If you're looking for live music or quality film screenings, you'll be overwhelmed with options this weekend. Groundbreaking mariachi band Flor de Toloache visits Miami once again this Saturday, and the psychedelic artists of Miami Psych Fest play Floyd and the Ground. Hit up a free screening of Black Panther at the Barnacle Historic State Park or the new documentary Won't You be My Neighbor, about television icon Mr. Rogers at Coral Gables Art Cinema.
Here's a look at those and more of the best events happening in Miami this weekend.
It's been a hell of a week. When we were kids, Mr. Rogers would have asked us in his soothing voice to think about where to place our uncomfortable or painful feelings. Now, fifteen years after his death, Mr. Rogers is back via the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and you'll get your ugly cries out as the film guides viewers through the myriad ways in which the world would be better with a defiantly kind figure like Mr. Rogers in it. After a preview run earlier this year, the film is out in wide release and playing at Coral Gables Art Cinema beginning this weekend. Screening times vary beginning Friday, June 22, at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Miami; gablescinema.com. Admission costs $11.75.
Coconut Grove's Business Improvement District hosts the monthly series Movies in the Park, kicking off Friday with a screening of Black Panther. If simply seeing the movie isn't enough, you can dress up as your favorite superhero for a chance to win a prize. Future flicks to be screened the fourth Friday of each month this summer include Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Meet the Fockers. 8 p.m. Friday, June 22, at the Barnacle Historic State Park, 3485 Main Hwy., Miami; coconutgrove.com. Admission is free.
Hundreds of black women, girls, femmes, and allies took to the streets last fall for the inaugural Florida March for Black Women. That was only the beginning of a movement that was long overdue and is more urgent today than it has ever been. Next up on the agenda is Here Comes the Boom: An Assembly for Black Women and Girls. The two-day conference aims to create an inclusive space in which marginalized groups and their allies will learn about the ongoing work of black women and girls in our community, and to develop a concrete political platform upon which the movement can build. 6 p.m. Friday, June 22, at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., Miami; eventbrite.com. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged via crowdrise.com.
Two days of trippy music and extrasensory experiences are going down at Floyd and the Ground. The Perfect Trip: Miami Psych Fest II is billed as "an audiovisual indoor festival experience" that boasts nearly 50 acts from near and far. Among the must-sees are Japanese musician Tatsuya Nakatani, Detroit performer Kenny Millions, Houston artist Jandek, and L.A. band Sugar Candy Mountain. Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23 at Floyd Miami and the Ground, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; facebook.com. Weekend passes start at $5 and will increase gradually to $40.
Sex columnist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller introduced their It Gets Better Project in 2010 on YouTube to let people who felt bullied know that it does get better. The video project has grown into a movement that includes a weeklong residency on anti-bullying, self-image, tolerance, and acceptance. This Saturday at the Broward Center, an It Gets Better Project presentation, in collaboration with Slow Burn Theatre, will present poems, songs, skits, and other performances from the workshops. Bring those affected by bullying or your own little bullies to this insightful community-building event. 6 p.m. Friday at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; browardcenter.org. Tickets cost $9 to $10.
Après le Mariage, which translates to "after the wedding," is the latest by filmmaker Romuald Thermidor. Directed by the award-winning Samuel Vincent, the story follows Solange, a Haitian-American woman, and her roller-coaster quest to escape a retribution-hungry sex offender. A red-carpet affair will precede the screening. And shortly after the show, mix and mingle with the folks you just saw on the big screen. 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23 at Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura; aventuracenter.org. Tickets cost $35 to $60.
This ain't your mama's mariachi band. The Latin Grammy-winning members of Flor de Toloache, based out of New York City, have taken the folkloric sound of Mexican mariachi music and made it their own, all while undoing traditional gender expectations for how mariachi collectives should look. They've made frequent stops in Miami over the past year, but you can catch them at the 1 Hotel South Beach this Saturday for Prism Creative Group's Sunset Sessions. 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at 1 Hotel South Beach, 2341 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; Admission is free with RSVP via eventbrite.com.
You can pair any food with a boozy beverage, but if you want to do it right, get to the Pastelito & Beer Pairing at MIA Beer Co. These sweet and savory treats were made to be followed by a bubbly brew. Pastelito Papi will provide the delightful edibles, including picadillo, frita, and apple pie varieties, as well as a collabo with Masa Craft 305, a ham croqueta pastelito. And MIA Beer will whip up the craft beers. Each ticket includes one of each pastelito flavor and four five-ounce local beers. A mop will be necessary to soak up the drool this event will induce. 1 p.m. Saturday at MIA Beer Co., 10400 NW 33rd St., Suite 150, Doral; mia.beer. Tickets cost $23.05; RSVP to [email protected].
Go on a bike ride and get rewarded with a beer afterward? Yes, please. The Rickenbacker Ride is a social ride that'll begin at Wynwood Brewing Co., head to Key Biscayne, and return to the brewery via the Rickenbacker Causeway. Three groups will depart between 8 and 8:30 a.m., each targeting various sustained speeds for the ride. At the end, all attendees can enjoy a Rickenbacker pilsner and a steel WBC tumbler on the house. Only 100 spots are available, so sign up soon. 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Wynwood Brewing Co., 565 NW 24th St., Miami. Registration costs $10 via eventbrite.com.
The Abbey Brewing Company is one of Miami's longest-running bars that serves its own suds. Sure, the Abbey has delicious flavors of beer all its own, but it's also a wonderfully welcoming, dark bar with plenty of beer elitists and cool cats from Miami Beach to keep you entertained. So celebrate the Abbey's 23rd anniversary this Sunday. Before the bar expanded to about three times its original size, the birthday bashes were shit shows of sweaty, slurring fun on the sidewalk, but now there will be room for all the Abbey fans to enjoy an entire day of $6 craft beers, shots, and mixed drinks in the A/C, as well as a free pig roast. Don't miss happy hour from 11 a.m. to noon too, and there's no cover. Leave the kids at home. 11 a.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Abbey Brewing Company, 1115 16th St., Miami Beach; abbeybrewinginc.com. Admission is free.
As of Thursday's summer solstice, it's officially summer in Miami. What, you couldn't tell the difference? Miami Flea at the Arts + Entertainment District wants to give you a reason to celebrate anyway. This month's Miami Flea nods to the longest day of the year with vendors selling bathing suits, shades, and other items to get you beach ready. Mac's Pubs will be onsite with craft cocktails, and Brothers of Others, Rio a Luna, and Oigo will provide live tunes. 3 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at Canvas, 90 NE 17th St., Miami; eventbrite.com. Admission is free.
Though Polish composer Frédéric Chopin died in 1849, he's still making fingers wiggle on the keys to this day, halfway around the world, in Miami. The first-place winner of the Warsaw Chopin International Competition, Dang Thai Son, will open the Frost Chopin Festival at University of Miami. The weeklong fest will also present other international pianists, as well as violinist Kyung-Wha Chung. Musicologist Alan Walker will lecture on Chopin and related topics, and student concerts will be featured too. 7:30 p.m. Sunday at UM Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables; piano.frost.miami.edu. Tickets cost $35 for a single concert and $120 for a four-concert package.