Top authors from around the world will parachute into South Florida this weekend for the Miami Book Fair, a daring rescue mission to provide sustenance to starving victims of the ongoing culture war in the region.
The eight-day festival will be at its zenith in the next few days as it closes with compelling discussions of culture, politics, literature, art and music, along with kid-friendly readings and activities, live performances and the always-popular Street Fair.
Among those with boots on the ground this weekend: Stephen King, Mary Karr, Edwidge Danticat, Malcolm Gladwell, Amy Tan, Jonathan Lethem, Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Kwame Alexander, Campbell McGrath, Richard Blanco, Robert Pinsky, Francine Prose, Connie Chung, Jorge Ramos, Don Lemon, George Pelecanos, Richard Reeves, Ruth Reichl, Roy Blount Jr. and playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler).
Musician-writers Patti Smith, Thurston Moore and Kathleen Hanna are also scheduled to discuss their recent books. As for live music, look for a performance by the Rock Bottom Remainders (with authors Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Stephen King, Mitch Albom, Scott Turow and others) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Events take place at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami (300 NE Second Ave.). Higher profile authors are part of the Evening With series, which are ticketed events with a typical admission price ($35) that includes a copy of the book and the option to buy a companion ticket ($10-$15).
The iconic Street Fair will roll out from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday (gates open at 9 a.m.), with admission free on Friday. Single-day tickets (in advance or at the gate) are $12, $7 for seniors, $5 for teens (age 13-17), free for age 12 and younger. Two-day passes cost $18/$12/$8.
For more information, visit MiamiBookFair.com.
FRIDAY
Wave action: Prolific surf filmmaker Taylor Steele’s Solento Surf Festival sets up at Savor Cinema in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. for two nights of movies, live music and appearances by top wave riders. Friday’s schedule is highlighted by a Q&A session with four-time world champion Lisa Andersen (of Ormond Beach) and music from locals The Floridians, while Saturday will include an appearance by rising star Ryan Huckabee (of Flagler Beach) with his film “Huck,” and music from Camp Blu. Tickets cost $30+ per day at Florida.SolentoSurfFestival.com.
Pet sounds: Kelsey Cook is a comedian, but she is serious about some things, like foosball (Google her) and dog and cat overpopulation, which prompted her and partner Chad Daniels to do one of the great PETA public service announcements of all time. Daniels, also apparently a comedian, is still treating the wounds she left him with. Cook is at the Dania Improv in Dania Beach for shows on Friday at 7:30 and 10 p.m., at Saturday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30+ at DaniaImprov.com.
Future laughs: Actor and comedian Wanda Sykes will bring her 2025 Please & Thank You Tour to the Fillmore Miami Beach on May 16, with tickets on sale now at 10 a.m. Visit LiveNation.com. … Sebastian Maniscalco has added a third show on April 5 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, where he is also performing on April 3-4. Tickets are available at MyHRL.com. … British comedian Jimmy Carr will be at Hard Rock Live on Sept. 23, with tickets on sale at MyHRL.com.
Merry Grinchmas: One of the signature community gathering spots in South Florida, the ArtsPark at Young Circle in downtown Hollywood on Friday will host its annual tree-lighting festivities, including an appearance by Santa and a screening of “The Grinch” (the 2018 animated version). Events begin at 5 p.m. with kids activities, vendors, ornament-making, a flurry of “snow” bubbles and the 7 p.m. tree lighting. “The Grinch” will screen at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Visit Instagram.com/hollywoodartspark.
Cher-ing is caring: You may wonder how it took so long to conceive a musical about Cher, whose life as pop star, fashion plate, famous wife (Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman) and cultural icon was so dynamic that you might almost forget that she was such a captivating actor (winning an Oscar for “Moonstruck,” but even better in “Silkwood” and “Mask”). The Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale will host the national production of “The Cher Show” through the weekend, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $45+ at BrowardCenter.org. (Read the review of this “glitz-blitz” by the Sun Sentinel’s Rod Stafford Hagwood.) The show also will be performed at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach Jan. 7-12. Visit Kravis.org.
Cult jams: Freestyle Free for All brings all-time favorites in the genre to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday at 8 p.m. Included on the bill are Exposé, Lisa Lisa, K7 of TKA, Rob Base, The Cover Girls. Freedom Williams (C+C Music Factory), Lisette Melendez and many more. Tickets start at $65+ at MyHRL.com.
Ticket window: Post Malone is bringing his 2025 summer tour to Hard Rock Stadium, with tickets in presale mode now through the general on-sale at noon Tuesday. Visit Ticketmaster.com. … Reggaeton star J Balvin will perform at the Kaseya Center in Miami on March 22, with tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com. … Punk icons The Damned are coming to Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on May 13, with tickets on sale now at the Rev box office (no fees) and at Ticketmaster.com.
Tributes in Boca: Nationally touring Tom Petty tribute band The Wildflowers play the Studio at Mizner Park in Boca Raton on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $35+ at Ticketmaster.com. … … Popular local Eagles tribute band The Long Run is at Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton on Friday at 8:30 p.m. Tickets start at $25+ for general admission at CrazyUncleMikes.com. … Misty Mountain (Led Zeppelin tribute) is at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton for shows on Friday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $35+ for standing room. Visit FunkyBiscuit.com.
