FORT LAUDERDALE & BROWARD COUNTY
The Weekender
Your curated guide to the best events this week
☀️ WEEK OF MAY 23 - 29, 2026 🌊
Hey Weekender 👋
The Great American Beach Party takes over Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday — two stages, a sand-sculpting contest, classic cars, and a parachute team landing on the sand, all free. From there the long weekend keeps going: Weird Al opens his tour at Hard Rock, Jeff Dunham brings the suitcase on Sunday, and Keith Urban closes the week out Friday night. Plantation Walk and Rhythm & Vine run four straight days of food, drinks, and live sound. And Wilton Manors throws its 28th White Party Sunday night.
⭐ The One Thing
Great American Beach Party
Two stages of live bands, a sand-sculpting contest, rows of classic cars, and a SOCOM Para-Commandos team dropping out of the sky onto the sand — this is the day the whole city shows up to the beach. It's the unofficial start of summer in the 954, it's free, and it runs straight through to evening. Stake out a spot early; the good stretch of sand fills up fast.
📅 Saturday, May 23 · 11 AM–6:30 PM · 📍 Las Olas Oceanside Park · Fort Lauderdale Beach · 💵 Free · Info
🌊⛵ Sun, Sand & Sea
Outdoor adventures, water sports, fitness & all things active
Great American Beach Party
Sat May 23 · 11 AM · 📍 Las Olas Oceanside Park · Fort Lauderdale Beach · Free · Details
The beach becomes a full-day block party — two stages of live music, a sand-sculpting contest, classic cars, and a Para-Commandos parachute jump. Memorial Day weekend, done right.
The MKT at Las Olas Oceanside Park
Sun May 24 · 10 AM · 📍 Las Olas Oceanside Park · Fort Lauderdale Beach · Free · Details
Handmade goods, fresh produce, and global street food with the ocean right there. Sunday morning, sorted.
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk Live Music
Wed–Fri · 7 PM · 📍 Hollywood Beach Theatre · Hollywood · Free · Details
Free oceanfront live music five nights a week, the Atlantic as your backdrop. Pull up a spot and stay a while.
🍷🍤 Sip & Savor
Food festivals, pop-ups, markets, fairs, tastings & culinary experiences
Plantation Walk: Memorial 4 Day Weekend
Fri–Mon · from 4 PM · 📍 Plantation Walk · Plantation · Free · Details
Four days of live music, food, and drinks at Plantation's walkable hub. Easy west-Broward plans all weekend long.
Rhythm & Vine Memorial Day Weekend
Sat–Mon · 📍 Rhythm & Vine · Flagler Village · Free admission · Details
Flagler Village's open-air beer garden and food-truck yard takes on the long weekend with live sound and cold pours.
🎨🌳 Out & About
Arts, culture, community events & local discoveries
White Fort Lauderdale Festival — 28th Anniversary
Sun May 24 · 11 PM (21+) · 📍 The Manor Complex · Wilton Manors · Ticketed · Details
Wilton Manors' biggest night of the weekend, 28 years running — cirque acts, world-famous DJs, drag stars, and a sea of white. A South Florida institution.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Surrounded Islands
Tue–Sun · museum hours · 📍 NSU Art Museum · Las Olas · Admission · Details
The documentation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapping Biscayne Bay's islands in pink fabric — a piece of South Florida art history, right on Las Olas.
Frantz Zéphirin: The Messenger
Tue–Sun · museum hours · 📍 NSU Art Museum · Las Olas · Admission · Details
Bold, dense, symbol-packed canvases from one of Haiti's most important living painters. Worth the trip downtown.
👨👩👧👦🎉 The Whole Crew
Family-friendly events for all ages
Great American Beach Party: Kids Zone
Sat May 23 · 11 AM · 📍 Las Olas Oceanside Park · Fort Lauderdale Beach · Free · Details
Face painting, inflatables, beach games, and a sand-sculpting contest — the family heart of the city's biggest beach day.
Museum of Discovery and Science + IMAX
Daily · check holiday hours · 📍 MODS · Downtown Fort Lauderdale · Admission · Details
Otters, the EcoDiscovery Everglades airboat, and a giant-screen IMAX — the rainy-afternoon-proof family standby downtown.
🥂✨ The A-List
Galas, upscale experiences & unmissable headliners
"Weird Al" Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2026
Tue May 26 · 7:30 PM · 📍 Hard Rock Live · Hollywood · From $20 · Details
Forty years of accordion-fueled parody, plus Puddles Pity Party opening — and it's the tour's opening night. A genuinely great cheap night out.
Happy Together Tour 2026
Wed May 27 · 7:30 PM · 📍 Pompano Beach Amphitheater · Pompano Beach · From $63 · Details
The Association, The Troggs, Gary Puckett, The Cowsills, and Chicago's Jason Scheff — 60+ Top 40 hits under the open-air canopy.
Jeff Dunham: Artificial Intelligence
Sun May 24 · 7 PM · 📍 Hard Rock Live · Hollywood · From $90 · Details
Walter, Peanut, and the whole suitcase of characters. Dunham's new tour lands at Hard Rock on Memorial Day Sunday.
Keith Urban
Fri May 29 · 8 PM · 📍 Hard Rock Live · Hollywood · From $101 · Details
Four-time Grammy winner, stadium-sized hooks, and a guitar he actually shreds. The week's biggest ticket.