A paracycling national championship, a celebration of peaches and a competition between Chattanooga and Knoxville blood donors highlight the Chattanooga area's entertainment calendar.
OUT & ABOUT
- Blood Assurance blood donors will be rewarded with Chattanooga Lookouts tickets and the potential for bragging rights in an annual competition underway against Medic Regional Blood Center in Knoxville. Through Friday, donors will receive a baseball-themed T-shirt and two complimentary tickets (while supplies last) to a Lookouts vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas game July 26-28 at AT&T Field. Blood Assurance is trying for a repeat of its 2021 win when the Chattanooga agency collected 1,084 units of blood compared to Medic's 957. Walk-ins are welcome, or make an appointment online at bloodassurance.org/schedule, call 1-800-962-0628 or text BAGIVE to 999777.
- The Comedy Catch, 29 Station St., will host a Next Level Comedy Showcase, featuring several rising talents, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $12. The weekend headliner is Carlos Rodriguez, with shows at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $17-$19. thecomedycatch.com
- Paws in the Park, a celebration to mark the opening of a new dog park in East Ridge, is scheduled 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at 1517 Tombras Ave. (behind City Hall). In addition to the ribbon-cutting, the event will include food trucks, vendors with products for people and pets, information booths by community organizations and raffles for door prizes every 20 minutes. 423-867-7711
- Chattanooga Market continues its weekly odes to the fruits of summer with a Peach Festival on Sunday. In addition to fresh-picked peaches, visitors will find vendors with merchandise that incorporates peach flavors, smells or themes, including salsa, jelly, pastries, cobblers, candles and lotions. Hours are 11 a.m-4 p.m. at First Horizon Pavilion, 1826 Carter St. Admission is free. chattanoogamarket.com
- Free fries: Penn Station East Coast Subs will celebrate National French Fry Day on Wednesday by giving away a small order of the brand's fresh-cut fries with any sandwich purchase. No coupon is required. The local Penn Station is at 5241 Highway 153 in Hixson. pennstation.com
(READ MORE: Penn Station East Coast Subs lures customers with freshness)
MUSIC
- Songbirds, 35 Station St., has two shows with hometown connections over the weekend. Friday features the Chattanooga-based Slim Pickins Bluegrass Band at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of. Saturday showcases Dade County teenager Camden Smith at 7 p.m. He'll be joined by Nashville-based artist Connor McCutcheon, who graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in May. Tickets are $12. Country artist Nate Smith's Thursday show was canceled. songbirdsfoundation.org
(READ MORE: These Chattanooga-connected musicians are raising their profiles with latest efforts)
- Byrd's Creek Music Festival , featuring a variety of folk, Americana, rock and bluegrass music, is Thursday through Sunday at Oaklawn Farms, 5754 U.S. 70 in Crossville, Tenn. Among the 31 bands in the lineup are the Del McCoury Band, Town Mountain, Lost Dog Street Band and the Travelin' McCourys. Single-day tickets are $65-$75. Weekend passes, which include camping, are $129-$399. byrdscreekmusicfestival.com
- Nightfall, a free summer music series, continues Friday at Miller Plaza, 850 Market St., with indie pop band Yam Haus headlining at 8 p.m. and local artist Jason Lyles opening at 7 p.m. Artists, games and food vendors will be set up at adjacent Miller Park, 901 Market St. Also this week, Moonlight Roller will offer roller skating 6:30-9:30 p.m. on M.L. King Boulevard. Skating is for all ages, but you must be 18 to rent skates ($10). nightfallchattanooga.com
- Riverfront Nights, a free summer music series, continues 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Ross's Landing, 201 Riverfront Parkway. Local band Killakeyz, led by keyboardist Marcus White, will open the show, and rock band CBDB, self-proclaimed "purveyors of joyfunk," will headline. riverfrontnights.com
- The Signal, 1810 Chestnut St., will welcome the Lost Dog Street Band, a "dark country" ensemble fronted by husband and wife musicians Benjamin Tod on guitar and Ashley Mae on fiddle, at 8 p.m. Saturday (before the band's Sunday appearance at the Byrd's Creek Music Festival). The opener is folk singer Willi Carlisle. Tickets are $25-$40. thesignaltn.com
- The Caverns, 555 Charlie Roberts Road, Pelham, Tenn., will welcome Southern jam band Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies for an underground show at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday. Tickets are $59. thecaverns.com
