Welcome back to The To-Do List where Daily Memphian staffers suggest their favorite events and activities for the coming week. 

This week, Ruby Bridges is here for her namesake reading festival and GWAR brings shock rock (and lots of fake blood) to Minglewood.

Smokeslam BBQ Festival at Tom Lee Park, Thursday-Saturday:

Fat Head BBQ reacted to a fourth-place finish in the Whole Hog category at SmokeSlam in Tom Lee Park on May 18, 2024. This year’s fest starts Thursday, May 15. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

The second annual Smokeslam BBQ Festival returns to Tom Lee Park Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17, with a barbecue-cooking contest and a very country-forward music line-up. Big & Rich and The Revivalists are headliners. There’s also a junior barbecue contest. Much like with the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, you’ll need to know someone on a team to sample the contest-prepared barbecue. But there will be barbecue samples in the live-fire area and food trucks. General admission is $31.89 for each day. Three-day passes and VIP tickets are also available. 422 Riverside Drive. Click here for more information. — Bianca Phillips

‘Secret Mall Apartment’ at Crosstown Theater, Thursday:

“Secret Mall Apartment” will screen at Crosstown Theater on Thursday, May 15. (Courtesy Wheelhouse Creative)

Maybe you remember the story, maybe you don’t: The discovery, a couple decades ago, of an apartment created somewhere inside a Providence, Rhode Island, shopping mall, where a local artist had been living undetected for years. The terrific new documentary, “Secret Mall Apartment,” tells the story of this daring endeavor, including new revelations (co-conspirators outing themselves) and never-before-seen footage that the interlopers took during their years-long gambit. But “Secret Mall Apartment” is more than just the story of a great stunt. It’s a commentary on gentrification, sure. But it also emerges as a truly stirring paean to the value of art — and mischief — itself. Read more about it in my Memphis Movies This Week column. “Secret Mall Apartment” screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, at Crosstown Theater, and tickets are $5. 1350 Concourse Ave. (It opens Friday for a full run at Ridgeway Cinema Grill, 5853 Ridgeway Center Pkwy.) — Chris Herrington 

‘The Boy Who Kissed the Sky’ at Hattiloo Theatre, opening Thursday:

Inspired by the early life of Jimi Hendrix, “The Boy Who Kissed the Sky” is set in Seattle’s Central District during the early era of rock ’n‘ roll. The story follows a young Black boy, modeled after Hendrix, who dreams of becoming a guitarist. The show, which premiered in Boston in 2023, blends magical play with music history to celebrate the life and creativity of Hendrix. You can read more about it in our May theater guide. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. May 16-June 8. $35 37 S. Cooper St. Click here for tickets.— Alys Drake

Happy Friday in the Grove at the Germantown Performing Arts Center, Friday:

The party formerly known as Happy Hour in the Grove is back with a new name. Now, it’s “Happy Friday,” and it’s kicking off with a show by Josh Threlkeld and Friends. They’ll play hits from every decade, and mixologist Brad Pitts (yes, that’s his real name) will be manning the bar. Fiesta Wagon and Mempops will provide the grub. 5-8 p.m. Free. 1801 Exeter Road, Germantown. Click here for more information. — Phillips

Ruby Bridges Reading Festival at the National Civil Rights Museum, Saturday:

Civil Rights and literacy advocate Ruby Bridges spoke at a Ruby Bridges Reading Festival panel on Saturday, May 4, 2024. This year’s fest is on Saturday, May 17. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian)

The eighth annual Ruby Bridges Reading Festival takes place in the museum’s courtyard. It is held in partnership with Civil Rights legend Ruby Bridges-Hall (who attends the event every year). The intended audience for the festival is children ranging from pre-K to elementary school ages, their families, and educators, and it celebrates reading, diversity and community, through storytelling and entertainment. Teachers — with a school ID — can receive free books for their classrooms. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free (register here). 450 Mulberry St. — Perry

The Cosmic Carnival: Community Art Festival at Off the Walls Arts, Saturday:

This free festival celebrates Memphis’ young artists. It’s set to include live music from the Memphis Youth Symphony Program and an alien-inspired fashion show by Bellevue Middle and Crosstown High students. Attendees can also take in High Expectations aerial performers in the Off the Walls art installation. There will also be art stations for children and food trucks on site. Noon to 4 p.m. Free. 360 Walnut St. Click here for more info. — Perry

‘Bill & Ted’s Insane Odyssey: The Complete Saga’ at Summer Drive-In, Saturday:

The Malco Summer Drive-In will close after this weekend. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

It’s the last weekend for the Summer Drive-In … ever. But you can do the Time Warp again, one last time. The now years-long monthly Time-Warp Drive-In series will have its last screening, at least at this venue, as the drive-in will permanently close after this weekend. The three-film bill is of all of the “Bill & Ted” films, starting with 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” in which a couple of “woah dude” high-school buds take a gnarly trip through history. Screenings begin at 7:45 p.m. Admission is $25 per car. 5310 Summer Ave. See here for more info. — Chris Herrington. 

