin Carter and Dee Humphrey exchanged vows this weekend beneath the oaks at Ashwood Grove Farm in a ceremony that called to mind Patrick Smith's A Land Remembered...

You may recall we've written about a few of the Indian River Land Trust's trails — from the three-mile Mangrove trail at Oyster Bar Marsh to the lagoon views at Toni Robinson Waterfront Trail , named after the Land Trust's founder. With cooler weather upon us, there's no better time to get outside, make good on your New Year's resolution, and experience these familiar spots and more -- but this time with expert naturalist guides. The Land Trust's free conservation tours add

From Jungle Lights to the Christmas boat parade, Vero offered plenty of ways to celebrate the holidays this December. Beyond the public festivities, hosts around town organized several memorable private gatherings. Here's a snapshot of some of the holiday parties from around town.

Most of us drive past McKee Botanical Garden on US-1 without realizing we're passing one of the greatest orchid stories ever told.

Cast members on the first day of rehearsal (December15). In the center is Ava Gurley , a presenting sponsor with her husband Bill Gurley , alongside Paul and Joanne Bourdeau. These remarkable actors go from first meeting to opening night in just three and a half weeks! The whole cast and two incredibly talented actors are turning Riverside Theatre's stage into a hilarious, perfectly-timed "crime scene" beginning January 9. In A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder , one ch

Edward Redfield (1869-1965). Birches and Harbor, Maine , circa 1920. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation. January at the Vero Beach Museum of Art is shaping up to be spectacular! Three exhibitions that collectively ask: what does it mean to be American, to build boldly, and to dream about the future? The main feature, "American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection" (January 31 – June 7, 2026) , trac

Cast members arrive Vero Beach Airport on Sunday, December 14 Yesterday, ten of the 15 New York actors starring in Riverside Theatre’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder stepped off a JetBlue flight from JFK straight into Vero Beach Regional Airport. A sight to behold! They traded winter gray for Treasure Coast sunshine, bringing a full dose of Broadway voltage with them.   Cast members arrive Vero via Jet Blue's "Devil with a Blue Dress On" Today, they’re shut away in re

Will Barker at the Sexton homestead Auction for the Indian River Cattleman's Association December, 10 which raised $28000 Photo Credit | Bobbie Secor Vero Beach’s story begins inland, with cracker families as whip-smart as they were weather‑beaten, people who could read pasture, sky, and their neighbors with an instinct that never missed. The Sextons and Tripsons sit at the center of that cast, turning scrub and swamp into dairies, groves, and working cattle country, the

Ballet is not usually at the top of my weekend wish list. So when a friend suggested Nutcracker on the Indian River at Riverside Theatre, I said yes, but with that kind of inner voice telling me I'd already seen The Nutcracker more than enough times to get the idea. Then the curtain rose, and within minutes, I realized just how wrong I’d been—in the best possible way. It was another reminder of how easy it is to be wonder-blind to what’s right in our own backyard, assuming th

Last night, the lagoon lit up as Vero Beach’s Christmas Boat Parade returned, ending a two-year hiatus and restoring one of the City’s most cherished holiday rituals.

Ned Whitlock has become the most talked-about man at McKee Botanical Garden this holiday season — remarkable, considering he's 100 years old, entirely AI-generated and, depending on your definition, may or may not be "real." According to Board Member Marion De Vogel , " people are looking for him in the garden and are certain one of our employees is him." But in fact, Edward "Ned" Whitlock is the fictional face of a very real history. A century ago, Arthur G. McKee dispatch

Vero Beach is flexing its intellectual muscles this season, with two powerhouse lecture series on Riverside Park Drive cementing 32963 as the Treasure Coast’s smartest zip code. Together, Riverside Theatre’s Distinguished Lecturer Series and the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s International Lecture Series offer a brisk world tour of politics, media, food, travel, and American art—all before sunset.​ Riverside’s power players 2026 In 2026, Riverside Theatre’s Distinguished Lectur

Vero is stepping into 2025–26 with a classical music calendar resembling a mini-Salzburg, with world‑class orchestras, star soloists, and marquee opera and chamber music anchoring an increasingly dense classical calendar. From January through late spring, you could live on nothing but symphonies, string quartets, and high‑drama arias right here in your backyard. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Vero /as if an annex of Alice Tully Hall, The Chamber Music Society of L

This past weekend on December 6, thousands lined Ocean Drive for Sunrise Rotary's 40th Annual Christmas Parade, one of Vero's most reliably festive productions. The procession featured 91 floats plus fire trucks, the VBHS marching band, and the Rotary wagon, totaling over 100 entries. Gator Building Supply claimed Best in Business and Best in Workmanship, Storm Grove Middle School took Best in School, and Called Higher swept the rest—Best in Organization, Best in Design, and

Once a month, for one Friday only, Riverside Theatre opens its doors to a small group of guests for an exclusive backstage tour -- a rare chance to go from “seat in the house” to true insider. And it's happening this Friday, December 5. Two sessions -- one at 10 AM and one at 2 PM . Led by the incomparable Oscar Sales , you won't want to miss it. In just under an hour and a half, you'll be guided across the main stage and into the wings, through the shops where sets are b

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is hosting the 36th Annual Vero Beach Art Club Members’ Invitational, on view starting this Friday, December 5 through January 18  in the Patten Community Gallery, located in the education wing. A Members’ Reception on January 16 from 4–6 PM  offers visitors a chance to meet the artists and hear about their work firsthand. The show brings together paintings, sculpture, and mixed media from both emerging and established local artists. VBMA is k