A Wes Anderson retrospective begins at Coral Gables Art Cinema Friday, and the Seaquarium's BunnyPalooza gives the whole family a chance to celebrate Easter together this Sunday. Here's a look at the best things to do in Miami this weekend.
Friday
Prepare to be blessed: Demi Lovato and DJ Khaled are coming to Miami. During Lovato's Tell Me You Love Me World Tour, fans of the 25-year-old pop princess can, well, show her and Khaled just how much they love them. Joining the duo is rising R&B songstress Kehlani, whose debut album, SweetSexySavage, dropped to critical acclaim early last year. 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, at American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; aaarena.com. Tickets cost $25.95 to $329.
Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox. A single director extraordinaire is behind them all: Wes Anderson. Gables Cinema is having a Wes-travaganza, showing all five of these Anderson flicks (with multiple showing dates and times) Friday through Wednesday. You can purchase a ticket to one or go crazy with a series pass to catch 'em all. Select films scheduled beginning at 4:15 p.m. Friday, March 30, through 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $11.75 for general admission per film (select discounts available) and $25 for a series pass.
You're gonna want to bounce yourself to Churchill's Pub to catch the bounce music of Big Freedia. What is bounce, you ask? It's a New Orleans-bred, chant-infused, sexy-as-hell, and energetic form of hip-hop that you need to experience for yourself. Big Freedia is one of the icons of the genre, and her spicy tunes and albums span the past 15-plus years. 9 p.m. Friday, March 30, at Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; ticketfly.com. Tickets cost $18 to $38.
Want to feel old? Get this: Prince's longtime pal and '80s queen Sheila E. is now 60. But that milestone clearly isn't preventing her from living the "glamorous life," as her famed song goes. With seven studio albums spanning from 1984 through 2013, Sheila E. will have more than enough hits to perform during her free show in the heart of the Design District. 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 30, in Palm Court, 140 NE 39th St., Miami; miamidesigndistrict.net. Admission is free.
Saturday
Liberty City has a rich cultural history and a history of rich foods. At the Magic City Wine & Food Festival: The Taste of Liberty City, black-owned restaurants and caterers will show off both of those histories. The event will be presented by Freez Frame Marketing and Dine Black Miami, hosted by famed radio personality Jill Tracey, and headlined by Miss Robbie of Own TV, AKA Oprah's network. The dishes will highlight smaller businesses from the community and showcase the fruits of their many talents. Some of the proceeds will benefit Miami North Western Culinary. 7 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at Sandrell Rivers Theater, 6103 NW Seventh Ave., Miami; magiccitywineandfoodfestival.com. Tickets start at $45.
Feeling kinda hot? Maybe you have vinyl fever. Indulge your obsession at Gramps' Miami Record Fair. For a full day, the Wynwood bar's courtyard will be filled with people just like you, getting excited over rare records and inspecting each one with a collector's eye. The free and dog-friendly event is a collaboration between the new Miami record store Technique Records and the label Terrestrial Funk. You can listen to live music, gorge on slices from Pizza Tropical, and enjoy a Dark and Stormy Daniels cocktail, whose proceeds will support its namesake's legal fund. Noon Saturday, March 31, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Wynwood; gramps.com. Admission is free.
Up until recently, rock 'n' roll sleaze was mostly a boys' club. They don't call it "cock rock" for nothin'. Thelma and the Sleaze have thrashed their way through the gritty Nashville garage-rock scene for years, and now they're taking over Las Rosas, Miami's favorite dive bar, on their Southern U.S. tour. The band has been known for throwing some pretty reckless parties and shows over the years, so there's really no telling what kinds of shenanigans they'll get into once they hit the stage. 10 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at Las Rosas, 2898 NW Seventh Ave., Miami; lasrosas.com. Admission is free.
The Miami-Dade County Fair was fun enough when you were a kid, but it's even better now that you can ride the Ferris wheel after a couple of beers with friends. Add to that this year's push for concerts by millennial nostalgia and contemporary favorites, and the fair has become a must-do event in Miami. This Saturday, catch a concert by Cuba's Gente de Zona, who will surely play "La Gozadera" and "Bailando" among their other lit reggaeton hits. Standing areas for the concert are included with fair admission, so you can make a day of it or just purchase a seat for the concert that night. 8 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at Miami-Dade Fair Expo Center, 10901 Coral Way, Miami. Tickets to the fair cost $14 via thefair.me, and tickets to the concert cost $25 via etix.com.
DJ Adora
Dale Stine Photography
Miami Pride Week kicks off Sunday with a free performance featuring drag icons DJ Adora, Noel Leon, Angie Ovahness Pryce, and Serenity Dupree. It's all part of the concert series Live on Lincoln, taking place on Lincoln Road, which gets painted in the colors of the rainbow this week. How will you show your pride? 1 p.m. Sunday, April 1, at the Lincoln Road Stage, 1100 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach; lincolnrd.com. Admission is free.
Whether Easter means church or painted eggs to you, it's a day best spent with family. Miami Seaquarium's BunnyPalooza has plenty of activities for the little ones to enjoy this Sunday, including the largest Easter parade in South Florida, egg hunts, visits from the Easter Bunny, bounce houses, and a foam zone. Tickets to BunnyPalooza also include admission to all Seaquarium exhibits. 10 a.m. Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, April 1, at Miami Seaquarium, 4400 Rickenbacker Cswy., Key Biscayne; miamiseaquarium.com. Tickets cost $38 for adults and $28 for children.
