Memphis Creative Week: September 17–23, 2026

Best Bets

• Valerie June — Thursday: A hometown performance from a singular Memphis-rooted songwriter.

• Twelfth Night — Friday: Opening night for Theatre Memphis’s intimate, gender-bending Shakespeare production.

• Taz — Friday: A free Shell concert by the guitarist, singer, Broadway performer and Jon Batiste touring musician.

• Cooper-Young Festival — Saturday: More than 400 makers plus two stages of Memphis music.

• Withers to Wonder — Saturday: TAKE 6, Clint Holmes and Nnenna Freelon reinterpret Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder.

• Fear Circus — Saturday: Aerialists, contortion, horror characters and immersive audience interaction.

• Felicity — Monday: The Growlers concert that was missing from the earlier roundup.

• From Footlights to Spotlights — Tuesday: Hattiloo’s performance-driven history of Black theatre.

• FAKE record-release show — Wednesday: A free Murphy’s show celebrating the Memphis group’s debut LP.

Thursday, September 17

• 5–10 p.m. — Taste of Memphis 2026 with Shell on Wheels — Tiger Lane, Liberty Park · Price not posted. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A citywide culture-and-community festival with mobile Shell programming and an Opera Memphis appearance; exact main-stage performance times remain TBA.

• 5–7 p.m.; tour 5:30 p.m. — Preservation Posse: Mallory-Neely House — Mallory-Neely House, Victorian Village · Ticketed, members only. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Wine and cheese precede a rare guided look inside the 1852 Italianate mansion, including its architecture and original furnishings.

• 6–7 p.m. — Dance in 30 — Ballet Memphis, Overton Square · $30, including one drink. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  Thirty minutes of repertory—Julie Niekrasz’s Sa Voix and Steven McMahon’s Being Here With Other People—followed by an artist conversation. Repeated Friday.

• 6:30–8 p.m.; gates 5:30 p.m. — Memphis Rhythm Revue — The Grove at GPAC, Germantown · $13 adults; $8 ages 5–18; under 4 free; table seats $23. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Wyly Bigger, Benton Parker and Jad Tariq combine original Memphis R&B, three-part harmonies and food-truck picnic atmosphere.

• 6:30–9:30 p.m.; performances begin 7 p.m. — Speaker Box Slam — Hattiloo Culture Box, Overton Square · $10 advance/$12 door; competing poets free. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  Ten poets perform original work before audience-selected judges, with the series champion eventually earning a featured residency.

• 7 p.m. — Memphis Songwriters Series — Halloran Centre, South Main · $10 at the door · Ages 16+. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Mark Edgar Stuart hosts Raneem Imam, Justin Toland and Hope Clayburn in a conversational performance built around original songs and their stories.

• 7–9 p.m. — Jackie Venson — Overton Park Shell, Overton Park · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Venson blends formidable electric-guitar technique with blues, soul, electronic funk and psychedelic rock.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Will Abeles — Hi Tone Small Room, Crosstown · $13.50–$18.50. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The downstairs room supplies the night’s intimate independent-club alternative.

• Doors 6 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — The Cold Stares — Hernando’s Hide-A-Way, Whitehaven · $15–$20. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Heavy blues-rock in a historic Memphis roadhouse setting, well suited to the duo’s raw guitar-and-drums attack.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Valerie June — Satellite Music Hall, Crosstown · Current price at checkout · All ages. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  June’s homecoming brings her idiosyncratic synthesis of folk, soul, blues, country and spiritual searching to Memphis’s newest major music room.

Friday, September 18

• 11 a.m.–2 p.m. — PARK(ing) Day — Peabody Place, Downtown · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Downtown parking spaces become temporary parks, installations, games and public gathering places.

• 5:30–7:30 p.m. — John Robinette: Delta Nights reception — GPAC Patrick Lawton Lobby, Germantown · Free. [FREE] [OPENING RECEPTION]
  Meet the painter behind nocturnal Delta landscapes; the exhibition remains on view through November 2.

• Doors 5 p.m.; show 6 p.m. — Memphis miniFEST — Hi Tone Big Room, Crosstown · Price not posted. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Bridging the Music assembles emerging local and touring performers with visual art and a community-showcase format.

