The annual Celebration Exotic Car Festival, the world’s largest exotic car charity event, celebrates its 22nd year March 28 – April 1, 2025. The event kicks off with a concert by 90’s rockers Gin Blossoms and special guest, multiplatinum guitar virtuoso Orianthi, at Hard Rock Live Orlando.
As one of the 90’s top bands, Gin Blossoms dominated radio and MTV, smashing records and defining a generation with #1 hits including “Hey Jealousy,” “Til I Hear It From You,” “Follow You Down,” “Found Out About You” and countless others.
Orinathi is usually found playing arenas with rock royalty and global superstars including Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Alice Cooper, Richie Sambora, Dave Stewart, and the Hollywood Vampires. She was featured accompanying Carrie Underwood during the Grammy Awards, and performed on American Idol. Orianthi was hired by Michael Jackson for his “This Is It Tour” before his untimely death, and appears in Michael Jackson’s documentary concert film, “This Is It.” Orianthi’s first major solo artist success was with the release of the worldwide Top 10 single “According To You,” which went multi-platinum and also gained over 110 million online views.
The five-day charity event benefits Make-a-Wish, and has raised more than $6 million since its inception, granting the wishes of hundreds of children battling life threatening medical conditions. The event also supports Special Olympics and numerous other local children’s charities.
The Celebration Exotic Car Festival was founded in 2004 by brothers and Celebration residents Jeff and Jim Ippoliti, in memory of Laura Ippoliti. The annual event is organized entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers, many from Celebration.
The centerpiece of the internationally renowned event is the concours, set in downtown Celebration. The show features over 300 exotic cars, including Pagani, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Aston Martin, Lotus and more, in addition to race cars and iconic Hollywood movie cars. The rare cars and their owners come together with sponsors, celebrities, exclusive wineries, and historic venues each year for the festival to raise money for local children.
The event is heavily supported by the Hollywood and sports communities. Chris “Shooter McGavin” McDonald, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Ernie Hudson, Patrick Warburton, Jay Leno, Jim Kelly, Johnny Bench, Johnny Damon, Daniel Baldwin, Paul Teutul Sr., Corey Feldman, Joey Fatone, Arsenio Hall and many others have attended. Previous performers at the event have included Styx, REO Speedwagon, the Beach Boys, Lover Boy, and Steve Martin and Martin Short.
In addition to the concert and concours, the five-day festival also includes an exclusive ZD and Acta Wine pairing dinner gala and charity auction at the Waldorf Astoria. The event also encompasses a police-escorted exotic car road rally, followed by two track days at Daytona International Speedway, where the exotic cars run at full speed, and a Viper Race League race at Daytona.
More information and tickets can be found at www.celebrationcarshow.com
