Start your weekend off with Downtown Friday. This is a street party open to the public. There will be music, demonstrations, street vendors, food vendors and a generally fun-filled atmosphere at this free event. Organized by Main Street Vero Beach, it runs 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the last Friday of every month. So that means tomorrow, Friday, June 25, head to 14th Avenue in downtown Vero Beach for the fun. For a starting point, head to 2036 14th Ave. For more information, call 772-643-6782 or visit Facebook.com/MainStreet
VeroBeach for more information.
For some big family fun this weekend, it’s got to be “Burgers & Brews,” which runs this Saturday in historic downtown Vero Beach. Go hungry, because this free street festival will have the Best Burger in Indian River County Competition and Burger Slider Tasting, which will be held 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. along 21st Street. To participate in that, you need to buy a punch card/slider pass, which costs $25 in advance or $30 the day of. The punch card/slider pass will let you sample up to five sliders created by competing chefs from 10 popular area restaurants including Barefoot Café, Big Shots Golf, Captain Hiram’s, Cobalt, Marsh Landings and Wilke’s 14 Bones BBQ. An Apple Pie Eating Contest begins at 4:15 p.m. The Vero Beach Police Department will conduct a K-9 demo from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. There’s also going to be live music by local bands, a Kids Zone with giant board games, vendors, food trucks and more. There are VIP package tickets for $100 which get patrons into reserved seating in an air-conditioned VIP lounge, complimentary cocktails, local craft brews, soft drinks and VIP outdoor seating at the main stage performances. Funds raised will go to United Against Poverty. Call 772-770-0740 or visit BurgersAndBrews.org.
Also on Saturday, the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra will perform a patriotic concert – “Let Freedom Ring.” The concert includes popular American tunes like “Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America,” “Victory at Sea,” selected marches by John Phillips Sousa, and the world premiere of “Semper Fi,” a three-movement homage to the U.S. Marine Corps, composed by Michael Daugherty. It features tenor Aaron Odom singing Omar Thomas’ “Come Sunday,” “God Bless the USA” and more. The concert, which is performed under the baton of conductor Aaron Collins, also pays tribute to the late Marion Scott, a longtime and devoted music leader in Brevard County. The concert starts 2 p.m. Saturday, June 26 at the Emerson Center, 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets are free, but you need to reserve one by going to SpaceCoastSymphony.org or by calling 855-252-7276.
Riverside Theatre’s Comedy Zone will present headliner Mike Rivera and opening act Vien Phommachanh (replacement for Sheena Reagan). Rivera started doing comedy when he was a student at San Jose State University in California. He has done stand-up in the San Francisco Bay Area and won Showtime’s “Funniest Person in America” competition. He taught middle school civics for 13 years, which must give him plenty of comic fodder. Phommachanh not only performs stand-up, but is also an ear, nose and throat doctor in Sarasota. He was a finalist in the Clean Comedy Challenge in Nashville. Shows begin 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 25-26, at Riverside Theatre, 3250 Riverside Dr., Vero Beach. Tickets are all $20 plus a $2 processing fee. Get there early and enjoy a free concert outdoors at the Loop. The music acts are Doo Wop City on Friday and Joe Reid and Heartland on Saturday. Food and beverages available for purchase.
Get this on your calendar ahead of time: the Summer Film Program at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. The program is called “Yes We Cannes” and is held in conjunction with “A Tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Tom Golden Collection,” which recently opened. The film program schedule includes: “The Piano” and the short film “The Pistol,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 13; “Anna,” the 1987 feature film that will be preceded by the 2019 short film “Anna,” 7 p.m. July 20; and “Persepolis,” preceded by the short film “12 Zioty,” 7 p.m. July 27. Each program will be preceded by a brief introductory lecture by host and filmmaker Xaque Gruber, who will share his experiences at the famed Cannes Film Festival. Tickets to the entire package are $48 for museum members and $54 for non-members. Single tickets are $16 member, and $18 non-member. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is at 3001 Riverside Park Dr. Call 772-231-0707 or visit VBMuseum.org.