Rooftop ducks, a Greek picnic, and stars over the Mississippi: the weekend guide

Hey Memphis 👋 It's Thursday, and this is your Weekend Guide. The weather is cooperating for once: mostly sunny and 89 today, low near 70 tonight — the mildest evening of the week, no advisory in sight. Sunday is the one flirting with 96, so front-load the outdoor stuff. Five ways to use tonight below, then the whole weekend, mapped.

🌙 Tonight

Luke Bryan: Word on the Street Tour — BankPlus Amphitheater, Southaven, 7 PM, tickets via Ticketmaster. The biggest show in the metro this week is technically in Mississippi — stadium-level country, 20 minutes down I-55. Details

PJ Morton: Saturday Night, Sunday Morning Tour — Cannon Center, 8 PM, tickets via Ticketmaster. The Grammy-winning R&B songwriter and Maroon 5's longtime keys player brings his gospel-soul tour downtown, with DJ Arie Spins opening. Details

Play Some Skynrd — Collierville Town Square gazebo, 7–9 PM, free. Blankets and lawn chairs on the Square for two hours of Southern rock — and only one Thursday left in the concert season after tonight. (More ideas out that way in our Collierville guide.) Details

Free Drop-In Yoga — Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 6 PM, free. Forty-five minutes of gentle, all-levels yoga in the gardens — drop in at 6, done by 6:45, no registration and no cost. Details

Peabody Rooftop Party — The Peabody, 6–10 PM, $15 (21+). Thomas Cain plays the duck hotel's rooftop with the skyline behind him. The season wraps August 13, so these Thursdays are numbered. Details

☀️ Your Weekend in Memphis

Friday, July 24

Soulin' on the River — River Garden, North Front Street, 6–8 PM, free. The Overton Park Shell packs up its stage and takes it to the riverfront: free Memphis soul from Angie P. Holmes with the Mississippi as the backdrop, food trucks and a full bar on site — and they explicitly welcome coolers and picnic baskets. Details

Farm Park Fridays finale — Bobby Lanier Farm Park, Germantown, 9 AM–1 PM. Worth repeating from Wednesday's issue, because tomorrow really is the last one of 2026: produce, live music, food trucks, and farm animals, then the market is gone until spring. Details

Linda Gail Lewis — Hernando's Hide-A-Way, doors 6, show 8 PM, $20–25. Jerry Lee Lewis's sister is a rock-and-roll piano pounder in her own right, and Friday she is playing the historic South Memphis juke joint where that last name means something. Details

Kicked Outta the Botanic Garden — 902 Cooper St, Cooper-Young, 7 PM, $20 suggested donation (nobody turned away). Cult-favorite botany YouTuber Joey Santore signs books and delivers a two-hour rant on plant science and everything wrong with American landscaping. Details

Saturday, July 25

Memphis Greek Picnic — LeMoyne-Owen College, 1–8 PM, tickets on Eventbrite. The annual Divine Nine day party returns to BrownLee Lawn — seven hours of Greek life, music, and cookout energy at the HBCU. Details

Back to School Food Truck Festival — Shelby Farms Park, Gate 10, 11 AM–5 PM, free entry and free parking. Mid-South food trucks gather to send kids back to school fed and happy. Midday storms are possible Saturday, so keep a rain plan. Details

Super Saturday: Georgia O'Keeffe Flowers — Brooks Museum, 10 AM–noon, free (register ahead). Hands-on family art-making during the museum's free Saturday hours — kids take home big-bloom pastels inspired by O'Keeffe. Details

Children's Day at the Hernando Farmers Market — Hernando Town Square, 10 AM–noon, free. The first 100 kids get a free book and $5 in POP Bucks to spend on any fruit or vegetable in the market — they just have to hunt down which booth is hiding them. Details

