Barbecue teams, food vendors and cooking demos are set up in Tom Lee Park ahead of the inaugural festival’s opening day.

Filmmaker Miroslav Mitic is opening the Dream Magic Daily Market on the ground floor of the Exchange Building. 

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris told the Memphis Rotary Club he has asked leaders of both of the city’s health care giants about becoming involved in the rebuild of Regional One Health. But he also admitted the discussions haven’t gotten very far yet.

The Downtown Memphis Commission uses security checkpoints on Beale Street on the weekends. But that private security does not screen patrons all night, every night. Security checkpoints come down at some point, while some bars are still open.

The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is back for the 46th year. We’ve got your guide to the food, tent etiquette, entertainment and more for this year’s event in Liberty Park. 

Freelance photographer Ziggy Mack caught the action, sights, and the crowd at Riverbeat on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

The circuitous journey of the Fugees, a landmark 1990s’ New York hip-hop trio, landed them on the banks of the Mississippi River, at Memphis’ first Riverbeat Music Festival, on Saturday night.

The celebration was held on the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board desegregation case ruling and featured an outdoor giveaway of children’s books for grades pre-K to sixth grade and up.

The City of Memphis’ proposed capital-improvement budget includes issuing $17.6 million in debt over four years for the amphitheater’s renovation. A potential big-name operator could be interested, too.

The Memphis-based artisan coffee roaster, is closing its Downtown coffee shop and roastery. 

The apartment complex at 645 N. Front St. is part of the $75 million second phase of the 65-acre mixed-use development. The project was launched in 2016 to turn an abandoned industrial park in Uptown into a thriving neighborhood. 

Bewhiskered members of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas call their red-suited Christmas service a labor of love.

The cobblestone landing project got underway in 2017. It seeks to make the public and historic space on the city’s harbor more accessible with amenities like floating restaurants.

The owners of The Dame, which will be located in a den-like space inside the renovated Hotel Pontotoc, say they plan to fill a niche for people looking for a nice glass of wine outside a high-end restaurant. 

Tom Lee Park is expected to welcome its 500,000th visitor this month, eight months after its formal opening on the Labor Day weekend. The park closes next Sunday for the Riverbeat load-in, but will reopen partially between the music festival and the SmokeSlam barbecue contest.

“Overall, eggs fluctuate like the stock market did in 2019 – up 500, down 400,” said Jeff Zepatos, owner of Downtown’s Arcade Restaurant. “I’m not sure if we are winning at points or breaking even.”

“Everybody got a festival celebrating their own heritage and ethnicity,” David Acey said. “So, our efforts in the early ’60s was to develop something that could get our people into their history and culture.”

The separate I-55-Crump Boulevard roundabout currently under construction just east of the old Memphis-Arkansas Bridge got a lot of attention at the first public hearing on the new bridge, planned for just south of the existing one.

Zio Matto Gelato, the popular gelato that has been seen in grocery stores, restaurants and even FedExForum, now has a storefront on the ground floor of the Central Station Hotel. 

New bands performing this season are Fleetwood Mac tribute band Landslide on April 25, Grit & Grind Music Machine on May 30 and Memphis Soul Remedy on July 18.

The three Memphis buildings were among 26 historic properties statewide chosen for the program, which aims to encourage investment in abandoned historic buildings. 

Riverside Drive closes, as it has for decades, on April 22. But Tom Lee Park will be partially open between the Riverbeat and SmokeSlam events in May.

The Orpheum Theatre might get string lights, Hotel Pontotoc might have a new restaurant, a new construction trades space on Decatur Street and safety repairs and improvements to come at The Businessmen’s Club.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones will headline the inaugural SmokeSlam barbecue contest. The lineup also includes rap, rock and funk.

“We want to build this brand,” organizer Nick Barbian said. “It’s something that can be hopefully the launch of spring and summer event season here in Memphis.”