Night + Day: 11 Things to Do in Broward and Palm Beach This Week

Thursday, June 18

With spots on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, BET’s Comic View, and the Tom Joyner Sky Show, Miami-based comedian Marvin Dixon has been performing comedy longer than some audience members who will settle in for a two-drink minimum at Fort Lauderdale Improv have occupied space on this planet. Surviving 22 years in the comedy game is not an easy feat by any means, but you wouldn’t know it by watching Dixon’s uniquely Dade County-inspired punch lines — like his classic reenactment of what happens when your favorite Trick Daddy song comes on at the club and you certifiably lose your damned mind. Or better yet, when that same Trick Daddy song comes on in the Winn-Dixie, with baby in the buggy and the urge to lose any composure and self-respect takes over again and the beat wins out. Besides Dixon’s annual Miami Nites Reunion Show and appearances at Zo’s Summer Groove, you can catch Dixon cutting it up locally with his LOL Thursdays.

Showtime is 10 p.m. this Thursday and next at Fort Lauderdale Improv, 5700 Seminole Way, Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-981-5653, or visit improvftl.com. Tickets cost $14 with a two-drink minimum. 
Friday, June 19

For more than 20 years, a quintet of seasoned musical-theater revuists known as Songs of Broadway toured throughout the United States and Canada from its home base in South Florida. Its members ceased performing together about six years ago, striking out on their own while remaining friends. Now reunited for a new program, appropriately titled Back to Broadway, these five colleagues will present an intimate comeback show of thousand-seat hits in the 50-seat Andrews Living Arts Black Box. “We’re performing the songs we used to do, but the show is also about how we’ve all maintained friendships and have been in each other’s lives,” says singer David Wayne Scism. “We’ve gone through divorces, children, health crises, and everything that happens in life, but as entertainers, we’re a close-knit bunch. Once you’re in a show together, you’re bonded to that person.” Scism will join Patrick Pearson, Marilyn Sanchez, Kelly DiLorenzo, and Wesley Pennington for a sentimental program that will touch on 100 tunes from the Great White Way to Oklahoma! to Wicked.

Admission is $24.95. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Andrews Living Arts, located at 23 NW Fifth St. in Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-874-5084, or visit andrewslivingarts.org.

As summer gets into full swing, families gather to celebrate not only Independence Day but other summer celebrations of freedom. Juneteenth is not one that always comes to mind for many, but Delray Beach’s Spady Museum is making it so no one forgets or fails to learn about the famous event. On Friday, June 19, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum presents its sixth-annual Juneteenth Celebration and Reenactment in Delray Beach. Juneteenth — also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day — commemorates the ending of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, the end of a long process that began with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. It took some time to reach Texas, but the date effectively marked the legal end of slavery in the Confederate South. Since then, Juneteenth has spread far and wide. The celebration at Spady will feature live music, food, and interactive art as well as a reenactment of Juneteenth events from Texas. Barbecue will be served by Caesar’s Famous Ribs (for an additional cost). The event will feature music by Grammy-nominated artists Val and Ike Woods as well interactive art by local Palm Beach artist Sharon Koskoff. The family-friendly reenactment will begin at 7 p.m. and include the freeing of slaves by the Union Army.

The Juneteenth Celebration is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, located at 170 NW Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach. Adult tickets cost $10, and children 5 and younger may enter for free, with ticket sales benefiting the museum. Visit spadymuseum.com, or call 561-279-8883. 

Saturday, June 20

June 20 is International Surfing Day, and although South Florida is more known for babe surfing than actual surfing, Delray’s Saltwater Brewery will celebrate this holiday. Joined by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization Surfrider Foundation Palm Beach County Chapter, the brewery will provide live music, a food truck, and special beer releases. Live music will be provided by blues-rock trio Shorty the Giant for your jamming pleasure. As for food, there will be the Caribbean Out of Many Café food truck and Saltwater Brewery snacks such as chips and beef jerky. Guests are welcome to bring their own food or have it delivered as well. Among the drinkable carbohydrates is New Belgian Session Pale Ale, New Imperial Amber Ale, and the rerelease of the brewery’s South End Session Ale, which are aged on Florida’s seagrape wood. Proceeds from the South End Session Ale will go toward the Surf-rider Foundation, Palm Beach County chapter.

