Orlando Remembers September 11: 25 Years Later, Central Florida Honors the Lives Lost

On September 11, 2026, Orlando and communities across Central Florida will mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks with candlelight ceremonies, moments of silence and tributes to the victims, first responders and those whose lives were forever changed.

Twenty-five years.

For those old enough to remember September 11, 2001, that number can be difficult to comprehend.

Many of us can still remember exactly where we were when we first heard that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center.

We remember turning on the television.

We remember the second aircraft.

The Pentagon.

Flight 93.

The towers falling.

And then the realization that thousands of people had gone to work, boarded an airplane or reported for duty that morning and would never come home.

Today, Friday, September 11, 2026, Greater Orlando joins communities across the country in marking the 25th anniversary of that day.

This isn’t a festival or another entry on Orlando’s entertainment calendar.

It is a day to remember.

And throughout Central Florida, residents have several opportunities to stand together and do exactly that.

Orlando Will Light 404 Candles Tonight

The centerpiece of Orlando’s observance takes place tonight at Orlando Fire Station 1 in downtown Orlando.

The Orlando Fire Department’s annual 9/11 Remembrance and Candlelight Ceremony begins at 7 p.m. at 78 W. Central Boulevard. (City of Orlando)

This year’s ceremony carries additional significance because it marks a quarter-century since the attacks.

Orlando firefighters will light 404 candles.

There will be 343 red candles representing the firefighters killed on September 11, 60 blue candles honoring law-enforcement officers, including members of the New York Police Department and Port Authority Police Department, and one white candle honoring FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge. (City of Orlando)

Twenty-five fire helmets will also be placed at the ceremony—one representing each year that has passed since September 11, 2001. (City of Orlando)

It is a simple visual.

Twenty-five helmets.

But perhaps that’s why it works.

Each one represents another year of people growing older, children growing up, families carrying memories forward and new generations learning about a day they never personally experienced.

Orlando Firefighters Have Been Gathering Here Since 2002

This isn’t something Orlando began for the anniversary.

The Orlando Fire Department has held its September 11 remembrance every year since 2002. (City of Orlando)

For firefighters, the significance of the day is particularly personal.

Three hundred forty-three members of the FDNY were killed while responding to the World Trade Center.

But September 11 did not stop taking lives when the towers fell.

Firefighters, police officers, construction workers and others spent months working amid toxic dust and debris during the rescue and recovery operation.

The FDNY says more than 400 additional members have since died from World Trade Center-related illnesses. (FDNY Foundation)

That continuing toll will also be part of Orlando’s ceremony tonight.

The Orlando Fire Department says speakers will discuss the long-term impact September 11 has had on the fire service and remember responders who later died from illnesses associated with their exposure at Ground Zero. (City of Orlando)

One Orlando Tribute Has a Very Personal Connection

Orlando’s ceremony will also specifically remember FDNY firefighter Michael J. Arriaga and the firefighters of FDNY Firehouse 10, located directly across from the World Trade Center site. (City of Orlando)

The location of tonight’s ceremony is appropriate as well.

Fire Station 1—known within the department as “The Big House”—is Orlando’s downtown fire station and the headquarters location of the Orlando Fire Department. The present station opened on Central Boulevard in 2009.

Tonight, however, the equipment and everyday work of the firehouse will temporarily share the space with something much larger than Orlando.

A remembrance of firefighters who answered a call 1,000 miles away and never returned.

Orlando 9/11 Candlelight Ceremony

Friday, September 11, 2026
7 p.m.
Orlando Fire Station 1
78 W. Central Boulevard, Orlando

The ceremony is open to the community, and the City of Orlando is also providing a livestream for those unable to attend in person. (City of Orlando)

Orlando 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony and livestream information

UCF Begins the Day at the Reflecting Pond

Central Florida’s remembrance begins much earlier today.

The University of Central Florida is holding its 25th Anniversary Commemoration: UCF Remembers 9/11 at the UCF Reflecting Pond.

The gathering begins at 7:45 a.m., with the ceremony starting promptly at 8 a.m. (UCF Foundation)

UCF’s military and veteran communities are among the groups organizing the event, alongside UCF Police, Army ROTC, Air Force ROTC, Student Government and other campus organizations. (UCF Foundation)

The university describes the gathering as an opportunity not only to honor the people who died and those who responded, but also to educate younger generations about what happened. (UCF Events)

That part becomes increasingly important every year.

An Entire Generation Doesn’t Remember September 11

Twenty-five years creates a dividing line.

Someone born on September 11, 2001, turns 25 today.

Today’s college students weren’t alive when the attacks happened.

Many young parents have no personal memory of them.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum estimates that roughly 100 million Americans are now too young to remember September 11 firsthand.

That means “Never Forget” is beginning to mean something different.

For the first generation, remembering meant recalling something we personally experienced.

For the next generation, remembering will require teaching the history.

That’s one reason ceremonies like the one at UCF matter.

Eventually, everyone who remembers exactly where they were that morning will be gone.

The story will remain only if we deliberately pass it on.

Apopka Will Gather at City Hall at 8:30 a.m.

Northwest of Orlando, the City of Apopka is holding its own memorial service this morning.

The Apopka Fire and Police departments will gather with residents outside Apopka City Hall at 8:30 a.m.

The city’s flag will be lowered to half-staff as the community remembers those who died. (Apopka)

Apopka 9/11 Memorial Service

8:30 a.m.
Apopka City Hall
120 E. Main Street, Apopka

The public is welcome.

Clermont Marks 25 Years at 10 a.m.

West of Orlando, Clermont will hold its 25th Annual September 11 Memorial Ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. at the Clermont Arts & Recreation Center.

