We don’t have falling leaves to transfix us around here, but staples of the season are everywhere this weekend, including tequila in Boca Raton, drones over Pompano Beach, and bonfires and melting marshmallows in Lake Worth Beach. Let’s cozy up …
THURSDAY
Stars come out: Dierks Bentley and Hardy will lead a star-studded list of country performers for the Stars and Strings concert at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Thursday to raise money for Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to families of fallen or disabled military. Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert, which also includes Nate Smith, Dasha, Zach Top and Hudson Westbrook, start at $49.05 at Ticketmaster.com.
SFSFF is here: The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, a cultural tradition of the season, has been postponed until February, but in its place this weekend FLIFF will offer the Savoir-faire Shorts Film Festival. A nimble and efficient survey of dozens of comedies, dramas, thrillers, sci-fi, animation and documentaries from across South Florida and around the globe, screenings will take place Thursday through Sunday at Savor Cinema in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The films have been grouped into themed blocks of 90 to 120 minutes, with admission to each block a mere $10. For details on all films and showtimes, visit FLIFF.com/shorts.
Creative impulse: The Wilton Manors Art District will kick off the inaugural Wilton Manors Art Week on Thursday with an opening-night party at Hunters Nightclub from 7 to 9 p.m. Events will continue through Sunday with gallery talks, films, live art, workshops, chef demos, music, theater and other performances at a variety of locations, among them ArtsUnited Gallery, Wilton Art Works Gallery, Rosen Fine Art, Fierce Art Gallery Studio, Island City Stage and Gray Box Theater. Visit WiltonManorsArtDistrict.org.
Thursday laughs: Comedian and writer Josh Johnson, best known for his side-eye insights on “The Daily Show,” will be at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Yes, you’ll have to check with your usual resale site for tickets. Get updates at Kravis.org. … Raw and relentless stand-up Doug Stanhope will do one night at the Fort Lauderdale Improv in Dania Beach on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $46.90 at ImprovFTL.com.
Local sound: West Palm Beach indie-rock band Lavola will return to Clematis Street nightspot Respectable Street on Thursday at 9 p.m. with their excellent tribute to Radiohead, beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $13.39. Visit Facebook.com/respectablestreet.
FRIDAY
Field of gold: Rock crooner Sting will bring the popular amalgamation of Police hits and jazzy solo work on his 3.0 Tour to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Both shows are down to resale tickets at Ticketmaster.com.
Come as you are: Subtropic Film Festival will gather local creatives and culture cognoscenti for a weekend of screenings, parties, panels, workshops and artist talks Friday through Sunday. Opening-night events will happen at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, coinciding with the Norton’s Art After Dark programming on Friday (5-10 p.m.). The evening’s main feature, Xander Robin’s documentary “The Python Hunt,” is a sellout, but the Subtropic crowd should make Art After Dark extra buzzy, as will music by The French Horn Collective. Art After Dark costs $10, or $5 for students, at Norton.org. Also at the Norton, Subtropic will host a 2 p.m. Saturday screening of “River of Grass,” an appreciation of the Everglades and environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. The film is free with museum admission: $18, $15 for seniors (60+) and $5 for students. Subtropic will move the rest of its Saturday-Sunday screenings to Afflux Studios in Palm Springs for films grouped in blocks themed to art, nature, romance, feminine rage, bro culture, kids, immigrants, protest and more. Each block costs $10, day passes are $20, weekend passes (Saturday-Sunday) cost $30. Visit Subtropic.org.
Beatlemania: The Deerfield Beach Historical Society this weekend will shed some light on a little known chapter in the city’s past: the time in 1970 when George Harrison hid out here while he prepared for the release of monumental solo album “All Things Must Pass” and the formal breakup of the Beatles. Harrison’s visit is captured in an exhibit of 18 never-before-seen photographs titled, “George Was Here: The Best Kept Secret in Deerfield Beach,” on display at the Johnny L. Tigner Community Center for two days only — 6 to 9 p.m. Friday (with food, drinks and Harrison music by Dark Horses) and 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free both days. Visit Facebook.com/deerfieldhistoricalsociety.
King of queens: To a resume that includes “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner, “Traitors” contestant and host of HBO’s “We’re Here,” Bob the Drag Queen added New York Times bestselling author with the release in March of “Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert.” The widely praised novel, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books, imagines the abolitionist hero creating a hip-hop album and live show about her life. Bob will perform at the Fort Lauderdale Improv at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $41.90+ at ImprovFTL.com.
Friday night live: Live Dead & Brothers (including Berry Duane Oakley, Les Dudek, Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, and Pete Lavezzoli) will celebrate the music of Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $40.71 at BrowardCenter.org. … Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers will be at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, with doors open at 7:30 p.m. General-admission tickets cost $69.50 at CultureRoom.net. … Grammy-winning gospel star Tamela Mann, with special guest VaShawn Mitchell, will perform at the Miramar Cultural Center on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $85.25 at MiramarCulturalCenter.org.
