Memphis Creative Week: August 20–26, 2026

Best Bets

• Edgy Tomato Festival — Saturday: Free, all-ages food-and-art takeover with 100+ artworks and eccentric tomato creations.

• Memphis Matters — Saturday: Memphians’ stories become unscripted theater, music, and movement in real time.

• Beale Street Saturday Night — Saturday: Live scoring, projection mapping, film, and improvisation inside historic—and reportedly haunted—A. Schwab.

• Agave & Ash Festival — Sunday: A polished 21+ mix of Memphis culture, live music, visual art, tequila, and cigar craftsmanship.

• Alley Dayz — Wednesday: Free Downtown block party with Preauxx, DJ Zetta, CxffeeBlack, River City Records, and local vendors.

Thursday, August 20

• 6–8 p.m. — Art & Aperitifs: Memphis College of Art Panel
  Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar Ave. — Overton Park
  Registration required; current price shown during checkout. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A timely discussion of MCA’s artistic legacy, held alongside the Brooks exhibition featuring 90 faculty members, alumni, and administrators.

• 6–8 p.m. — Flower Happy Hour with Everbloom
  Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Rd. — East Memphis
  $45 members / $55 nonmembers; 21+. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Learn professional floral-design techniques and leave with your own arrangement; supplies are included.

• 7–9 p.m. — The Parallax View
  Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave. — Crosstown
  Ticketed; current price at checkout. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Alan J. Pakula’s definitive 1970s conspiracy thriller deserves Crosstown’s proper theatrical projection.

Friday, August 21

• 3–10 p.m. Friday; 1–10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — FoodieLand Memphis
  Tiger Lane at Liberty Park, 940 Early Maxwell Blvd.
  From $20 online; food sold separately; parking $11.50. Children 5 and younger enter free. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE-TICKET]
  More than 250 food, craft, and entertainment vendors, plus a substantial local-music schedule. Friday includes Slow Spread Love, Prime Society, and DJ J Reid; see the full lineup.

• 7:30–9:30 p.m. — Speak, Salvation, Speak
  Hattiloo Theatre, 37 S. Cooper St. — Overton Square
  $60. [ADVANCE-TICKET]
  Harry Lennix stars in a new family drama about Pentecostal faith, ancestral tradition, inheritance, and survival. Additional performances run through September 6.

• 8–11 p.m. — Frankie Hollie & The Noise
  Slider Inn Downtown, 363 Mulberry St. — South Main
  Free; food and drinks available. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  An easygoing outdoor local-band night with no cover, cabana seating, and a kid- and pet-friendly setup.

Saturday, August 22

• 10 a.m.–noon — Super Saturday: Optical Illusions
  Memphis Brooks Museum of Art — Overton Park
  Free, drop-in; materials provided. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY]
  A hands-on art session exploring perception and visual trickery; distinctive enough to merit inclusion despite being part of a recurring series.

• 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m. — Native Plant Palooza
  Lichterman Nature Center — East Memphis
  Free admission all day. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Plant sales, foraging and wildlife talks, a tree walk, animal ambassadors, and nature crafts for younger gardeners.

• 3–10 p.m. — Analog Fest 2026
  Ghost River on Main, 827 S. Main St. — South Main
  $5 early-bird / $15 at the door; 21+. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Seven hours of emerging Memphis music, including Foreign Sinatra, David Alxander, dav!d, ADUBB, Juanpre, and Liam Elliott.

• 4–9 p.m. — Edgy Tomato Festival
  Marshall and Monroe corridor — Edge District
  Free admission; food and drinks priced separately. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The inaugural neighborhood festival combines tomato specials, a 30-plus-vendor market, demos, an all-red car show, and more than 100 tomato-themed works at Ugly Art Co.

• 7–9 p.m. — Memphis Matters: Stories of New Beginnings
  TheatreSouth inside First Congregational Church, 1000 S. Cooper St. — Cooper-Young
  $20 regular / $40 pay-it-forward; ages 8–17 with an adult. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Audience stories are immediately transformed into Playback Theatre using speech, movement, and music—an unusually intimate grassroots performance.

