Five Things To Do This Weekend in Memphis: September 10th-12th

Your GOAT (greatest of all time) Memphis weekend is here. Be mesmerized by autumn art and festivals celebrating cars, yoga, and more.

by

The Mesmerist

Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum, 680 Adams

Friday, September 10, 7-9 p.m.

This one-man show is based on the magicians of the nineteenth century. What better place for the magic of a bygone era than in the Victorian ballroom at the Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum (built 1871) with the museum’s resident magician, Jeffrey Day?

Some of the magicians you’ve probably never heard of such as Harry Kellar, Howard Thurston, Ching Ling Foo, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, and Ehrich Weiss (Harry Houdini) are performers who were extremely famous in the 1800s. Developed for an intimate theater audience, as was the case back in the nineteenth century, this kind of show is called Salon Magic, a very elegant form of parlor magic, and includes some exciting magic that has seldom been seen, even by current-day magicians.

The word mesmerist refers to Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), an Austrian physician who developed a theory of animal magnetism and a mysterious body fluid that allows one person to hypnotize another. Mesmerism has taken on a different meaning in modern times. Some of the magic performed might make one feel as though you have had a spell cast upon you. Come see what audiences witnessed in the 1800s.

Prepare yourself to be mesmerized.

“Rural Route: Autumn Aesthetic”

Fagan-Carpenter Studio, 4881 Canada, and Agnes Stark Pottery, 12675 Donelson

Friday-Saturday, September 10-11, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, September 12, noon-5 p.m.

Take a soothing trip close to home where three well-known local artists are opening their home studios to the public this weekend in Lakeland and Eads.

Just 30 minutes from Downtown Memphis, Deborah Fagan Carpenter and Jimmy Crosthwait invite you to wander their Lakeland home and studio. Crosthwait’s work is designed for movement while Carpenter’s work is quiet and soothing, a perfect complement to each other. Homemade cookies and refreshments on the garden patio will add to the experience.

Just a short trip down the road in Eads, potter Agnes Stark will also have her home studio open to the public. Each piece of pottery is unique, fired in a gas kiln. Along with decorative and useful stoneware and ceramic clay pieces for sale, guests are invited to walk Stark’s property where there is also a log cabin amid open spaces.

Whether you are seeking a unique piece of art, a quiet respite, or both, you are invited to travel an artful autumn rural route this weekend. 

Memphis Rox Yoga Festival

Memphis Botanic Garden

750 Cherry, Saturday, September 11, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

If you want to get your zen on this weekend, Memphis Rox Yoga Festival is for you. You will also get a healthy dose of good karma when you join a variety of local studios from Memphis, Nashville, and North Mississippi celebrating all things yoga.  

Why good karma, you ask? A portion of the proceeds from the festival will benefit Memphis Rox, a nonprofit climbing gym located in Soulsville, South Memphis that functions on a pay-what-you-can model. The community benefits from the climbing facility that offers programs to foster relationships across cultural, racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Rock climbing is a metaphor for overcoming life’s obstacles. The higher the community climbs physically, the higher the community climbs metaphorically. In addition to rock climbing, Memphis Rox also offers other community amenities such as yoga, a community closet, and the Juice Almighty juice bar cafe lunch program.

Susannah Herring, co-founder of Memphis Rox Yoga Festival and Memphis Rox board member, says the partnership was a natural because often rock climbing and yoga go hand-in-hand. The festival will offer lectures, workshops, film screenings, and yoga classes for all levels — even kids. Browse the Memphis Botanic Garden while enjoying live music, food trucks, kids’ activities, lectures, and 20 different yoga classes throughout the venue for the entire day. Connect with your physical, mental, and spiritual self with other yoga enthusiasts while helping a community climb to new heights.

Namaste.

Super Chevy Show

Memphis International Raceway, 5500 Victory, Millington, TN

Friday- Sunday, September 10-12, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

In my early 20s, I owned a 1951 Chevy. That thing was massive but ran like a dream. It even had the sewing machine sound when the motor purred. I drove it from Memphis to Florida one summer with my pet iguana. People honked and waved. You never meet a stranger or nicer people when you travel with a six-foot iguana in a 1951 Chevy. My days of youth were not wasted.

Because of that sweet ride, I'm really partial to Chevy automobiles and look forward to the Super Chevy Show every year. My car is long gone, but the 34th annual Memphis Chevy Show returns this year with an automotive swap meet, the largest car show in the Mid-South, drag racing, a vendor midway, and more.

The popular weekend event is the destination for all things Chevrolet, featuring multiple classes of drag racing that includes fire-breathing Jet Cars and earth-pounding 200-mph Pro Mods. Experience an automotive swap meet, a Chevrolet-focused performance marketplace, and the largest collection of Chevrolet cars and trucks in one place, from classics to current models.

International Goat Days Festival

Millington Gym, 4885 Bill Knight, Millington, TN

Saturday, September 11, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

The event actually kicks off with the World’s Greatest Goat Parade at 5:30 p.m. on Friday followed by opening ceremonies. Festival gates will open from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday and then at 7 a.m. on Saturday for the pancake breakfast and goat yoga.

Other events include the West Tennessee Mini Pullers, equestrian events with old West Special Trails, hot air balloon rides, TN Dairy Goat Association milking demonstrations, goat obstacle course demonstrations, Myotonic Goat Show, arts and crafts benefiting the Millington Arts Council, vendors, the Kid Zone benefiting Millington Kiwanis Club, a car show, antique tractor show, barbecue contest, and more.

Two entertainment stages at the event will feature a variety of performances throughout the whole event.

Bring the whole family out for this GOAT event — Greatest Of All Time.

For a full list of what’s happening this weekend in and around Memphis, check out our calendar of events. Also, be sure to tag your favorite Instagram photos of Memphis while you are out and about with the #memphismagazine hashtag. I hope you have a great weekend.