The Metal Museum opens in Overton Park, a birthday picnic at the Shell, and bluegrass in Collierville

Hey Memphis 👋 It’s Friday. Partly sunny and 95, heat index up to 103 — and the storms slid later. We told you yesterday they’d start in the morning; the forecast now holds them off until about 1. Take the morning.

Yesterday we mapped the weekend out. Today it starts. The first thing on it is a museum unlocking its front door for the very first time, on a block that already has a birthday going. (Missed the plan? Yesterday’s guide is here.)

The Metal Museum reopens in Overton Park — 1930 Poplar Ave., 11 AM–5 PM, $10 for adults and $5 for kids 5 to 17, free under 4. The new building takes its first walk-in visitors today. It sits two doors down from the Shell, so the museum’s opening day and the Shell’s ninetieth birthday are happening on the same stretch of Poplar. Details

90th Shellebration: Birthday Picnic — Overton Park Shell, 1928 Poplar Ave., noon–2 PM, free. The Memphis Youth Symphony plays the Shell a happy birthday, with players aged 6 to 19. Bring a blanket and get there at noon rather than 1 — that’s when the rain chance starts climbing. Details

The Classic Alumni Prelude — A Forkful, 2650 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 1200, 6–9 PM, free. Alcorn and Arkansas-Pine Bluff alumni in one room at a Black-owned Memphis restaurant the night before the Classic. It’s behind a gate — go in off Clearbrook from American Way, or you’ll circle the block. Details

Alex Kumin at The Pit Comedy Club — Flyway Brewing, 598 Monroe Ave., doors 7, show 8, $15 for the first fifteen tickets, then $20 ahead or $25 at the door. The room opened last night with Kumin’s solo hour — tonight is a different set. Seventy-five seats, in the back of a brewery. Details

Bluegrass Jam on the Collierville Square — Town Square Park, 96 N. Center St., 7–10 PM, free. An open circle on the square: bring an instrument and sit in, or bring a chair and don’t. Details

👶 With the kids

Songbird Stroll — Overton Park, East Parkway Pavilion, 389 E. Parkway N., 8–9 AM, free. An hour in the Old Forest with somebody who can name what you’re hearing. Bring binoculars or borrow a pair there. Details

STEM: Word Race! — Orange Mound Library, 843 Dallas St., 3:30–5 PM, free, ages 5 to 12. Program a robot to beat everybody else’s to the word and then to the finish line. Details

Goat Days Movie Night — Millington Performing Arts Center, 5006 School St., doors 5:45, movie at 6, $5 for ages 3 and up. Millington opens Goat Days weekend by screening an animated movie about a goat, which is the correct level of commitment to a theme. Details

Riverside Drive closes overnight this weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., between Beale and Georgia. The city started the weekend closures last week and is asking drivers to take another route. (via City of Memphis)

The old Railgarten lot is a playground now. Stomping Grounds has opened at 2166 Central Ave. — the sand volleyball court is a mulched play area, the indoor bar is an indoor play space, and it’s open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. (via Memphis Flyer)

Fairley High School cut the ribbon this week on a community-school partnership with Agape. The idea is one front door at the school for tutoring, workforce help, health and family support. (via Action News 5)

Hive has opened its second shop — 585 Erin Drive, East Memphis. Bagels baked on site, and the Elvis Bagel is banana, peanut butter, honey and bacon, which is either a tribute or a dare. Details

A note from Hey Memphis

Want to support Hey Memphis? We’re booking sponsored spots. We started this to put Memphis things in front of Memphis people, and we think your business deserves that chance too. See how a spot works →

Central Gardens Home & Garden Tour — Sunday, 1–6 PM. Fiftieth year of the one afternoon the neighborhood lets you inside the houses you’ve only ever driven past, with free shuttles running between them. Worth knowing today: the $20 advance ticket stops selling tomorrow, and it’s $30 on the day. Details

Artists’ Link Autumn Showcase — WKNO’s Gallery 1091, 7151 Cherry Farms Rd. in Cordova. The artists stand with their own work Sunday from 2 to 4; the show hangs weekdays, 9 to 4, through the 29th. A reader sent us this one, which is how the best ones tend to arrive. Details

Cooper-Young Festival — Saturday, September 19, 9 AM to 7 PM. Thirty-eighth year, and it takes the whole neighborhood for the day. Put it on the calendar now if you had any thoughts about parking near Cooper and Young that morning. Details

Megan O. wrote in Wednesday morning, about the free guitar class at Cossitt Library that ran in that day’s issue: “Yes, I’m going to the guitar thing tonight!” She’d been reading us for a week.

That’s the entire point of this thing, and we’d like more of it. So: what’s the last thing you actually went to because you read about it here? Hit reply and tell us — we run the good ones.

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

That’s it from us — the planning’s done, the fun part’s yours. See you Monday at 6.

— Josh