Who’s ready for the music to make you lose control? It’s Friday, May 2, and Missy Elliott will be working it as the opening-night headliner at Riverbeat Music Festival in Tom Lee Park. If you’re going for any of the fest’s three days, our day-by-day music guides will be your best friend — your festie bestie, even.

But there’s more to life than music. Like, fashion and food. Memphis Art and Fashion Week kicks off today with a vintage shopping event and runs through May 9. And Food Network star Alton Brown’s last (according to him) big culinary variety show stops at the Orpheum Saturday night. 

Saturday brings festapalooza. There’s a puppy festival at Crosstown Concourse (yes, that’s right; dreams do come true). The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is hosting Chalkfest. And the Memphis Botanic Garden is finally having its Troll Fest that was canceled last month due to bad weather. On Sunday, you can run a beer mile (that’s four beers in one mile) at Global Café for a good cause (and a free margarita).

For even more weekend fun, check out The To-Do List.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert started collecting the increased car-registration fee in February 2025 instead of July 1, 2024. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Halbert’s costly mistake: Memphis Mayor Paul Young released the city’s proposed $883 million budget in April, and Daily Memphian reporter Samuel Hardiman has been digging in to find the big takeaways. Among them, Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert’s seven-month delay in collecting the raised car registration fee cost the city several million more than previously thought. There’s also bad news (or, rather, no news) in the budget for the “bring back Mud Island amphitheater” crowd.

Memphis firefighters responded to an overnight fire at Clayborn Temple on April 28. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

More loss at Clayborn Temple: The eastern wall at Clayborn Temple collapsed late Wednesday, two days after a fire destroyed most of the historic hub for the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike. That will complicate efforts by the nonprofit behind the temple’s restoration. Earlier this week, the group pledged to rebuild and said some of the church should be salvageable.

Along party lines: The Shelby County Republican Party voted Thursday to hold primary elections for local school-board seats, both for the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board and suburban districts. That request now goes to the Shelby County Election Commission. Shelby County is one of only a few counties in the state that doesn’t hold school-board primaries, but local Republicans have an interesting reason for wanting them. And at least one suburban mayor thinks it’s a bad idea.

Martin Zummach, attorney for former Memphis police officer Justin Smith, swung a pair of handcuffs while giving his opening statement in a Shelby County courtroom on April 28. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Update from the Nichols trial: On the fourth day of the trial for ex-Memphis cops Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley over Tyre Nichols’ 2023 death, the jury heard more from former officer Preston Hemphill, who was on the scene of the initial traffic stop and described the night of the beating. A defense attorney for Haley also called on a man to testify that an ID found in Nichols’ car had been stolen from him months earlier. Later in the day, a forensic pathologist testifying for the defense said the conditions that led to Nichols’ death developed after he had been hospitalized. Read all of our day-by-day Nichols trial coverage here.

QUOTED

Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins, seen in a file photo, spoke with former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin during an interview event on Wednesday, April 30. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

“Seats are up. And the seats are for the taking, so let’s go take some seats.”

— Marie Feagins, former Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent
Feagins, who was fired from her top job at MSCS, encouraged her supporters to let their voices be heard at the ballot box in 2026, when at least four school-board seats will be open. She was speaking at an “open to the public” interview event with former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin on Wednesday. But our Daily Memphian reporter was denied access.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Three generations posed at the Grand Carousel at the Children’s Museum of Memphis. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Spinning through time: Jeannine Barganier’s parents met in the late 1940s on the Grand Carousel that’s now a centerpiece at the Children’s Museum of Memphis. Back then, it was part of a pre-Libertyland city amusement park on the fairgrounds. It was later moved a few feet to become part of Libertyland ahead of its 1974 opening, and today, it remains one of only 26 Dentzel-carved carousels in North America. On Thursday, the carousel doubled as a time machine, as Barganier gathered a family day with her four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren who were in town from hours away. The Daily Memphian’s Jane Roberts has that heartfelt story.

Owner Lee Scifres (back left) with the Belly Acres Collierville crew. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Up with burgers, down with coffee: Belly Acres’ farm-to-table burger chain is opening its new Collierville spot this Saturday, and there will be door prizes for the early birds. But when one door closes, another opens. And the doors at Downtown’s Bluff City Coffee are closed for good after nearly two decades. (Guess it just wasn’t meant to bean?) But Bluff City Coffee hasn’t disappeared entirely. Read more on those stories and a new (and vegan-friendly) Indian spot on the Highland Strip in Food Files. In this week’s $10 Deal, Joshua Carlucci recommends a grits bowl at Barksdale’s — and he tells us about the (very weird) way he likes to eat his hash browns. (That grit bowl, by the way, is a clue in today’s 5 by 5 Crossword.)

GAWD is composed of Alayna Rodgers (left) and Alana Lindsey. (Courtesy Raedio)

It’s a GAWD thing: Memphis may be more connected than Kevin Bacon. Because it didn’t take six degrees to find a Memphis connection between two Riverbeat Music Festival performers who aren’t from Memphis. Rapper/drummer Anderson .Paak and DJ Tokimonsta have a GAWD connection — literally. Memphis-based R&B duo GAWD (Alana Lindsey and Alayna Rodgers) have performed backup vocals for both artists, and they’ll be performing on stage with both at Riverbeat.

GOT GAME?

It’s going to be a busy weekend in Memphis with Riverbeat Music Festival, Troll Fest, Chalkfest, Puppy Palooza and so much more. By Monday, you may need a chill night at home, maybe curled up with a good book, a puzzle on your phone and a glass of wine. Burke’s can help with that, and so can this week’s bookstore-inspired Jigsaw.

Burke’s Book Store is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Speaking of Burke’s, we’re getting a lot of mileage out of Jody Callahan’s excellent piece on the city’s 150-year-old bookstore. Our Word Search is Burke’s-themed, too. 

But hey, the weekend is here, so put those books down, and go paint the town! See you back here on Monday morning.

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