There are a lot of events coming up this weekend in Memphis as we wrap up the spring festival season.
Perhaps the biggest party is Memphis Italian Fest. It’s not Downtown, unfortunately; it’s out east at Marquette Park, at the corner of Park and Mt. Moriah. Hours are
- Thursday, June 2: 4:00-11:00 PM
- Friday, June 3: 11:00 AM-11:00 PM
- Saturday, June 4: 11:00 AM-11:00 PM
This festival is a lot like BBQ Fest in that it’s a cooking competition, teams build private booths, and the festival is definitely more fun if you know people on teams and get invited to their booths. They have live music all three days, authentic Italian food by Italian Rebel and Pete & Sam’s that can be purchased by the public, cooking demos, other food vendors (including Pronto Pups), “Luigi Land” carnival area with rides and games, bocce, cornhole, volleyball, and a raffle for a 2022 Chevrolet Equinox LS.
The other big event coming up is Mid-South Pride 2022, celebrating the area’s LGBTQ+ community June 2-5. Activities include
- A Drag & Drive at the Summer Drive-in Thursday, June 2 at 7 PM, showing To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar! Following the movie there will be a drag show.
- The Big Gay Dance Party, Crosstown Theater, Friday, June 3 at 8 PM
- Pride Festival, Robert Church Park, Saturday, June 4 from 10 AM to 5 PM
- The Pride Parade, Beale Street, Saturday, June 4 at 1 PM
- The Grand Marshal’s Drag Brunch, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Cafe on Beale Street, Sunday, June 5 at 11 AM
The Memphis Craft Food & Wine Festival is this Sunday at The Columns at One Commerce Square. Enjoy bite-sized tastes of local and regional artisanal food products paired with wine, beer, and cider. A VIP all-access ticket gets you tastes from 2 to 7 PM, while a general admission ticket buys you a 5 to 7 time window.
On a related note: Feast & Graze will have shortened hours this week as they prepare for the craft food & wine festival: 11 AM to 2 PM, with deliveries possible but limited. They have a CFWF10 coupon code you can use for $10 off festival tickets.
Magician Grant Freeman brings An R-Rated Magic Show to the Halloran Centre this Friday. Tickets are $28-$44.
Mouserocket and Ibex Clone play the River Series at Harbor Town Amphitheater Saturday, June 4.
Elmwood Cemetery will offer a mausoleum tour Saturday at noon. Mausoleums are above-ground burial tombs and there are nine on the cemetery grounds. $20. This is a 90-minute walking tour, so wear comfortable shoes.
The night before, at 8:15 Friday, Elmwood will show Casablanca in its Cemetery Cinema series. The TigerQue food truck and the Tipsy Tumbler beverage truck will be on site.
In this week’s Street Food column, the DM’s Chris Herrington presents his top finds at the Memphis Farmers Market (8 AM-1 PM Saturdays at Front & G.E. Patterson) and the Cooper-Young Farmers Market.
The DM has a look back at the Memphis Mushroom Festival that happened at Shelby Forest last weekend.
The NCAA baseball regional playoff brackets were announced yesterday.
That’s the news for today. Back tomorrow with more.