When Osceola Heritage Park opened in Kissimmee in 2003, the venue hosted the Silver Spurs Rodeo, the county fair and a handful of other events.
Skip ahead 20 years, and the space, which is managed by ASM Global, has grown to host an average of 10 or more events per week, welcoming in an estimated 750,000 visitors annually and creating $108 million in economic impact for the Kissimmee area in 2023.
Robb Larson, the venue’s general manager, has been working at Osceola Heritage Park since it opened, starting as the director of marketing and sales.
“When I arrived, the focus was primarily on the Silver Spurs Rodeo, the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi. The arena was built at pretty much the same location where they used to have their outdoor arena,” he said. “When I first got here, we had 200 acres and a few buildings and kind of an empty canvas other than the rodeo and the fair.”
Once the event center opened up, the park was soon bustling with jewelry shows, conventions, banquets and wedding receptions.
“It was needed to fill a void for our market and area,” Larson said. “We started focusing on what we do best, which is our flexibility. We have a number of different buildings; we have a lot of land. We host multiple events at the same time regularly.”
Mecum Auctions, known as the “world’s largest collector auction,” is one of the largest and most popular events of the calendar year. The event, which spans nearly two weeks in early January, brings more than 4,000 vehicles and welcomes 100,000 visitors.
Country Thunder Kissimmee recently welcomed thousands of fans to hear Hardy, Cody Johnson, Keith Urban and plenty of other stars perform. Additionally, Osceola Heritage Park has added professional sports to its lineup, serving as the year-round training grounds for Orlando City SC and the home of the Orlando Magic’s NBA G-League team, the Osceola Magic.
Due to the park’s large footprint and variety of buildings, multiple events can be hosted at the same time. In 2023, Osceola Heritage Park has tallied more than 500 event days.
“We just want to treat people right when they come to our venue and make sure they enjoy their time. We’re not cutting corners anywhere,” Larson said. “We want to entertain Seminole County, Orange County, Osceola County to take care of all of our patrons in those three counties and beyond.”
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