• 6–7:30 p.m. — Listen Up Session: Mike Wallace — Memphis Listening Lab, Crosstown Concourse · Price not posted. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A focused listening-room presentation at one of the city’s best resources for recorded-music history.

• Lobby 6 p.m.; pre-show 6:30; film 7:10 p.m. — Playback: The Matrix — MoSH Giant Screen Theater, East Memphis · $18.75. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Holtermonster supplies a theatrical pre-show, custom poster and special Hampline beer before the film fills the Pink Palace’s giant screen.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 7:30 p.m. — Singa B & The Blues Boyz: The Prince of Blues Live — The Green Room at Crosstown Arts · $20 advance/$30 door. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  An up-close contemporary-blues show in a room designed for attentive listening.

• 7 p.m. — BoDeans — Buckman Arts Center, East Memphis · $45. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The veteran roots-rock band plays Buckman’s unusually intimate theater rather than a conventional club.

• 7–9 p.m. — Taz — Overton Park Shell · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The former School of Rock Broadway star and current Jon Batiste touring guitarist is a charismatic, technically explosive live performer.

• 7:30 p.m. — Twelfth Night — opening night — Theatre Memphis Next Stage, East Memphis · $15–$62. [OPENING NIGHT] [ADVANCE TICKET]
  Shakespeare’s shipwrecks, disguises, gender play and romantic chaos launch Theatre Memphis’s smaller-stage season.

• 7:30 p.m. — Clue with post-show company Q&A — Orpheum Theatre, Downtown · $46.70–$162.15 · Recommended 12+. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE TICKET] [CLOSING WEEKEND]
  Friday’s performance of the fast 80-minute murder farce includes a complimentary behind-the-scenes discussion with company members.

• Doors 7:30 p.m.; shows 8 and 10:30 p.m. — Music Box: Jamille “JAM” Hunter — Hattiloo Culture Box, Overton Square · $20 advance/$25 door. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The jazz-and-soul singer, Hattiloo company member and veteran of Opera Memphis’s Aida performs two limited-seating sets.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — After the Rain with Serg., The Down Bads and Thundergun — Growlers, Midtown · $10. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A low-cost four-band rock bill that demonstrates why Growlers belongs in the weekly source rotation.

• 8 p.m. — Kool & the Gang and Patti LaBelle — Radians Amphitheater, East Memphis · Current price at checkout. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Celebratory funk and disco share the outdoor stage with Patti LaBelle’s gospel-rooted soul catalog.

• 8 p.m. — Gary Allan — Horseshoe Bluesville, Tunica Resorts · Current price at checkout · 21+. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A full theater show from the country singer known for pairing honky-tonk grit with polished arena production.

• Doors 8 p.m.; show 9 p.m. — United We Dance — Minglewood Hall, Midtown · Current price at checkout · Ages 18+. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  House, techno, bass and festival anthems are presented with lasers, rapid transitions and rave staging.

• 9 p.m. — DJ Livin Birthday Bash — Bar DKDC, Cooper-Young · Cover not posted. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Model Zero, Kate Teague, DJ Rhinestonee and DJ Divje Babe make this the night’s strongest grassroots late option.

• Doors 9 p.m.; show 10 p.m. — Superstition Darkwave Dance Night featuring BellHead — Hi Tone Big Room · $18.50. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A darkwave dance party capped by a performance from Chicago post-punk duo BellHead.

Saturday, September 19

• 9 a.m.–7 p.m. — Cooper-Young Festival — Cooper Street and Young Avenue · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  More than 400 artists and makers join two music stages featuring acts including African Jazz Ensemble, Raneem Imam, Twin Fiction and Joe Restivo 4.

• Noon–5 p.m. — OneHamp Festival — Howze Park, Binghampton · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A neighborhood-produced celebration with Shell on Wheels entertainment, music, free food, vendors and community activities.

• 4–7 p.m. — Larry Heard and Ross Devlin: On My Way book release — Memphis Listening Lab, Crosstown Concourse · Price not posted. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Music, conversation and Memphis history meet at a release celebration for the new book.