You can hang ten on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Saltwater Brewery, located at 1701 W. Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach. There’s no cover charge. Visit saltwater-brewery.com. 
The Fort Lauderdale Bus Loop is back in business. For a $20 donation, you can ride any of the Bus Loop’s 14 designated trolley buses along the five-mile route that shuttles patrons back and forth between the 17th Street Causeway and Fort Lauderdale Beach. Stops include venues like Bimini Boatyard, Southport Raw Bar, Quarterdeck, Waxy O’Connor’s, BurgerFi, Cold Stone Creamery, Bahia Cabana, Blondie’s, Cafe Del Mar, and Lulu’s Bait Shack. Paying customers can ride the trolley free all night, and each person receives a complimentary drink or appetizer at each venue — typically a small sample of a popular menu item or a choice of wine, well drink, or draft beer. Drink cards are valid until 11 p.m., and trolleys operate until midnight. Don’t feel like drinking? Designated drivers ride free and don’t have to preregister to participate. The best part, however, is that it’s all for charity. All proceeds from the evening benefit several local nonprofits, including the Jessica June Children’s Cancer Foundation, Jack & Jill Center, Covenant House Florida, Riverwalk Trust, and the Broward County Gator Club Scholarship Fund.

The Fort Lauderdale Bus Loop trolleys run from 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday. Prepay is open daily until noon. There are two check-in points: Beach Place (17 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.) and Waxy O’Connors (1095 SE 17th St.) The cost is $25 per person with early prepay or $35 per person at check-in the day of. Call 954-574-6000, or visit busloop.org.

Comprised of roughly 700 islands, reefs, cays, and islets, the geographical area making up the Caribbean — including (but not limited to) Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Antigua, and the Bahamas — is as varied and beautifully diverse as the people who call the region home. So how does one go about properly celebrating all aspects of the Caribbean experience with its various cultures, languages, and cuisines? The annual Colors of the Caribbean attempts to answer this tall order with a free family festival in Hollywood’s Young Circle Park. Part of Caribbean American Heritage month, the festival packs a lot into a day’s worth of celebrations hosted by local anchorwomen Neki Mohan and Sharon Lawson. Partnering and sharing producing credits, Colors of the Caribbean is made possible by the Hollywood CRA by Aifos Agency, Caribbean American Heritage Florida, and the Rhythm Foundation. Each year, they pore over artists’ works and select a sampling of the Caribbean. “We have featured everything from classic stars like reggae kings Inner Circle this year to hot young Trini soca band KES, who rocked the festival two years ago,” says Laura Quinlan, director of the Rhythm Foundation. “This year, I am really looking forward to hearing some live ‘chutney soca’ by Rikki Jai. This style mixes Trinidadian Afro-Caribbean rhythms and East Indian bhagra elements — superfun dance-party music.” Although live music also including Antigua’s Ricardo Dru and Caribbean star Kevin Lyttle will be the main draw of the day’s festivities, the event also offers a Caribbean travel expo, a YMCA Kids Zone, a Caribbean food village, Caribbean arts and craft vendors, and satellite stages for steel and tassa bands, folk dance, and other performances.

Colors of the Caribbean takes place 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday in Young Circle Park, 1 Young Circle, Hollywood. Visit colorsofthecaribbean.com. 

There is this misconception about crafty individuals — the one the not-so-crafty lot loves to perpetuate — of being the overachievers up at dawn’s first light to whittle, can, collage, knit, refurbish, homebrew, and hit the markets before most of us have hit the snooze button for the third time. But there are plenty of DIY-inclined people who thrive mostly in the moonlit hours; check Saturday’s Night Owl Market Street Festival for proof of their existence. The recurring Flagler Village market merges the do-it-yourself ethos of art, sustainability, community, and small business into one night with live art and music, pop-up shops, onsite crafting projects, and food in this fourth installment. There will be tree giveaways provided by the City of Fort Lauderdale, a build-your-own wildlife habitat for Fort Lauderdale residents, and a scavenger hunt provided by Mockingbird Trail. As for the market, the festival will be stocked with local business pop-up shops, vintage clothes and home goods, gourmet food trucks, frozen yogurt, veggie dogs, vegan cupcakes, and even artisanal dog treats.