- Arts in the Burg, 207 S. Cedar Ave., South Pittsburg, Tenn., will welcome singer and ukulele player Raelyn Nelson, Willie Nelson's granddaughter, in an unplugged performance at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday. The performance is one in a series of second Saturday parties that also include art vendors and food trucks starting at noon. Show tickets are $25. artsintheburg.com
ARTS
- Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View, will present a Fantasy Game Night 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday. Tabletop gamers are invited to join a short, one-shot Dungeons & Dragons campaign with customized character sheets and hand-painted "Game of Thrones" figurines. Local game shop Game On Chatt will offer demos of Magic: The Gathering, played with trading cards, as well as several fantasy board games. Admission is free as part of the monthly Throwback Thursday promotion. Admission is $5 to see the temporary exhibit "Enchanted," which features illustrations from Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals. The Sunday Studio program, 2-4 p.m., offers a chance for families to make mystical masks inspired by the art of "Enchanted." huntermuseum.org
(READ MORE: As it celebrates 70 years, Hunter Museum takes art in new directions)
- River Gallery, 400 E. Second St., has two events this weekend to celebrate the opening of its July exhibition highlighting artists James Courtenay James of Chattanooga, Lee Malerich of South Carolina and Cynthia Tollefsrud of Knoxville. A wine reception is scheduled 5:30-7 p.m. Friday. A meet-the-artist event 1-3 p.m. Saturday will feature Tollefsrud discussing her new bunny series. river-gallery.com
- Exum Gallery, inside St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 305 W. Seventh St., will open an exhibit by the Signal Mountain-based Mountain Art Guild with a reception 5-7:30 p.m. Friday. The show runs through Aug. 10. 423-266-8195
FILM
- Bobby Stone Film Series continues its summer run with seven films this month at the Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. Coming this weekend are "A Star Is Born," the 1976 version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, at 7 p.m. Friday; the 2022 fantasy/sci-fi film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" at 3 p.m. Saturday; and the 1954 Japanese epic "Seven Samurai" at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10-$12. The Disney comedy/adventure "Zootopia" will be screened at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $5. tivolichattanooga.com
File Photo / The 1976 version of "A Star Is Born," starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand, will be shown Friday in the Bobby Stone Film Series at the Tivoli Theatre.- Music & Movies in Miller series resumes Saturday after a three-week break with a pop performance by the Ryan Oyer Band and a screening of the family adventure film "Raya and the Last Dragon" at Miller Park, 910 Market St. Artists, musicians, games and food trucks will be set up by 6 p.m. The outdoor movie starts around 8:30 p.m. Bring your own seating. Admission is free. rivercity.com
SPECTATOR SPORTS
- Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball, which adheres to the rules and customs of baseball's 19th-century origins, will field two games Saturday at the 6th Cavalry Museum, 6 Barnhardt Circle, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. The Lightfoot Club of Chattanooga will play the Nashville Maroons at noon and the Franklin Farriers at 2 p.m. (The other Chattanooga team, Mountain City, is playing in Knoxville this weekend.) Admission is free. tennesseevintagebaseball.com
- USA Cycling Para-cycling Road National Championships are scheduled this weekend in Chattanooga for the first time. This U.S. Paralympics Cycling event, a sport adapted for cyclists who have various disabilities, includes two full days of racing, with time trial and handcycle relay races on Saturday and road racing competition Sunday at Enterprise South Nature Park, 190 Still Hollow Loop. Sixty to 90 athletes are expected, and about 30% are U.S. military veterans. The competition helps determine the U.S. teams that will compete at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling World Championships in August in Quebec. The DoubleTree by Hilton, 407 Chestnut St., is the host hotel. teamusa.org/usparacycling/events
THEATER
- "Anastasia": A touring production of the musical that debuted on Broadway in 2017, stops next week at Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave., to conclude the 2021-22 Broadway at Memorial series. Inspired by the 1997 animated film, the production adapts the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, whose past is shrouded in mystery. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and July 14. Tickets are $38-$83. tivolichattanooga.com
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.