Weekender: 36 things to do in Charlotte this weekend, including Kendrick Lamar and Lovin' Life
Friday, May 2
🎨 Dress like you're attending the Met Gala for "Superfine at the Gantt: Exploring Black Dandyism" at the Harvey B. Gantt Center and stick around for a fashion show, exhibits, a rooftop party, drinks and light bites. | $30 | 7–11pm | Details
🎶 Attend Lovin' Life's three-day music festival in First Ward Park with headliners like Gwen Stefani and Pitbull. | $129–$319 | Runs through Sunday | Details
🥃 Enjoy a selection of tequilas paired with a Cinco de May Day-inspired tasting menu at The Ballantyne. | $95 | 6:30–8:30pm | Details
🥊 Watch the fight between professional boxers Ryan Garcia and Canelo Alvarez at Azul Tacos and Beer and enjoy drink specials. | Free | 11am | Details
🍻 Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Sycamore Taproom with live music and a Mexican lager, plus food and drink specials. | Free | 12pm | Details
🍹 Sip on tequila-forward cocktails at State of Confusion's Legend of Don Gato Cinco de Mayo Party. | Free | 5pm | Details
⚾️ Catch a baseball game between the Charlotte Knights and Norfolk Tides at Truist Field over a beer with a friend. | $34 | 7:04pm | Details
🖼️ Stroll through an outdoor art gallery in South End. | Free | 6pm | Details
🎵 See Cody Johnson and Ashley McBryde in concert at PNC Music Pavilion.| $149+ | 7pm | Details
🤣 See comedian John Crist at Ovens Auditorium. | $28+ | 7pm | Details
🩰 Watch a ballet performance at Knight Theater accompanied by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. | Runs through May 11 | Details
Saturday, May 3
🎤 Vibe to Kendrick Lamar and SZA as they make their tour stop at Bank of America Stadium. | $154 | 7pm | Details
🍹 Drink at various venues in Uptown in a Cinco de Mayo Bar Crawl. | $32 | 3–10pm | Details
🛍️ Shop from 20+ local vendors at The Bowl at Ballantyne selling everything from permanent jewelry to local art, and stick around for afternoon activities. | Free | 10am–3pm | Details
🥖 Learn how to shape, fold and stretch sourdough at Sweet Spot Studio. | $90 | 10:30am | Details
🤣 Laugh the night away with improv comedians at Charlotte Comedy Theater and stick around for evening shows. | $15 | 4pm | Details
🐈 Get a workout in with adoptable cats at Vaulted Oak Brewing. | $20 | 11am | Details
🏓 Learn pickleball tips and tricks at Rally Pickleball; your ticket includes a drink. | $5 | 3–4pm | Details
🇲🇽 Take the family to a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Camp North End with Mexican food, music, dancing and vendors. | Free | 3–10pm | Details
🧸 Take the kiddos to see Disney's Winnie The Pooh Kids at The Carolina. | $16+ | 1pm | Details
🎉 Vibe to a Kendrick Lamar day party with DJs at Resident Culture Brewing ahead of the concert. | Free | 11am–2am | Details
🥂 Hop around to different South End bars offering drink specials for a Cinco de Mayo bar crawl. | $15+ | 4–11pm | Details
🏊 Take on a triathlon with a 1K open water swim in the Catawba River, a 23K mountain bike leg and a 6.5K trail run through the Whitewater Center's trail system. | $65–$85 | 6am–12pm | Details
🎻 Watch a two-hour film montage of iconic scenes from over 220 "Naruto" anime episodes that are synchronized to a live orchestra performing Toshio Masuda's original score. | $45 | 8pm | Details
🎤 Listen to jazz artist Jarrod Lawson live at Middle C Jazz. | $57–70 | Times vary | Details
🌷 Explore six private gardens in a self-guided tour that includes artists and vendors. | Runs through Sunday | $39 | 10am–4pm | Details
🌮 Enjoy tacos and tequila specials during a day party on Imperial's rooftop for Cinco de Mayo and keep the festive vibes going into Sunday at Pinhouse. | $15+ | 12pm | Details
Sunday, May 4
🎶 Listen to live blues at Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts. | $0–$10 | 6pm | Details
🧠 Test your knowledge on Latino culture and Black culture at Queen City Grounds over brunch for a chance to win a prize. | Free | 1–3:30pm | Details
🍽️ Eat a four-course Greek-inspired Sunday supper at L'Ostrica. | $75 | 5:30pm | Details
🏃♂️ Run with Mad Miles at Camp North End as they celebrate their fifth anniversary, and look out for a weeklong list of activities to follow. | Free | 7am–1pm | Details
🧘 Unwind to yoga with Thrift Pony at the Boileryard in Camp North End. | $5 | 10–11am | Details
🎵 Vibe to Trap Bingo at The Fillmore. | $43+ | 2pm | Details
🍿 Watch "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and enjoy cocktails and live music at Resident Culture Brewing. | Free | 7–9pm | Details
🧘♀️ Begin the day with yoga and follow it up with a catered brunch at Whitewater Center. | $50 | 9:15am | Details