Night Owl Market Street Festival is from 5 to 11 p.m. with a free shuttle service to area parking and free admission at Peter Feldman Park, 310 NE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale. There is even complimentary beer for those age 21 and older and picnicking options with an open playground for the kiddos. Visit facebook.com/nightowlfestival. 

Sunday, June 21

As you may well know, American cinematic classic Jaws turned 40 earlier this year. And while the film is lauded as a definitive piece of the ’70s action-movie catalog, it has also drawn ire from ocean conservationists for the fervor and fear it has generated toward sharks. That being said, what better way to understand and observe these noble animals, which are paramount to our ocean’s ecosystem, than to go out and study them in real life? Our friends over at the Pompano Dive Center will team up with the Guy Harvey Research Institute for an all-out shark-tagging expedition on Sunday. Participants can expect to be as hands-on as they want to be. One could even reel in a shark if he felt so inclined. Participants won’t be thrown to the sharks (see what we did there?) but will be shown how to perform any activity they wish in full detail by event staff. Whatever your level of involvement may be, there will be plenty of opportunities to see, touch, or observe sharks, provided it does not stymie the shark’s release. The prime directive of this excursion is to enhance the safety of the animals themselves and not to bring about any added stress.

The cost for participation is $175. This includes lunch and snacks. It is important to note that all proceeds from this event will help fund the Guy Harvey Research Institute. Participants must call the Dive Center at 954-788-0208 to reserve a spot. The event will meet at 7:30 a.m. sharp at the Dive Center, which is located at 101 N. Riverside Drive, Pompano Beach. Don’t be late. 

Mother’s Day is the biggest day of the year in the restaurant business. That’s because Mother’s Day is easy — just follow the script. Get Mom some flowers and a sappy card and stuff her with omelets and pancakes while you tell her how much you love her. Even if brunch isn’t her thing usually, it’s just what you do on Mother’s Day. Father’s Day... that can be a bit trickier. We’re all for defying heterocultural norms, but have you ever handed your truck-driving, construction-working Pops a bouquet? And please, don’t buy the man a tie. Instead, make it a Father’s Day Weekend Extravaganza by spending the day with him doing something like:

• LauderAle’s Father’s Day Crawfish Boil & Brews — Shuck-N-Dive will be doing a takeover with delicious food at 2 p.m. Sunday at LauderAle Brewery (3305 SE 14th Ave., Fort Lauderdale). Guests can indulge in their choice of a dozen oysters or one-and-a-half pounds of crawfish, tater tots, or fried pickles and plenty of craft beer. It’s $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Visit lauderalecrawfishboil.eventbrite.com.

• Tate’s Father’s Day Outing — Dads get 20 percent off any one item; everyone else gets 10 percent off the entire purchase. You have to be with your father or with a child 16 years old or younger to get the discount. There will be a coloring table and free comic books along with juice boxes and snacks at no charge. Tate’s Father’s Day Outing is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at 4566 N. University Drive in Lauderhill and 801 N. Congress Ave., Ste. 604, in Boynton Beach. Call 954-748-0181, or visit tatescomics.com.

• Father’s Day Fishing Tournament — Buy Dad a new fishing pole (don’t forget the bait) and head to Caporella Park (5200 W. Prospect Road, Tamarac) at 9 a.m. Saturday. Family members of all ages are welcome. This tournament is strictly catch-and-release. Entry is $5 for residents and $8 for nonresidents and includes lunch as well as a present for Dad. Visit tamaractalk.com.

For more events, visit our online calendar or pick up the print edition of the New Times Broward-Palm Beach every Thursday. To submit an event, use our online form.

You can contact Rebecca McBane, Arts & Culture Editor/Food Editor at [email protected].