There is no other region of the country where sports are more tightly intertwined with the local culture and lifestyle, and this is the weekend when our overlapping obsessions with competition, celebrity-watching and fashion decisions reach their zenith.
For instance, the Miami Open has brought top tennis players from around the world to courts at the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens with matches scheduled Thursday through the finals on Sunday. (She got bounced out of the tournament, but have you seen Coco Gauff’s new Delray Beach-inspired shoe?) For those unfamiliar with tennis, it is a fun variation on pickleball played on absolutely massive courts. (Details: MiamiOpen.com)
The Miami Marlins kick off their season at loanDepot Park on Thursday at 4:10 p.m. with a pitching matchup that may produce some kind of history: Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, throwing for the first time in a regular-season game since his 2023 surgery, against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes, a generational talent who was the NL Rookie of the Year last season and perhaps even more famously dates gymnast and Vuori model Livvy Dunne. Say what you will about the Marlins roster, someday this showdown may draw comparisons to Marino-Montana, Federer-Nadal, Alydar-Affirmed, Drake-Kendrick, take your pick. And, there will be an on-field postgame concert by Luis Fonsi and Flo Rida. (Details: Marlins.com)
Sports bars across South Florida will be filled this weekend with fans of college basketball teams from around the country during March Madness, which resumes with games scheduled Thursday through Sunday. Having given up on football, the University of Florida is now a basketball school and has its much-hyped men’s squad playing Thursday at 7:39 p.m. against Maryland. Should they win, the Gators would play again on Sunday at a time TBD. (Details: NCAA.com)
The Curlin Florida Derby, a $1 million thoroughbred race that sets the stage for the Kentucky Derby, will gather fashionable fans from all over at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday to eat, drink and play the ponies. We never know what to wear, but is there a better term for an article of clothing than “fascinator”? (Details: FloridaDerby.com)
If you haven’t been paying attention, we’re a hockey town now, and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have home games at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Utah (still no nickname yet, so we call them the Johnnies) and at 1 p.m. Sunday vs. Montreal’s Les Habitants (French for “we live here and you don’t”). Another gauge of Cats fever will be the Collect-A-Con cards-and-culture show at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward County Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., where Matthew Tkachuk is scheduled to be joined by newest Panthers’ irritant Brad Marchand at 3:45 p.m. Saturday. There will be lines. (Details: FloridaPanthers.com, CollectAConUSA.com)
The 15th annual Model Volleyball tournament makes its highly anticipated return on Saturday and Sunday, bringing top talent (in what, you decide) by the hundreds to the sand at 12th Street and Ocean Drive on South Beach from noon to 8 p.m. each day. The free-admission event, which has hosted male and female players who have gone on to major magazine and runway stardom, is all about sun, skin, sipping and celebrities. And sports. Go sports! (Details: ModelVolleyball.com)
Model Volleyball
Model Volleyball will bring the finest male and female competitors to South Beach on Saturday and Sunday. (Model Volleyball/Courtesy)
THURSDAY
Seeing red: As part of the annual Kravis On Broadway series, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach is home to 10-time Tony Award winner “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” a ravishing twist on Baz Luhrmann’s eye-popping film. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $63+ at Kravis.org.
Farewell to the ‘King’: The touring Broadway production of Tony-winning Disney musical “The Lion King” will have its final performances at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale this weekend. Showtimes will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $45+ at BrowardCenter.org.
Last call: This is the final weekend to see the exhibit “Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and Its Empire” at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The show, which is up through Sunday, features 57 paintings from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York, home to the most extensive collection of Hispanic art and literature outside of Spain and Latin America. They include rarely seen masterpieces by renowned Spanish painters such as El Greco, Diego Velázquez and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Tickets cost $16, or $12 for seniors (65 and older); free for students younger than 18. Visit BocaMuseum.org.
Free jazz: Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Patrick Bartley Jr., formerly of Christopher Dorsey’s nationally acclaimed Dillard Center for the Arts jazz ensemble, will perform a free concert on Thursday at The Wine & Spirits Kitchen in Delray Beach, joined by bassist Brad Miller and drummer Harvel Nakundi (alum of New World School of the Arts in Miami). The program will run from 7 to 10 p.m., with no cover but reservations recommended. Visit Facebook.com/wineroomdelray.
Thursday night live: Grammy-winning young blues guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram will play the Miami Beach Bandshell on Thursday at 8 p.m. Mathias Latin opens. Tickets start at $35+ at MiamiBeachBandshell.com. … Big Head Todd and The Monsters will bring their 40th anniversary tour to Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show cost $36.50+ at JoinTheRevolution.net. … Popular smooth-jazz saxophonist Vincent Ingala has two shows at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, at 6 and 9 p.m. Thursday (doors open an hour in advance), with tickets starting at $44.40 for standing room at FunkyBiscuit.com.
JoBros tickets: The Jonas Brothers will bring their Jonas20: Living the Dream Tour to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Oct. 24, with tickets available in a series of Thursday pre-sales before the general on-sale begins at 10 a.m. Friday. Get details at SeatGeek.com or AmerantBankArena.com. The concert will feature the brothers performing hits they made as solo acts, sets by Nick Jonas & the Administration and Joe Jonas’ DNCE, before they hit the stage for the headlining set as a trio. The brothers just released a new single, “Love Me to Heaven.” Visit JonasBrothers.com.