The ceremony is being organized with the Clermont Fire and Police departments and will remember the nearly 3,000 people killed while honoring the first responders who went toward the danger while others were trying to escape it. (Clermont)

The City of Clermont describes the gathering as a moment for remembrance, gratitude and unity.

Clermont September 11 Memorial Ceremony

10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Clermont Arts & Recreation Center
3700 S. Highway 27, Clermont

Admission is free and everyone is welcome. (Clermont)

Sanford Remembers One of Its Own

The ceremony in Sanford has an especially personal Central Florida connection.

The City of Sanford and Seminole County will begin their 25th Anniversary Patriot Day Remembrance Ceremony at 10:15 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, followed by a moment of silence at 10:28 a.m. (Sanford, FL)

But Sanford isn’t remembering only a national tragedy.

It is remembering Mannie Leroy Clark, a Sanford native who was working as a security supervisor inside the North Tower of the World Trade Center that morning.

Clark was in his office on the 93rd floor when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building.

He never came home. (Sanford, FL)

His name is now inscribed at the National September 11 Memorial in New York.

Today, Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff and Seminole County Chairman Andria Herr are scheduled to present a joint proclamation to Clark’s family recognizing his life and his connection to the Sanford community. (Sanford, FL)

That story is an important reminder that September 11 wasn’t something that happened only to New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The people lost that morning came from communities across America.

Some of those communities were right here.

Sanford Patriot Day Remembrance

10:15 a.m.–11:45 a.m.
Veterans Memorial Park
110 W. Seminole Boulevard, Sanford

The ceremony will include the presentation of colors, national anthem, invocation, traditional fire-service bell ceremony, three-volley salute and Taps. It is free and open to the public. (Sanford, FL)

Sanford’s 25th Anniversary Patriot Day Ceremony details

The Orlando VA Will Remember Those Who Answered the Call After 9/11

At 11 a.m., the Orlando VA Medical Center in Lake Nona will hold its own remembrance ceremony.

The program will honor the people killed on September 11 and the first responders who served that day, but it will also recognize something that followed:

A generation of Americans who entered military service after the attacks. (DiscoverVA)

The keynote speaker is Steve Dailey, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former New York City police officer who participated in recovery operations after the towers fell. (DiscoverVA)

The ceremony is open to veterans, families, VA employees and members of the public, with an RSVP requested.

Orlando VA 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony

11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Orlando VA Medical Center
13800 Veterans Way, Orlando

Orlando VA September 11 ceremony information

The Hospitality Community Is Remembering First Responders Too

Central Florida’s tourism industry is also observing Patriot Day today.

The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association is holding its annual Patriot Day Remembrance Breakfast on International Drive.

The event recognizes local law enforcement, fire rescue, EMS and hospitality security personnel for extraordinary service. Former NYPD detective Milton Rosario is this year’s keynote speaker and is scheduled to share his experiences from September 11 and the recovery effort that followed. (Central Florida Lodging Association)

Registration has already closed, but its existence is worth mentioning because it illustrates how broadly September 11 continues to be remembered across Central Florida—not only by government agencies but by the businesses and institutions that make up the community.

At Ground Zero, the Names Will Be Read Again

While Central Florida gathers today, another ceremony will be taking place nearly 1,000 miles north.

At the National September 11 Memorial in New York, family members will again read aloud the names of those killed in the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Seven moments of silence are planned throughout the ceremony, recognizing the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the crash of Flight 93, the collapse of both towers and those who later died from September 11-related illnesses and injuries.

The first national moment of silence comes at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.

Twenty-five years later, the names are still read one by one.

That matters.

Numbers tell us the scale of a tragedy.

Names remind us that every number was a person.

Remembering More Than the Day Itself

There is another part of September 11 worth remembering.

It is what ordinary people did afterward.

Firefighters climbed stairwells.

Police officers directed people toward safety.

Passengers aboard Flight 93 fought back.

Strangers helped strangers.

People donated blood.

Volunteers traveled to New York.

Firehouses hundreds of miles away mourned firefighters they had never met.

And communities found ways to come together during an extraordinarily frightening time.

None of that erases the horror of what happened.

But remembering September 11 should include remembering the courage and humanity displayed in response to it.

That may be one of the most useful lessons to pass to people who weren’t alive to witness the day themselves.

For Younger Families, This Is Now History

Parents face an interesting challenge in 2026.

How do you explain September 11 to a child who sees 2001 the way many adults once saw Pearl Harbor?

It can help to begin with people rather than politics.

Explain that thousands of ordinary people went to work that morning.

Explain what firefighters and police officers did.

Talk about the passengers of Flight 93.

Explain why memorials exist.

And perhaps attend one of today’s ceremonies together.

History becomes easier to understand when it stops being simply a date in a textbook.

Seeing 343 red candles makes the number real.

Hearing a fire bell ring makes it real.

Watching someone place a helmet makes it real.

Listening to the story of a Sanford resident who went to work in New York that morning makes it local.

Twenty-Five Years Later, Orlando Still Remembers

There will be plenty happening around Orlando this weekend.

Festivals.

Markets.

Restaurants.

Music.

Sports.

All the ordinary things that make up life in a city.

But for a little while today, communities across Central Florida will stop.

At a reflecting pond at UCF.

Outside Apopka City Hall.

At a veterans park beside Lake Monroe.

Inside the VA hospital in Lake Nona.

At a recreation center in Clermont.

And tonight, inside Orlando Fire Station 1.

Four hundred four candles will be lit.

Twenty-five helmets will be placed.

And once again, Orlando firefighters will remember people most of them never personally knew.

They’ve been doing it since 2002.

The responsibility now passes gradually to the generations that came afterward.

Because twenty-five years after September 11, perhaps the most important meaning of “Never Forget” is no longer simply remembering what we saw.

It’s making sure those who never saw it understand why we remember.