HISTORY OF MT. DORA AT NITE
The Mount Dora Cool was an event designed to be a monthly street party with street closures, live bands, kids’ activities and food and beer vendors. When the Cool event ended a small group of merchants wanted to continue the event in a smaller, more sophisticated manner with the focus on our own shops, restaurants, and local artists. The day was changed from every third Thursday to every third Friday. In October of 2007 the first Cool was held under the new regime. In February of 2008 the name was changed from Mount Dora Cool to Mt. Dora at Nite to avoid confusion with the former event. In March we held our sixth Mt. Dora at Nite and we’re proud to say it has grown and evolved into a very successful event. There are no street closures, and musicians and artists are on private properties. Many merchants stay open late and offer event specials. Unlike the former Mount Dora Cool, our event is funded solely by sponsorship monies and is staffed by volunteers. Our advertising has expanded from posters and brochures to newspaper and magazine ads as well as our new webpage on WhatToDoinMtDora.com, featuring links to our sponsors. The goal of this small group of people who wanted to continue a monthly event was and still is to attract business to all of the downtown Mount Dora merchants and to showcase our city as a cultural destination with fine dining, shopping, and art as well as the historic village that all of our daytime visitors have always loved.