Memphis gets its first jazz festival, opera at the Shell, and free Shakespeare in a taproom

Hey Memphis 👋 It's Thursday, Oct. 8. Summer hangs on today and Friday, sunny and near 89. Then Saturday turns: morning showers, then likely storms (60% by day, 70% at night) with gusts to 35. Sunday dries out after lunch.

So: outdoor plans Friday, an indoor backup for Saturday. Memphis also gets its first-ever jazz festival, free all weekend. Four picks for tonight, then the weekend day by day.

Bored Teachers: Is It Friday Yet? Comedy Tour — Graceland Soundstage, 7:30 PM, $35.25–$91.75. If you teach, you've earned this one. Details

Poverty Slaps, But We Slap Back Harder — Hattiloo Theatre, 37 S. Cooper St., 7:30 PM, $35, $32 students, seniors and military. Oslo's Nordic Black Theatre opens Hattiloo's international Black theatre festival, Bridging Worlds. It runs through Sunday. Details

Love's Labor's Lost — Wiseacre OG Taproom, 2783 Broad Ave., 7 PM, free. Tennessee Shakespeare Company's free 90-minute comedy. Bring a chair and a picnic. It also plays St. George's in Germantown Friday at 7 and the Overton Park Shell Sunday at 5. Details

Concerts in The Grove: Alice Hasen & the Blaze — GPAC, 1801 Exeter Rd., Germantown, 6:30 PM, $13, kids 5 to 18 $8, 4 and under free. Violinist Alice Hasen's fiddle-powered band on the lawn, with food trucks. Details

FRIDAY

Memphis Jazz Festival — Friday through Sunday, free. The city's first: the Westin Beale Street lobby Friday 6–9, two stages on the Main Street Mall Saturday from 1:15 with Theo Croker closing at 7:10, and Court Square Sunday 3–7. Saturday's outdoors, so watch the radar. Details

Mempho Music Festival — Radians Amphitheater at Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Rd., Friday through Sunday, single-day GA $189 with fees (the 3-day passes are sold out). Pretty Lights closes Friday, and Widespread Panic plays two sets each on Saturday and Sunday. Gary Clark Jr., De La Soul and Ziggy Marley are on the bill too. Details

Crosstown Arts Fall Exhibition Opening — Crosstown Concourse, 6–8 PM, free. Two new shows open, with DJ LadyLove and a free cocktail from the Art Bar. Details

Bluegrass Jam on the Collierville Square — Town Square Park, 96 N. Center St., Collierville, 7–10 PM, free. An open acoustic jam, all levels welcome. Bring a banjo or just a lawn chair. Details

One Kind Favor: a Hollywood Cemetery benefit — Zen House, 831 S. Cooper St., 7–11 PM, tickets online or at the door. A dozen Memphis acts, from Ross Johnson to Doug MacLeod, play Furry Lewis and Frank Stokes songs to raise money to restore Hollywood Cemetery. The volunteer cleanup follows, Saturday at 9 AM through Monday at 3 PM at 2012 Hernando Rd., and you can sign up on the project's site. Details

SATURDAY

Opera Memphis 70th Anniversary Concert — Overton Park Shell, 7 PM, free. Opera Memphis turns 70 with a free concert. Saturday night's storm chance is 70%, so check the Shell's page before you go. Details

Memphis Symphony: Dona Nobis Pacem — Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, 3800 Central Ave., Saturday 7:30 PM and Sunday 2:30 PM, $19–$113.30. Vaughan Williams' choral prayer for peace, plus The Lark Ascending. Indoors, which counts for a lot this Saturday. Details

Tigers vs. UAB — Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, 6 PM, tickets from $9. Marcus Stokes threw five touchdowns in last week's 59-8 win at Charlotte. Details

Silent Book Club & Silent Disco — Cossitt Library, 33 S. Front St., 3–6 PM, free, 18+. Grab wireless headphones, pick a channel (fall rain, live DJs or lo-fi), then read or dance. Talking is optional. Details