• 7–11 p.m. — Beale Street Saturday Night
  A. Schwab, 163 Beale St. — Downtown
  $25 advance / $40 door. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Optic Sink, We Live on the New Madrid, Jenny Davis, DJ Kitschy Kat, and visual artists Infinity Stairs turn the upstairs into a cinematic audiovisual environment.

• 8 p.m.; doors 7 p.m. — 901 Rising: Dead Soldiers & Jombi
  Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison Ave. — Midtown
  About $22 plus fees; all ages, standing-room general admission. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The first edition of Minglewood and WYXR’s “locals are legends” series spotlights two strong Memphis bands on a full-size stage.

• 7:30–9:30 p.m. — The Music Man
  Theatre Memphis, 630 Perkins Extended — East Memphis
  $15–$62. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE-TICKET]
  Theatre Memphis opens its 106th season with a large-scale, locally produced rendition of the classic musical.

Sunday, August 23

• 1–6 p.m. — The Jaye Sent Me Marketplace
  Taylor Made Event Center, 4210 Altruria Rd. — Bartlett
  Free to shop; optional paint-and-sip $20. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY]
  A grassroots market built to increase the visibility of Black-owned fashion, food, beauty, and handmade-goods businesses.

• 1–6 p.m. — Agave & Ash Festival
  Event Stage & Lawn at Shelby Farms Park, 6903 Great View Dr. N.
  Approximately $50–$125 depending on package; 21+. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Premium agave tastings and cigars meet live music, art, fashion, and Memphis cultural programming in an outdoor festival setting.

• 6–9 p.m. — Back Alley String Band
  Huey’s Southaven, 7090 Malco Blvd.
  No cover; food and drinks extra. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A regional quintet blending old-time music, bluegrass, jug band, Hill Country blues, Irish traditional music, and jazz.

• 7:30 p.m. — Black Stone Cherry
  1884 Lounge at Minglewood Hall — Midtown
  Resale tickets only; prices vary. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A compact-room appearance from the Kentucky hard-rock band, with Thundergun and The Eastwoods opening.

Monday, August 24

• 9 a.m.–6 p.m. — Kim Jorgensen and Deanna Mullins exhibitions
  Memphis Botanic Garden — East Memphis
  Exhibit viewing is free; regular garden admission applies if exploring the grounds. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY]
  Monday is otherwise lean for one-off cultural events, making this a good uncrowded opportunity to see Jorgensen’s layered mixed-media work and Mullins’ brightly colored, pattern-rich paintings.

Tuesday, August 25

• 4–7 p.m. — Off the Clock with DJ Rhinestonee
  Main Street Patio at Renasant Convention Center, 255 N. Main St. — Downtown
  Free with RSVP. [FREE] [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A relaxed open-air DJ set with cocktails and food; it moves indoors if weather intervenes.

• 6 p.m. — Susan Eva O’Donovan with Charles W. McKinney Jr.: Moving Toward Freedom
  Novel, 387 Perkins Extended — Laurelwood/East Memphis
  Free event; hardcover $35. [FREE] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A launch-night conversation about how enslaved Americans developed political knowledge and helped shape their own freedom.

• 7:30–10 p.m.; doors 7 p.m. — Jazz Jam hosted by Kenny Reed
  The Green Room at Crosstown Arts — Crosstown
  $7 plus fees; free for participating musicians. [ADVANCE-TICKET]
  Young players and Memphis jazz veterans share the stage for spontaneous, intergenerational music-making.

Wednesday, August 26

• Noon–1 p.m. — Munch and Learn: Café Places, Café Faces
  Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Ave. — East Memphis
  Free; lunch optional and separate. [FREE] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Dixon curator Julie Pierotti explores the people and social spaces behind the museum’s Café Society exhibition.

• Noon–1:30 p.m. — Celebrate What’s Right: Memphis of the Future
  Hardin Hall at Memphis Botanic Garden — East Memphis
  $100, including lunch. [ADVANCE-TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A future-facing civic conversation about entrepreneurship and attracting and retaining businesses in Memphis.

• 5:30–7:30 p.m. — Alley Dayz: Barboro Alley
  Barboro Alley — Downtown
  Free and open to all. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Preauxx and DJ Zetta soundtrack a neighborhood celebration featuring CxffeeBlack, River City Records, pop-ups, and local businesses.