The annual Kentucky Derby race is this weekend and several West Side bars & restaurants have found a way to get in on the action. Opera Grand Rapids and the Grand Rapids Ballet are both debuting new performances this weekend. You’ll also have a chance to shop local with Indie Flea day and Free Comic Book Day!
Derby Day Bar Crawl on Bridge Street
(Saturday)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiM_1xJh7MR/?taken-by=kentuckyderbyThe 144th Kentucky Derby takes place on Saturday and several West Side establishments are getting in on the fun by hosting a Derby Day on Bridge Street Pub Crawl.
From noon to 7 p.m. visit the Knickerbocker, Butcher’s Union, O’Toole’s, Sovengard, Anchor Bar, One Bourbon and Harmony Hall. See the event page to find out when each location is offering food & drink specials.
Don’t forget to dress in your best Derby Day attire for a chance to win one of four categories: creative outfit, best hat, best group, best dressed couple. Photos will be taken at registration and loaded onto Facebook and Instagram feeds. Finalists will be determined by the most likes, comments and shares on social media judged by the Derby Day Co-Op before the Grand Finale. Winners will be determined by round of applause and a panel of judges.
General admission tickets are $15. Tickets will also be available at the gates while supplies last for $20.
May Indie Flea GR @ Wealthy Theatre
(Saturday)
Local vendors will take over the Wealthy Theatre and the sidewalk in front of the building on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for May Indie Flea.
Nearly 20 small businesses will be present so you’re sure to find something unique for yourself or grab a gift for mom (Mother’s Day is the following weekend).
Indie Flea events support Michigan entrepreneurship.
The Happy Prince & Other Wilde Tales
(Friday – Sunday)
Often provocative, always ironic, never boring, Oscar Wilde was one of the world’s most popular playwright/poets of the late 19th century. His whimsical works, he explained himself, were often written “partly for children and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy,” including his famous fairy tales “The Happy Prince,” “The Selfish Giant,” and “The Nightingale and the Rose.”
Penny Saunders, Grand Rapids Ballet choreographer-in-residence and Princess Grace award-winner, weaves together these three unique stories into her first full-length production for Grand Rapids Ballet, “The Happy Prince & Other Wilde Tales.”
Performances take place at the Peter Martin Wege Theatre. Visit Grand Rapids Ballet for tickets.
Free Comic Book Day
(Saturday)
Visit your favorite comic book shop on Saturday for free comic book day. Vault of Midnight, Tardy’s Collectors Corner, The Comic Signal, and Rookies are all participating. Visit their Facebook pages or websites to find out about special events taking place throughout the day in each shop.
The Marriage of Figaro
(Friday & Saturday)
Opera Grand Rapids concludes its 50th season with performance of “The Marriage of Figaro,” which was also the organization’s very first production.
Described as “a tangled tale of farce and folly ending, at last, in love.” The production features work by Mozart at “the height of his creative genius.” This is one not to miss.
Tickets range for $25 – $89. Performances take place at DeVos Performance Hall.
*Main photo courtesy of One Bourbon
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