SATURDAY
Man and the sea: The Norton Museum of Art in Boca Raton on Saturday will debut a compelling new exhibition, “Sorolla and the Sea,” a collection of 40 or so works by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida on loan from The Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York for the first time in more than 100 years. Working on the Valencian coast, Sorolla is considered the preeminent artist in Spain at the turn of the 20th century, revered for his blend of Realism and Modernist impulses, vivid color and luminous light. The exhibit will be up through April 13. Museum admission costs $18 for adults, $15 for seniors (60+), $5 for students, and free for West Palm Beach residents. Visit Norton.org.
Saturday laughs: One of my favorite South Florida comics, Brittany Brave, says: “Florida is crazy, and it needs comedians to call it out on its s— and to make sense of it and to tell the truth amidst all of the ridiculousness.” And she said that in a conversation we had nearly 18 months ago, a time in Florida that all of a sudden seems rational. Brave, a Kendall native most widely known for her work on Hits 97.3 radio, has two shows at the Carnival Studio Theater in Miami’s Arsht Center on Saturday, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30+ at ArshtCenter.org.
Billy club: Billy Joel is back on Saturday to sell out Hard Rock Live again. Twice, if you count the added date on Jan. 17. (There are a few scattered tickets available at MyHRL.com for each show, but if you want to sit with someone, you’re not getting out of there without spending $900 a pop each.) Nobody asked me, but if Joel were to set up at a quiet piano bar around here and do this half-hour-plus set, I’d tip him as best I could: “She’s Got a Way,” “Honesty,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” “Vienna,” “New York State of Mind” and, of course, “Piano Man.”
Saturday dance: The world-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem, now in its sixth decade, comes to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach at 8 p.m. Saturday, showcasing everything from classic George Balanchine to innovative and empowering choreography in a modern visual language. Tickets start at $35+ at Kravis.org.
Morning run: The Delray Beach Turkey Trot 5K returns in its 38th annual edition on Saturday with a scenic morning run along the ocean (a November sight that is the envy of much of the country). (Just saying.) Events begin at Anchor Park, with on-site registration beginning at 6:30 a.m. and the race at 7:30 a.m. Registration includes an RFID timing chip, event shirt and a custom finisher medal, with awards in multiple age groups (though you can also take part at a slower pace). Entry costs $38, 14 and younger $23. Walkers and untimed runners cost $33, 14 and younger $18. For advance regstration and information, visit Facebook.com/DelrayBeachParks.
Holiday cheer: Indie Craft Bazaar, the OG of community crafty coolness, will be at the Thrive Art District in Fort Lauderdale for two(!) days of shopping local and small on Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. each day. The indoor-outdoor market (epicenter 710 NW Fifth Ave.) will include dozens of South Florida vendors offering handmade, vintage and artisan items. The all-ages, pet-friendly event will feature food truck eats, thirst quenchers from Uncommon Path Brewing and a free DIY gift-wrapping station. What more do you need? Admission and parking are free. Visit Instagram.com/indiecraftbazaar.
Vinyl warning: My new/old favorite patio is at 511 Bar & Lounge in Flagler Village, which wisely retained the beautifully lit garden ambience that made the former tenant, Aqui, so special. They do things worth keeping track of at 511, for instance the vinyl DJ set from the discerning musicologist DJ Nat Smallish on Saturday at 9 p.m. Visit 511Bar.com. Smallish (the nom de spin of Natalie Martinez) and some of her compadres from Radio-Active Records (RIP) plan to open their new space, Connect Record Shop, in the nearby Thrive Art District on Black Friday, Nov. 29. For information on that, visit Instagram.com/connectrecordshop.
Take the kids: The Camelot Days Medieval Festival has its final weekend at Topeekeegee Yugnee Park in Hollywood, with jousting, magicians, music and dance. The theme is Legends from Beyond, so think costumes as your favorite time-traveling steampunk hero or villain. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $10 for kids age 6 to 12, and free for guests age 5 and younger. Parking is free, but the park charges $3-per-car entry. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or at CamelotDays.com.
SUNDAY
Know when to fold ’em: Beloved singer-songwriter Ben Folds, famously/briefly a student at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, returns to South Florida on his Paper Airplane Request Tour, stopping at 8 p.m. Sunday at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale. Like it sounds, Folds will spend a portion of the show taking audience requests written on paper folded into airplanes and sent gliding onto the stage. You can call it gimmicky — I call it delightful. Lindsey Kraft is the opener. Tickets start at $45.50+ at ParkerPlayhouse.com.
Sunday bubbles: Sunday is Bubbly Wine Day at Small Wine Shop, the engaging boutique hangout in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village. From 1 to 8 p.m., you’ll find curated pours (four wines for $20, or free with a two-bottle purchase) and bites by Kaminari Ramen (2-7 p.m.). Visit SmallWineShop.com.
Random thought: Speaking of wine, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Savor Cinema and Small Wine Shop will collaborate on a 20th anniversary screening of “Sideways,” Alexander Payne’s delicious dissection of a midlife crisis set in California wine country, starring Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen. The evening, including the film and wine reception, begins at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $30. Visit FLIFF.com.
’Tis the season: The Flamingo Flea will be found in its familiar perch at Tarpon River Brewing in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The holiday-themed, indoor-outdoor market will include more than 35 makers and artisans, live music and TRB’s popular brunch. Kids and pets welcome. Visit Instagram.com/theflamingoflea.
Chops and shops: Stylish restaurant-bar Revelry in Pompano Beach will host the Rockabilly Cruise-In Car Show on Sunday, with pre-1972 cars and trucks, live music, a vendor market, artists, food and drink from 3 to 7 p.m. Visit Instagram.com/revelryfla.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.