City & State 10-year anniversary party, Sunday:

City & State celebrates 10 years in business with a party on Sunday, May 18. (The Daily Memphian file)

A decade flies when you’re having coffee. Celebrate 10 years of Broad Avenue java staple City & State at their anniversary festivities. Pick up handmade earrings from B.Sartain, coffee beans from Rigby Roastery, ceramics from Brit McDaniel or something you didn’t know you needed from Pretty Useful Co. (the shop connected to City & State). DJ Rhinestone will be spinning tunes, and, of course, there will be coffee. Come celebrate a Memphis treasure, and let’s hope City & State says, “well, hello” to plenty more decades to come. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (Coffee service ends at noon.) Free to attend. 2625 Broad Ave. Click here for more info. — Bowen

‘Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers’ screening at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Sunday:

The Brooks Museum will screen this documentary on Japanese avant-garde art as part of its film series. The film, directed by Amélie Ravalec, looks at how profound social change and political turmoil in 1960s, post-war Japan influenced a new generation of avant-garde artists who redefined the boundaries of art through photography, graphic design, underground theatre, performance art and radical Butoh dance. Butoh is said to explore the human condition through slow movements, and its practitioners cover themselves in white body paint. 2-4 p.m. $5. 1934 Poplar Ave. Click here for more info. — Phillips

Red Shoe Brew at Wiseacre Brewing OG, Sunday:

Ronald McDonald House Charities-Memphis houses children who are receiving treatment for cancer and other catastrophic illnesses at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. And Red Shoe Brew supports those efforts. The event includes live music from Almost Famous, a mystery-drink pull, yard games, Wiseacre beers (for those aged 21 and up), and unlimited (!) McDonald’s French fries and chicken nuggets. 3-6 p.m. $60 (tickets here). 2783 Broad Ave. — Perry

Mystery Movie at Malco Collierville Cinema Grill, Monday:

Malco Cinema Grill in Collierville is showing a mystery movie on Monday, May 19. (Ziggy Mack/The Daily Memphian file)

Malco Theaters plans to host an early screening of a new movie. What movie is it? You’ll find out when you get there. Here are a couple of clues: It’s rated PG, and it’s a drama. No refunds, exchanges, substitutions or credits will be provided on mystery-movie purchases. 7 p.m. $5 (plus tax). 380 Market Blvd., Collierville. — Perry

GWAR at Minglewood Hall, Tuesday:

GWAR fans will be covered in blood on Tuesday, May 20, at Minglewood Hall. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

Like so many teens in 1995, I was introduced to GWAR in the most innocent way possible — through the coming-of-age comedy “Empire Records.” In the movie, record-store employee Mark (played by Ethan Embry) eats a pot brownie and then hallucinates that he’s on-stage with the shock-rocking, thrash-metal band of monsters. And then GWAR kills him. So, maybe it wasn’t that innocent after all. Anyway, GWAR is coming to Minglewood, and maybe don’t go unless you’re cool with being covered in blood and other fake bodily fluids that we can’t even mention on this family-friendly news site. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m. $32-$40. 1555 Madison Ave. Click here for more info. — Phillips

Strangewaze Wednesdaze at Medical District Park, Wednesday:

The Memphis Medical District Collaborative will host Strangewaze Wednesdaze at Medical District Park on Wednesday, May 21. (Courtesy MMDC)

The Memphis Medical District Collaborative is bringing back its Strangewaze Wednesdaze party. This time it’s one-night-only, instead of a weekly party. The event includes free food and drink provided by area businesses, and music from DJ Bizzle BlueBland, Cat Daddy and the Iron Mic Coalition. There will also be a jookin’ performance, shopping vendors (including a tattoo pop-up and vintage), axe throwing, yoga, children’s crafts and the Amurica photo booth. Drinks and food are first-come, first-served. 5-9 p.m. Free (tickets here). Madison Avenue and South Dunlap St. — Perry

Editor’s note: Kevin McEniry — a member of the board of Memphis Fourth Estate, the nonprofit that owns and operates The Daily Memphian — is founder and master producer of the Mempho Festival and Mempho Presents. Mempho Presents puts on SmokeSlam BBQ Festival.

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