• 5:30 p.m. — KPOP Warriors — Renasant Convention Center, Downtown · $25 children/$37 adults · Recommended 6+. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Nonverbal dance, martial-arts movement, percussion, reactive LEDs and holographic imagery drive this family stage production.

• 7 p.m. — Memphis Armored Fight Club: Bluff City Brawl — Growlers, Midtown · Price not posted. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Full-contact armored combat turns a rock club into an unconventional live-action spectacle.

• 7–9 p.m. — Larry Springfield — Overton Park Shell · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The Memphis soul singer and former Star Search winner brings decades of Beale Street, Motown and B.B. King’s club experience to the Shell.

• 7 p.m. — Houndmouth — Satellite Music Hall, Crosstown · Current price at checkout · All ages. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Loose, harmony-heavy Americana and rock from a band built for a lively standing-room crowd.

• 7:30 p.m. — Dax Norman, Neon Glittery, Sly Watts, Felix Durante, Re.Rains and Moxie Macabre — Lamplighter Lounge, Midtown · Price not posted. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A WYXR-selected grassroots bill spanning experimental music, multimedia art and eccentric local performance.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Whether, Coachlight, Thundergun and Seize & Desist — Hi Tone Small Room · $15.50. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Four independent bands share the downstairs room—exactly the sort of substantial small-room bill that shorter roundups tend to miss.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — After Party Tour with Jo Tyler, Kng Ego and guests — Hi Tone Big Room · Price not posted · 21+. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The upstairs alternative is a touring showcase led by emerging hip-hop performers.

• Doors 7:30 p.m.; shows 8 and 10:30 p.m. — Music Box: Lawrence Matthews — Hattiloo Culture Box · $20 advance/$25 door. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Matthews’s multidisciplinary work connects experimental music, surreal imagery and Black spiritual traditions in two intimate sets.

• 8–9:30 p.m. — Withers to Wonder — GPAC, Germantown · Current price at checkout; low-ticket alert. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  TAKE 6, Clint Holmes and Nnenna Freelon reinterpret Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder with vocal virtuosity and storytelling.

• 8 p.m. — Fear Circus — Renasant Convention Center, Downtown · $37 · Recommended 13+. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Aerialists, contortionists, twisted clowns, haze, strobes and aisle interaction make this the week’s most overtly immersive theatrical experience.

Sunday, September 20

• 11:30 a.m.–noon — 30 Days of Opera at Biscuits & Jams — Venue details through Opera Memphis · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A concise professional pop-up that offers an easy, informal entry point into live opera.

• Doors 11 a.m.; show noon — Guitar Center Fall Showcase — Hi Tone Big Room, Crosstown · Price not posted.
  A daytime stage for emerging area performers and developing acts rather than an established touring headliner.

• 1–5 p.m. — An Investment in Pleasure: Fifty Years of the Dixon Collection — Dixon Gallery & Gardens, East Memphis · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [OPENING DAY]
  The Dixon displays more of its collection than ever before, in acquisition order, alongside the interactive Making an Impression gallery.

• 2:30 p.m. — The Sound of Music — closing performance — Harrell Theatre, Collierville · $20–$25. [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ADVANCE TICKET] [CLOSING PERFORMANCE]
  Final opportunity to see Collierville Arts Council’s community production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

• 2:30–4:30 p.m. — Memphis Symphony: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth — Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, University District · Approximately $19–$113. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  The 75th-season program combines Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fourth, Mason Bates’s Cello Concerto with Bryan Cheng and a Memphis-inspired orchestral work.

• 9 p.m. — Complimentary Vietnamese concert — Gold Strike Theatre, Tunica Resorts · Free with registration and rewards-card voucher · 21+. [FREE] [ADVANCE REGISTRATION] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  An all-Vietnamese cast makes this a distinctive cultural-concert option rarely represented in central Memphis calendars.

Monday, September 21

• Noon–12:30 p.m. — 30 Days of Opera at Crosstown Concourse — Crosstown Concourse · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A lunchtime professional-opera pop-up requiring only a half-hour commitment.

• 6–7 p.m. — YES& Improv Workshop — TheatreWorks, Overton Square · Free. [FREE]
  Bluff City Liars offers a no-commitment drop-in workshop for beginners and experienced improvisers—the week’s participatory theater choice.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Felicity: “Beyond” Part 2 Tour — Growlers, Midtown · $15–$20. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The Orlando alternative-rock band supplies Monday with a genuine touring club show; this is the listing omitted from the earlier roundup.