SUNDAY

Memphis Zine Fest 11 — Jack Robinson Gallery, 44 Huling Ave., noon–4 PM, free, all ages. More than 30 zine makers and their self-published comics, poems and art. Details

Sunday Tea Dance — Bar DKDC, 964 S. Cooper St., 4–8 PM, no cover. Digital Tech and Jake Jones spin dub, reggae and jungle. Details

Reading Rhythms — Beale Street Landing, 251 Riverside Dr., Friday 10–11:30 AM, free, ages 2 to 5. Story time on the river, a movement class, then crafts. The first 25 kids get a popsicle. Details

Theatre in the Park: The Ant & Mr. Q — McFarland Park, 4955 Cottonwood Rd., Saturday 11 AM–noon, free. Cazateatro's bilingual play (La hormiga y el Sr. Q), last park show of the year. Last week's got rained out, so check their IG Saturday morning. Details

Peanut Butter & Jam: Songs by Jake — GPAC's Watkins Studio Theater, 1801 Exeter Rd., Germantown, Saturday 10:30 AM, pay what you can. Songs, puppets and stories for kids 8 and under, indoors. Details

Family Fun on Mud Island — Mud Island River Park, Saturday 11 AM–2 PM, free. The city's Storm Water team brings hands-on science, a bounce house, face painting and food trucks. Parking is extra. Details

MEMPHEST — South Library, 1929 S. Third St., Saturday 1–3 PM, free. A neighborhood party with free food, local bands and crafts. Details

Headed to the Shell this weekend? Expect fencing. Work has started on the Terry Lynch Artist Lounge behind the stage, with equipment parked along Veterans Drive. It's set to open in 2027. (via Overton Park Shell)

Heads up, I-55 drivers: work on the new I-55 Exit 7 ramp bridge brings intermittent rolling roadblocks on I-55 starting today, through Nov. 4. (via City of Memphis)

If you had tickets to Sunday's Singalong Broadway at the Orpheum, it's canceled. Tickets bought at the box office or through Ticketmaster are being refunded automatically. (via the Orpheum)

Battle of the Flavors at The Genre — 200 Poplar Ave., tonight, happy hour at 6, dinner at 7, $65, or $100 with cocktail pairings, plus fees. Two chefs trade five courses, and the table votes on the winner. Details

Monday, Oct. 12, Career Academy's next four-week day class starts training CNAs for $1,350 all-inclusive, and it costs nothing to apply online.

Preschool on the horizon? Midsouth Therapy Group's Preschool Readiness group in Cordova gets kids 3 to 5 ready for classroom routines and the social side of school, weekday mornings from 8:30 to noon with part-time options, so save your kid a spot.

Saturday's storms are the hinge between summer and real fall, so have Cordova Heating & Air check your furnace or heat pump before the first cold night does.

Worthington Chiropractic in Bartlett has a $49 new-patient special that includes your first adjustment, so book a visit and mention the special.

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A note from Hey Memphis: Want your business in this list? We're booking spots now. Fill out our advertise form and we'll write back with what's open.

Memphis Madness: Zoo Hoops — Memphis Zoo, Tuesday, Oct. 13, doors 5, show 6, free. Both Tigers basketball teams tip off the season at the zoo, with the band and trick-or-treat stations. Details

Matt Rife — FedExForum, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, 8 PM. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, at 10 AM. Details

Southern Flea Market — Liberty Park, Oct. 17–18, Saturday 9–5 and Sunday 9–4, $2 adults, 12 and under free, free parking. Details

A reader tip for Saturday: Deneice D. sent us Ska-Tober Fest at Meddlesome Brewing in Cordova, 4 to 10 PM. Six ska bands, including The Stepmoms and The Skalors, plus Hot N Heavy Dogs. Meddlesome hasn't posted a cover. Details

And a question, courtesy of Olivia F.: who in Memphis goes all out on Halloween decorations? Hit reply with the spot, and we'll run the best ones before the 31st.

The tip line never closes — a pop-up, a band, a Saturday we missed. No gatekeeping — send it to hey@heymemphis.co.

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

— Josh