Beale's last Bike Night, Redbirds Game 2, and live butterflies in Hernando

Hey Memphis 👋 It's Wednesday. Day one of fall is doing its job: sunny, a high near 86, no rain in the forecast, and a clear night that drops to about 62. A week ago we were still writing about heat advisories, so take the long way home tonight.

Redbirds vs. Rochester, International League Championship Game 2 — AutoZone Park, 6:45 PM, from $9.01. Game 1 was last night, so tonight either settles the best-of-three or sends it to a Game 3 on Thursday. The $10 ticket still comes with a guaranteed pick from past giveaways (a Grizzlies jersey, a 25th-anniversary AutoZone Park beer stein) while they last. Details

Bike Night on Beale — Beale Street, 6–10 PM. The last one of the season: motorcycles of every make and year parked right on Beale, which runs it as a family-friendly night. Bring a camera. Details

University of Memphis Wind Ensemble — Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, 3800 Central Ave., 7 PM, free with a ticket you claim online. The U of M's top wind, brass and percussion players open their fall season with a mix of standards and newer pieces. The bar's open, too. Details

French Film Festival: Promised Sky — Blount Auditorium, Buckman Hall, Rhodes College, 6 PM, free. Rhodes' free festival runs six films this fall around the idea of belonging, all subtitled in English and open to the public. Tonight's is Promis le ciel. Details

Munch and Learn, then opera — Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Ave., noon–1 PM, free. Artist Debbie Likley Pacheco talks through her show, which closes Sunday: New York street photos she layers, prints, paints over and seals in wax. Bring a lunch or grab one at the café, then stay for Opera Memphis's free 30 Days of Opera pop-up at 1:15. Details

YVNG $ICK — Growlers, 1911 Poplar Ave., 8 PM, $10. A Wednesday night of underground Memphis phonk and dark trap, with YVNG $ICK on top of a bill of about ten local rappers. Not the usual Growlers crowd, which is exactly the point. Details

Kocktails & Karaoke — D'Bo's Riverdale, 7050 Malco Crossing, 7–9:30 PM, free. SiR & Flo host a weekly karaoke night out in Riverdale, with frozen daiquiri specials to help with the high notes. Details

Wednesday Game Day — International Harvester Clubhouse, 4523 Canada Road, Lakeland, noon–3 PM, free. Lakeland's weekly game afternoon: Mexican Train, Rummikub, hand-and-foot, or bring your own game and a friend. Details

👶 With the kids

Butterfly Tag and Release — Hernando Public Library, 370 West Commerce, Hernando, 9:30–10:30 AM, free. Two DeSoto master gardeners bring live butterflies and show how they get tagged before they're let go. No sign-up. Details

Kids Yoga — Shelby Farms Park, 5 PM, free with registration. A YMCA-led yoga hour built on games, music and stories, and parents are welcome on the mat. Details

Power OFF! — Hollywood Library, 1530 N. Hollywood St., 4–5 PM, free, ages 8 to 12. An after-school sip-and-paint for tweens (the sip is not wine), and the finished paintings can end up on the library's walls. Details

It's official from the airport: 1,200 runners and walkers ran an actual MEM runway on Saturday and raised $130,000 for the airport's community foundation. Only 11 of the country's 525 commercial airports put on a race like this, and next year's is already set for Sept. 18, 2027. (via FOX13)

The Highland Strip is getting a honky-tonk. The Country Club, a country-music and line-dancing bar, plans to open Halloween night at 535 S. Highland, with a big hardwood dance floor, a mechanical bull, a boot-fitting station and a menu of country classics. (via Memphis Flyer)

The Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, closed since a 2024 fire, says its restoration is finished and it hopes to reopen by the end of the year. It's coming back with new holdings, too: a donated plantation bell from Arkansas, plus family photographs and a two-volume family history. (via Local Memphis)

Memphian Toni Wallace Franklin is now South Eastern Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha, overseeing chapters across Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, and a new endowment in her name was announced at a hometown reception. (via Tri-State Defender)

Yokai at the Hi Tone — Hi Tone, 5–10 PM. Every Monday and Wednesday, Yokai turns out made-to-order sushi and dumplings; order online and pick up upstairs. Dinner before a show, or instead of cooking one. Details

Mid-South Fair — Landers Center, Southaven, Oct. 1–11. Advance tickets run through Sept. 30: $10 for adults, $5 for kids 5 to 12 and seniors. Starting Oct. 1, adults pay $15 at the gate or $13 online. Buy this week and pocket the difference. Details

Sonidero Gótico — Cameo, Thursday Oct. 1, 8–11 PM, free, 21+. The Sonidero Gótico crew takes over Cameo with DJs La Femme Radical, Mala Leche and Kid Mestizo. Details

Gold In Our Bones — Centenary United Methodist Church, Nov. 6–8, free with an RSVP. A new play built from the stories of Soulsville and South City residents, with neighbors in the cast. A free Backbeat shuttle runs from four South Memphis pickup spots. Details

Housekeeping on Monday's question: we asked for your go-to indoor hideout from the heat and said the best answers would run this week. The heat broke Tuesday and the inbox took the hint, so we're retiring that one.

Yesterday's is still open, and it fits the weather better: what's the thing that tells you fall has actually arrived in Memphis? Hit reply.

The tip line never closes — a pop-up, a band, a class nobody advertises. No gatekeeping — send it to hey@heymemphis.co.

That's it for today — see you tomorrow at 6.

— Josh