Unless you’ve got Serious Commitments You Can’t Wiggle Out Of, clear your calendar June 7-10 and plan on a fabulous, festive and fun weekend, grown-up style: It’s the third annual Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival.
Based on attendance the past two years, some 2,000 are expected to attend, and you’ll want to be one of them. It is a celebration of fine wine and remarkable films (some 75 of them) from around the world, and, says event planners, this year’s theme, “A Life Worth Living,” is “inspired by event beneficiary, Suncoast Mental Health Center.”
All this fabulousness is happening in various venues around the city – on the island and the mainland – among them Riverside Theatre, the Vero Beach Museum of Art, the Vero Beach Theatre Guild, Costa D’Este, American Icon Brewery, and the Heritage Center.
Plus, all week 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., you can sample and savor more than 100 wonderful wines at WOW! (World of Wine) Tasting Lounge at Riverside Park. You can meet film directors and partake in all sorts of special events. For a listing of the exciting and diverse films, which include some premiers, and the glittery events from which you can choose, check out the festival website: vbwff.com. The promo urges you to “drink it all in,” an I can’t think of a better way to put it.
You’re absolutely going to love this concert. “Have Pianos, Will Duel” (possibly a little hat-tip to Riverside Theatre’s popular Dueling Pianos shows) takes place at the Unity Center, 950 43rd Avenue in Vero, this Saturday with some of the coolest, most talented (and fun) musicians around: Dr. Ray Adams and Jacob Craig. Together these two have clocked untold keyboard miles: Adams is artistic director of visual and performing arts at Indian River Charter High School, and Craig is director of music and arts at First Presbyterian Church.
Joining them will be several talented student musicians from local high schools.
Admission is free; you can choose to donate a little something (a ten-spot is suggested). Wine and refreshments will be available at the concert, which is presented by Vero Vino Wine and Food Festival (not to be confused with the Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival).
Doors open at 5:15 p.m. With limited seating, you know the drill. The music starts at 6 p.m. 772-538-1181.
It’s coming around again, just as wild, untamed and hilarious as ever. Yes, it’s Riverside Theatre’s Comedy Zone Experience, this Friday and Saturday.
Bringing this weekend’s laughs will be David “Mr. Showtime” Scott and Steve Miller. Scott’s promo promises standup plus: a straightjacket; the “world’s most dangerous bit in comedy”; a little mind reading; and “an incredibly funny journey through four decades of music.”
Miller describes himself as “tempered in fudge and fueled by Pabst Blue Ribbon,” and admits he’s used his sense of humor to “get free drinks in dive bars for years.”
If you get there early, you’ll get to enjoy the free outdoor Live on the Loop local band jam concert and grab a drink and some food. Always a nice way to shift from work to weekend mode.
Shows are 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Loop entertainment and games start at 6:30 p.m. Comedy Zone admission, $12 to $18. 772-231-6990.
If you prefer your rock country style or with a bit of Southern comfort, you’ll know a lot of the songs at this show: Taking the stage this Friday at the King Center in Melbourne, in a double bill, it’s Atlanta Rhythm Section and Pure Prairie League.
The former, says Wikipedia, is a Southern rock band formed in 1971 that got its start as the house band at the newly opened Studio One, recording studio outside Atlanta.
Atlanta Rhythm Section’s string of 15 hit albums and several single hits includes “So In To You,” “Imaginary Lover,” “I’m Not Going to Let It Bother Me Tonight” and “Spooky.”
Fun Atlanta Rhythm Section factoid: In 1978 President Jimmy Carter invited them to the White House to perform for his son Chip’s 28th birthday party.
The county rock band Pure Prairie League, says the show promo, has been a country rocks “pioneering force” for four-plus decades, logging numerous hit albums and singles along the way, including “Aimee,” “Two Lane Highway,” “Let Me Love You Tonight,” “Falling In and Out of Love” and “Early Morning Riser.”
Described as “crisp and clean as spring water and comfortable as a well-worn cowboy shirt,” they’ll be bringing back the memories this Friday.
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $59. 321-242-2219.