Tuesday, September 22

• 10–11 a.m. — Adult Tap Class — Watkins Studio Theater at GPAC · $20 drop-in. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  A participatory dance option for adults who would rather make performance than only watch it.

• 6:30–7:30 p.m. — Play All Night!: The Allman Brothers’ Fall 1971 Memphis show — Memphis Listening Lab · Price not posted. [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Historians Bob Beatty and Jeff Kollath revisit Duane Allman’s final Memphis appearance and the original band’s last year together.

• 6:30–7:30 p.m. — 30 Days of Opera: Hobbit Day — Novel, Laurelwood/East Memphis · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Philip Himebook and Opera Memphis pair Tolkien-inspired music with an unusually playful bookstore setting.

• Lobby 5:30 p.m.; show 6:30 p.m.; after-party 8:30–10 p.m. — From Footlights to Spotlights: Black Theatre’s Path — Halloran Centre, South Main · $21.70–$24.10. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  Hattiloo stages—not lectures—a timeline of Black theatre’s struggles, breakthroughs and contemporary Memphis voices. Tuesday includes the anniversary after-party; a second performance follows Wednesday.

• Doors 6:30 p.m.; show 7:30 p.m. — GWAR with Weedeater and BRAT — Satellite Music Hall · Current price at checkout · All ages. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  GWAR qualifies as performance theater: grotesque characters, mythology, costumes, stage combat and theatrical gore are central to the production.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 7:30–10 p.m. — Jazz Jam hosted by the UofM Jazz Singers Alumni Ensemble — The Green Room at Crosstown Arts · $7; participating musicians free. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  Emerging and established musicians can share the stage with four alumni of the University of Memphis Jazz Singers.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Ask Carol with Aidan Osias and Keer — Growlers, Midtown · $10–$15. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Norwegian indie-rock duo Ask Carol is paired with two Memphis songwriters on a strong, inexpensive international-and-local bill.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Open Mic Comedy Night — Hi Tone Small Room · Free. [FREE]
  A useful grassroots stage for seeing new Memphis comedy material before it migrates into polished showcases.

Wednesday, September 23

• Noon–1 p.m. — Munch and Learn: Living and Working in Layers — Dixon Gallery & Gardens · Free. [FREE] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Debbie Likley Pacheco discusses her combination of urban photography, digital manipulation, paint and wax.

• 1:15–1:45 p.m. — 30 Days of Opera at the Dixon — Dixon Gallery & Gardens · Free. [FREE] [FAMILY-FRIENDLY] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  The timing allows the opera pop-up to function as a compact companion to the Dixon’s lunchtime artist talk.

• 5:30–8:30 p.m. — Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis — Loflin Yard, South Main/Fort Pickering · $40, including food, beverages and two drink tickets. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Black Cream and Star & Micey perform while winning local restaurants and businesses gather for the Flyer’s annual celebration.

• Doors 6:30 p.m.; show 7 p.m. — Laugh Box: Tootie Two Times and DeMarcus Head — Hattiloo Culture Box · $12 advance/$15 door. [ADVANCE TICKET]
  An intimate regional-comedy showcase with a Memphis-raised headliner whose storytelling draws heavily from family and local life.

• 7 p.m. — FAKE record-release show — Murphy’s, Midtown · Free. [FREE] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  Tim Prudhomme, Dustin Crops, Andrew Geraci and Keith Cooper celebrate Undershirt with chiming, earthy guitar rock and deliberately bubblegum-adjacent hooks.

• Doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m. — Memphis Underworld Presents — Hi Tone Small Room · $15.50. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  A locally promoted underground bill in the downstairs room; the venue had not yet published fuller artist details when checked.

• 8 p.m. — YVNG $ICK and nine-act hip-hop bill — Growlers, Midtown · $10. [ADVANCE TICKET] [ONE-NIGHT-ONLY]
  ITZPOLO, MOWSER, Walkdown Sosa, Ka$h Bond, Cohl Wayne, King $olomon and others make this an unusually deep grassroots rap showcase.