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'I am saddened by the passing of San Antonio music legend Leonardo 'Flaco' Jiménez,' he wrote. 'He was a pioneer in conjunto music — receiving a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, National Medal of Arts, and a place in the National Recording Registry for his work. Texas is proud of his legacy. May he rest in peace.' Jiménez's 1992 album, 'Partners,' was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2020. 'People used to regard my music as cantina music, just no respect,' Jiménez told the Library of Congress. 'The accordion was considered something like a party joke … I really give respect to everyone who helped me out on this record, and I'm flattered by this recognition.' His skills on the 'party joke' of an instrument were so well recognized that the famed German musical instrument manufacturer Hohner collaborated with Jiménez in 2009 to create a signature line of accordions. 'The music world has lost a true legend. Flaco Jimenez was a global ambassador for Tex-Mex Conjunto music, bringing its vibrant sound to audiences around the world,' Hohner wrote in a social media post following Jiménez's death. 'His passion and virtuosity on the three-row button accordion inspired generations of musicians across cultures and continents. Since 1976, Flaco was a proud partner of Hohner, a relationship built on mutual respect and a shared love for music. It was an incredible honor to work alongside such a talented, humble, and gracious artist.' Jiménez was born on March 11, 1939, in San Antonio to a family with a storied musical background. He first began performing at age 7 with his father, Santiago Jiménez, who himself was a pioneering figure in the conjunto movement. At 15, Flaco appeared in his first recording with the musical group Los Caporales. He went from local fame to modest international recognition on the folk scene when musicologist Chris Strachwitz recorded him for his Arhoolie label, and after being featured in a 1974 Les Blank film on Texas-Mexican border music. Then in 1976, Ry Cooder tapped him to be a member of his Chicken Skin Revue. Jimenez worked with Cooder on several projects, including the soundtrack to the 1982 film 'The Border,' which starred Jack Nicholson. He won the first of his three Grammy Awards for best Mexican-American performance in 1986 for his album 'Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio' and his last in the category in 1999 for his work with the supergroup Los Super Seven. He also won Grammys for his solo albums 'Flaco Jiménez' in 1994 and 'Said and Done' in 1999, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. The list of artists with whom Jiménez collaborated is as long as it is distinguished and includes Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Dwight Yoakam and Linda Ronstadt. Jiménez played the accordion on the Rolling Stones' 'Sweethearts Together,' a Tex-Mex-infused ballad off of their 1994 album, 'Voodoo Lounge.' Jiménez's success and recognition far surpassed anything he could have imagined for himself, he told The Times in 1994. 'I thought that it was always just going to be a local thing. I'd only hear my dad and other groups in San Antonio, or even here just in the barrio,' he said. 'I think that audience started changing when I began to 'bilingual' a lot of stuff and started playing rock 'n' roll and with a little country to it. Then the reaction of the people, not just the Chicanos but the Anglos, was stronger.' Speaking with The Times in 1996, Jiménez said he was delighted that crossover with country had helped to bring the distinctive sound of accordion-based Tejano music to a wider audience. 'It's more respected and more listened to than ever before. I'm satisfied. At the level Tejano or conjunto music is now, we can communicate with the mainstream,' he said. Reflecting on how far the reach of conjunto had come, Jiménez recalled one of his earliest and most impactful memories introducing the genre across the globe. 'Conjunto or Tex-Mex music was not known at all. We went on tour to Switzerland, and when I got to the concert hall there was just one microphone and one chair. They thought I was going to give a concert with pura acordeon — just the accordion,' he said. 'I said, 'Hey, where's the rest of the amps and whatever?' And they managed to get a drum set so we did our thing. Then the audience noticed, 'Hey, this is fun!' And it got really wild. Because when I play, I'm really just having a party with the audience.' Times staff writer Fidel Martinez contributed to this report.