FRIDAY
Season’s greetings: Miami City Ballet is at the Arsht Center in Miami this weekend to unveil its Spring Mix, led by “Glass Pieces,” the invigorating collaboration of Jerome Robbins’ choreography set to the hypnotic music of Philip Glass. The program — which also includes Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, the company premiere of José Limón’s “Chaconne” and a company premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” — will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $40. The company then will take Spring Mix to the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6, followed by performances at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, and 1 p.m. Sunday, April 13. Visit MiamiCityBallet.org.
Sheet music: Folk-punk legends Violent Femmes will set up for two nights at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater to explore music from their iconic eponymous debut album and its follow-up, “Hallowed Ground,” on Friday and Saturday. The first show is a sellout, while tickets for Saturday’s 8 p.m. show are available starting at $39.50+. Visit PompanoBeachArts.org/amp.
That empty feeling: It’s Kill the Keg Friday at Garden District Tap Room in downtown West Palm Beach, which is trying to get rid of inventory to make room for their second anniversary party on April 5. So from noon to 11 p.m. Friday, if you happen to drain one of their almost-empty kegs, you’ll get 50% off your tab. It’s good to have goals in life, kids. Visit GardenDistrictWPB.com.
Friday laughs: Comedian Iliza Shlesinger (smart, funny, fearless) will bring The Get Ready Tour to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $65+ at MyHRL.com.
Friday night live: Puerto Rican heartthrob Draco Rosa will share new music from 2024 album “Reflejos de Lo Eterno,” which won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop/Rock Album, at the Fillmore Miami Beach on Friday at 8 p.m.. Tickets, starting at $53+, are available at LiveNation.com. … Edwin McCain, responsible for two of the ’90s most earwormy hits with “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask for More” (your girl will remember), returns to The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton on Friday at 9 p.m. Tickets start at $55.25 at FunkyBiscuit.com. … During the multimedia concert “Cowboy Bebop Live!,” the 14-piece jazz ensemble Bebop Bounty Big Band will play the soundtrack to accompany scenes from Japanese anime “Cowboy Bebop” at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $34+ at ParkerPlayhouse.com.
SATURDAY
Beer here: Dania Beach‘s 3 Sons Brewing Co., the home of South Florida’s best combination of made-in-house craft beer and cuisine, will celebrate its sixth anniversary on Saturday beginning at noon. The day will include the bottle release of a new triple barrel-aged Imperial stout, as well as timed tappings of five one-time-only beers (each hour beginning at noon), as well as a dessert special: Black Forest cake with brandy cherries. For details, visit Facebook.com/3sonsbrewingco.
Dinner and a movie: Small Wine Shop in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village and Chef Takeshi Kamioka and Melody Navarette of Kaminari Ramen will join forces on Saturday for a night of wine, sake and cinema. Running from 6 to 9 p.m., the Tampopo Wine & Sake Dinner will offer a four-course meal bracketed by welcome apps and dessert, the perfect setting for a screening of the food-forward 1985 Japanese comedy “Tampopo.” Tickets cost $80+. For tickets and details about the menu, visit SmallWineShop.com.
Teaching moments: It’s hard not to be impressed by the cockeyed optimists who spin their frustrations into laughs on the Bored Teachers YouTube page. If you’ve ever been a teacher, a parent, a student — pretty much everyone — you may enjoy Bored Teachers: The Struggle is Real!, the inaugural tour by some of the group’s funniest educators, stopping at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets start at $38.75+ at ParkerPlayhouse.com.
Day drinking: The Fort Lauderdale Beer, Wine & Spirits Fest will bring more than 40 brewers, winemakers and spirits producers from South Florida and beyond to downtown’s Esplanade Park on Saturday from 1 to 9:30 p.m. An all-access pass costs $60+ for a souvenir glass and unlimited samples in either of two slots: Session 1 is 1-4:30 p.m. and Session 2 is 6-9:30 p.m.. Cost is $15 for designated drivers. Visit SummerFestUSA.com.
Saturday night live: Pianist and composer Havasi brings his Vegas-style symphonic concert, performed under a halo of lights, lasers and captivating projections, to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available, starting at $89+, at MyHRL.com. … Veteran jam band Leftover Salmon will drop in at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $44.50+ at CultureRoom.net. … Internationally touring tribute band Absolute Queen will be at the Aventura Arts & Culture Center on Saturday for shows at 3 and 8 p.m. Tickets start at $48.86+ at AventuraCenter.org.
SUNDAY
Sunday shopping: Popular makers’ market The Flamingo Flea, with events from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton, will celebrate its sixth anniversary on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Tarpon River Brewing in downtown Fort Lauderdale. As always, there will be dozens of local vendors curated by Carley Sumner, as well as live music and brunch and beers from the indoor-outdoor brewery. Visit Facebook.com/theflamingoflea.
Family time: The 12th annual Hope Floats fundraiser will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Esplanade Park in Fort Lauderdale, a free family friendly festival with food trucks, games, face painting and the signature paper boat parade (led by an impressive 24-foot paper boat) on the New River at 3 p.m. Guests can purchase and decorate a boat in memory of loved ones, with proceeds benefiting Coconut Creek-based Tomorrow’s Rainbow and its work with mostly low-income child trauma victims. Visit TomorrowsRainbow.org.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.