Music Export Memphis's 10th Birthday Bash — W.C. Handy Park, Beale Street, 2–7 PM, free. The nonprofit that has paid more than $1 million to Memphis musicians over its first decade throws itself a free birthday concert — Hi Rhythm with Jerome Chism and Lina Beach, Optic Sink, Keia Johnson, Nick Black, and more. Details

Mike Doughty — First Congregational Church, Cooper-Young, 7 PM, $25.44–$31.30 with fees. The Soul Coughing founder plays a stripped-down set in a church sanctuary, with proceeds split between WYXR 91.7 and First Congo. Details

Stargazing at Beale Street Landing — 7:30–9:30 PM, free. The Memphis Astronomical Society sets up telescopes on the rooftop over the Mississippi. Saturday's storms are forecast to clear by evening, but it's a look-at-the-sky event — so look at the sky first. Details

Redbirds vs. Durham Bulls — AutoZone Park, gates 5 PM, first pitch 6:35. Saturday is the loaded one: the first 1,500 fans get a Redbirds football jersey, a $5 Coors Light plaza party runs until first pitch, and fireworks close the night. Details

Sunday, July 26

The Queer Kickback: The Family Reunion — Soccer City Indoor Center, Summer Avenue, 2–8:30 PM, free (paid tiers to $17.85). A family-reunion-style celebration for Memphis's queer community — cookout vibes, family portraits, a kids' pop-up, and two DJs. It's indoors, which on a 96-degree Sunday is the whole argument. Details

Trap Jazz 901 with La Chat — Rumba Room, South Main, 6–9 PM, tickets on Eventbrite. Memphis rap royalty meets a live band — La Chat headlines a trap-meets-jazz Sunday session with The Que'ludes. Details

Redbirds Sunday matinee — AutoZone Park, first pitch 1:05 PM. The homestand closes with an easy family matinee before the weekend winds down. Details

Want the whole verified list, updated daily? It lives at heymemphis.co/events.

📰 The Rundown

Just in time for the weekend homestand: City Council voted unanimously to put $5 million into repairs and improvements at AutoZone Park. (via Tri-State Defender)

Memphis's long-awaited first In-N-Out hit a speed bump: construction is temporarily paused after a county citation over unpermitted demolition work at the site. It's still slated to be the chain's first Memphis location. (via FOX13)

School-supply giveaways are popping up across the Mid-South — Grizzlies forward GG Jackson handed out supplies at the Boys & Girls Club this week, and there's a running list of what's ahead. Add one more: the Raleigh Library gives away free backpacks Saturday 10 to 1, first come, no signup. (via Action News 5)

If a court date or payment got pushed this month: Memphis Municipal Courts and the City Court Clerk's office are back open at 201 Poplar after a week of water main repairs. (via Action News 5)

🍽️ Food & Drink

The ChampionSip bracket is down to the wire — Edible Memphis has 16 Memphis iced coffees facing off all month, the round of 16 closes Friday, and the Icy Eight starts Saturday. Tag an iced-coffee photo with @ediblememphis and the shop's handle to enter; every tag is a shot at a $100 gift card, and tagging all 16 shops qualifies you to judge the finale. Need a starting lineup? Our coffee guide has you covered. Details

🎟️ Looking Ahead

An Orpheum double on-sale, tomorrow morning — Singalong Broadway (October 11) and Mannheim Steamroller (December 26) tickets both go on sale Friday. Details

SUFFS — the Tony-winning suffragist musical hits the Orpheum next weekend, July 31–August 2. Tickets are on sale now. Details

Live at the Garden opens August 6 — Deep Purple with Kansas kicks off the Radians Amphitheater season two weeks from tonight; John Legend follows August 14. Details

🏡 Community Corner

Wednesday we asked which patio you've been waiting all month to get back to — hit reply and tell us, and we'll share the favorites. And if your weekend turns up something the whole city should know about — a pop-up, a yard-sale score, a band — no gatekeeping — send it to hey@heymemphis.co.

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

— Josh