Smoke on the water: An official unofficial marker of the fall/winter season around here, the Lake Worth Beach Bonfires & Night Market return on Friday, with live music and s’morsin’ by the fire from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lake Worth Beach Casino & Beach Complex. The BYO-chair/blanket event, sponsored by Benny’s on the Beach, will continue on the first and third Friday of the month through Feb. 20. Admission is free. Visit Facebook.com/LakeWorthBeachPBC.
SATURDAY
Tequila sundown: The Tequila Festival returns to Boca Raton on Saturday, setting up at Mizner Park Amphitheater from 5 to 10 p.m. with unlimited neat samples and cocktails from more than 30 premium tequilas, mezcals and agave spirits, and edible sustenance from favorite local restaurants and street-food vendors. The evening will include lounge areas, swag giveaways and a soundtrack from The Supervillains, Paul Anthony and The Reggae Souljahs, Tasty Vibrations and DJ GQ. Tickets start at $96.98 at TheTequilaFest.com.
Green day: Saturday morning will be brighter with the season’s kickoff of Green Market Pompano Beach, with fresh produce, artisan goods, wellness items and live music on display from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the downtown Pompano Beach Cultural Center. There will be free admission and swag bags for the first 100 attendees. Visit Facebook.com/GreenMarketPompanoBeach.
Free arts: The free-admission Kravis Center Block Party will bring a wide variety of music, dance, art, interactive activities, games, food and drink in and around the West Palm Beach venue on Saturday from 1 to 8 p.m. Led by Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, performers will include Spred the Dub, Surfer Blood, Spider Cherry, J Blue and DJ Mike Locke, along with dance from The Guatemalan-Maya Center’s SALTT Youth Group and performers from Ballet Palm Beach, Palm Beach Opera and the Palm Beach Symphony. Visit Kravis.org.
Sky lights: The Pompano Beach Drone Show Extravaganza, which has quickly become a Veterans Day Weekend tradition in South Florida since its debut just three years ago, will bring 500 illuminated drones to the sky over the beach at the Fisher Family Pier on Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission is free to the show, which will be bracketed by music from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Free shuttles will run from Pompano Beach Community Park between 1 and 10 p.m. (chairs and coolers permitted). For information on parking, street closures and other details, visit PompanoBeachFL.gov/events.
A good meal: The seventh annual Taste of Recovery culinary festival returns on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. at The American German Club in Lake Worth, featuring samplings by chefs from top local restaurants (including City Oyster, Louie Bossi, Elisabetta’s and Rocco’s Tacos) to raise money for addiction-treatment programs at Delray Beach nonprofit The Crossroads Club. Tickets cost $65, $75 at the door, if available (expect a sellout). Visit TheCrossroadsClub.com.
Saturday laughs: Plantation-raised, Emmy- and Grammy-nominated singer, satirist, actor and author Randy Rainbow will bring his new show, “National Freakin’ Treasure,” to the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available, starting at $46.61, at Ticketmaster.com.
Dirty Sugar Photography / Courtesy
Singer and satirist Randy Rainbow, pride of Plantation High School, will play the Broward Center on Saturday. (Dirty Sugar Photography/Courtesy)
‘Science’ lesson: If you’re in an ’80s mood, one of the more unlikely pop stars of the era, composer, musician and entrepreneur Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science,” “Radio Silence,” “Hyperactive!”), will perform on Saturday at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., with general-admission tickets set at $49.35. Visit CultureRoom.net.
More free arts: Pembroke Pines Festival of the Arts will fill the grounds at the Charles F. Dodge City Center from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, featuring art, food and live music from a diverse lineup of popular performers. Saturday will include sets by Colombian American Grammy nominee AleMor, jazz saxophonist Nestor Zurita and Miami’s relentless party band Los Wizzards, followed on Sunday by classic rockers The Flyers, Cuban-American country singer (and firefighter) Gabriel Key and blues-rock firebrand Shaw Davis & The Black Ties. Admission is free. Visit PinesFestival.com.
Saturday tributes: Popular Eagles tribute band The Long Run will play Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. General-admission standing tickets cost $30.52, with table seating also available. Visit CrazyUncleMikes.com. … Veteran AC/DC tribute Shoot 2 Thrill will be at Galuppi’s in Pompano Beach on Saturday from 7:30 to 11 p.m. General admission (standing) is $10, with table seats by reservation. Visit Galuppis.com. … Boy-band tribute act Larger Than Life will perform on the Live at the Amp! concert series at Veterans Plaza Amphitheater in Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is free. Visit PBGFL.gov.
SUNDAY
Sound advice: Rising Delray Beach groovers Artikal Sound System, on their national Reggae Rock of Love Tour, will stop in for a hometown show at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, sharing music from 2025 album “Are You Smiling Yet?” (worth checking out). Tickets cost $35.25 at JoinTheRevolution.net.
All for love: Classic rock heartthrob Bryan Adams brings his North American tour, accompanied by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Adams will add music from new album “Roll With the Punches” to hits including “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?,” “All for Love” and “Heaven.” Not surprisingly, seats are available as resales at Ticketmaster.com.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell.