Historic Heard Opera House in Arcadia hosting Phantom Fest, featuring 10 local bands and more

Heard Opera House, a 119-year-old venue in downtown Arcadia, is hosting Phantom Fest. The event will feature 10 local original bands from varying genres.

The bands performing during the festival on Saturday, Jan. 11, include Dead By Dawn Metal, On The Fence, Safety Coffin, Dead End Collective, Movie Props, Sataria, Amulet Yellow, Ichinen, Holly Pocket and Shy Blossom.

It wasn’t easy to get Heard Opera House to where it can host multiple bands and hold a day-long festival.

The opera house is a block-long building in the heart of downtown Arcadia.

It is deep-rooted in Southwest Florida’s history and is not shy of trials and tribulations.

It was built after Arcadia’s tragic 1905 Thanksgiving fire, which swept through nearly every business. However, the city showed resilience in response to the fire and built the opera house.

“It was built right after the fire of 1905 to kind of mimic a small city, to get our city back together,” said Danny Mastrodonato, owner and operator of the opera house. “We obtained it about three years ago and turned it back into a traditional American opera house.”

However, when Hurricane Ian came through, it tore off the stage wall, blew out all of the windows and destroyed the building. The back of the wall fell, crushing their apartment to the ground.

“We were condemned for a while, and then we just never took no for an answer, and eight months after that strenuous, intense work, we were able to get it partially back open to the public, so we could start doing some shows down there, and then in about a year total time, we got it fully reopened. It’s now fully reopened and restored back to the public,” Mastrodonato said.

Jean Vavrovky, the owner of the building, paid for the installation of brand-new hurricane-proof windows, and their structural engineer helped redesign the reconstruction.

Mastrodonato said it’s a lot safer than it ever has been and is ready to host local bands and other events.

None of the storms from the 2024 hurricane season damaged the opera house, which gave them a head start on creating new events without a strenuous rebuilding process akin to Ian’s.  

Mastrodonato said Phantom Fest has a lot to do with the bands who helped come up with the idea.

“They kind of came up with this idea. We like the idea because it supports local Floridian music. That’s a big part of what we like to do at the opera house support original music. It’s all indie rock [catered towards] the younger generation. We’re trying to bring that kind of excitement back to our town of the original rock music, and I think this is gonna be a great opportunity to do that for sure,” he said.

Mastrodonato is looking forward to the opera house’s future, which he hopes will become a music hub for not only Southwest Florida but also America.

“What the original building was meant for was the acoustics, the way it was engineered. The way that the building was made was for original music, so we just want to kind of become a hub for that and really push for original American music in our place,” he said.

Before the music starts, Phantom Fest Market will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be all kinds of knickknacks, art and trinkets for sale.

“It’s going to be an all-day event. It’s going to be a big day for Arcadia. We’re really hoping everybody comes out,” he said.

Doors to the festival open at 4 p.m., and the show will end at 11:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door. Heard Opera House is located at 106 W. Oak St.

Click here to learn more about the Heard Opera House, and click here for tickets.