Good morning, Memphis! ☀️
Happy National Tennessee Day! 🎸 Today we celebrate the Volunteer State's music, art and history.
It's also Halloween week. If you still don't have plans, don't panic. We did the homework. There are mazes, trunk-or-treats, a slasher movie and even a musical about a very dangerous bunny.
Let's get into it.
Events
🎃 It's Halloween Week: Make Your Plans With Our Fall Guides
Halloween is Saturday, and our guides have the whole week covered. Here's one pick from each.
🍂 Fall Festivals Guide: Zootoberfest pours fall beers at the Memphis Zoo Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. A stein and your first beer are $12 each, plus zoo admission. It's 21+ to drink.
🎃 Pumpkin Patch Guide: The Mid-South Maze closes Saturday. Its Haunted Maze ($25) runs Friday and Saturday, 7–10 p.m., and it often sells out.
🍬 Trunk-or-Treat Guide: Olive Branch's trunk-or-treat in Old Towne starts Thursday at 6 p.m., with Goosebumps on the City Hall lawn at 7. Scare on the Tanger Square in Southaven is free on Friday, 5–8 p.m.
👻 Haunted Houses Guide: It has 70+ haunts, ghost tours and parties. Haunted Web Scream Park ends Sunday with a "Lights Out" night: you go through in total darkness with one glow stick.
Find your plans in our guides here.
Memphis History
📻 This Week in 1948: Nat D. Williams Signs On at WDIA
On Oct. 25, 1948, at 4 p.m., Nat D. Williams went on the air at Memphis' WDIA. He was one of the first Black disc jockeys in the South.
🎙️ Teacher by day. Williams taught history at Booker T. Washington High School for more than 40 years. He also wrote a newspaper column about Beale Street and hosted Amateur Night at the Palace Theater.
📡 Turning up the volume. By 1949, WDIA had an all-Black lineup of DJs, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas. In 1954, it jumped to 50,000 watts and reached listeners across the South.
Read more about WDIA here.
Events
🍂 Hop on the Memphis Botanic Garden's Fall Tram Tours
Memphis Botanic Garden
The Memphis Botanic Garden runs Fall Tram Tours around its 96 acres Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
🚋 All aboard. The tram is free with garden admission. It leaves about every 25 minutes. Rides are first come, first served and canceled if it rains.
⏰ Leaf it to us. Tours run through Nov. 21. Winter hours start Nov. 2, when the garden closes at 4:30 p.m., so go soon for the most daylight.
Plan your visit here.
Theater
🐰 'Monty Python's Spamalot' Gallops Into the Orpheum Tuesday
Photo: BroadwayWorld
Spamalot, the musical "lovingly ripped off" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, plays the Orpheum Tuesday, Oct. 27, through Sunday, Nov. 1.
🏆 Grail-ty pleasure. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005. Tickets start around $47. The show runs about 2 hours, 15 minutes, and it's recommended for ages 8 and up (no kids under 4).
🎭 Knight moves. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Saturday has shows at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday's crowd can stay after the show for a free Q&A with the cast.
Get tickets here.
Daily Picks
🗞️ Other News Around the 901
🤠 Boot scootin' soon. The Country Club opens Halloween night, Oct. 31, at 535 S. Highland St., in the old Rooster's Blues House space. Look for line dancing, a mechanical bull and a leopard-print pool table.
🔪 The night he came home. Crosstown Theater wraps up Fright-Tober with John Carpenter's 1978 classic Halloween on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. It's the movie that launched Jamie Lee Curtis and helped kick off the slasher craze.
📸 Say cheese. Our October partner, Memphis photographer Connor Ryan, is giving one reader a free fall family photo session at Shelby Farms. The winner gets 15 to 25 edited digital photos. Enter by Saturday, Oct. 31 here.
📱 Screen time well spent. In Southaven, 3-year-old Ky'ier used his iPad to call family when his grandmother passed out. He stayed on the line with 911 and watched the door for first responders. His grandma is out of the hospital and recovering. Read more.
🅿️ Green means go. Frederick W. Smith International Airport is adding a light over every parking space: green if it's open, red if it's taken. It's already working on the 6th floor of the economy garage. The whole system should be done in November.
🇺🇸 Lunch is served. Olive Branch's Veterans Day Luncheon is Thursday, Nov. 12, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at CrossPointe Olive Branch. Seats are limited. Sign up by Nov. 6 online or at 662-892-9200.
👞 Tap into it. The Adult Tap Class at GPAC meets Tuesdays, 10–11 a.m. Drop in for $20. Bring tap shoes or hard-soled shoes.
🛝 Play for all. Bartlett opened its first fully inclusive playground at Shadowlawn Park. The park also got new paths, parking lots and resurfaced pickleball courts.
🩺 Hablamos español. NuvaCare Clinic opened in Cordova on Oct. 19 at 1140 N. Germantown Pkwy. Its goal is to help Spanish speakers see a doctor in their own language.
📣 Want to reach Memphis? 901 Today lands in 16,000+ inboxes across the Memphis metro every weekday morning. Partner with 901 Today here.
Trivia Time
The Monday Trivia 🎸
🎸 Happy National Tennessee Day! When did Tennessee officially become a state?
Out and About
🌙 Tonight in the 901
Trivia, karaoke, live music and more happening tonight around the Memphis metro.
Downtown
🎸 Free Alley Dayz, last one of the season on Beale Street, 5pm
🏃 Free Hustle & Flow Pilates at Tom Lee Park, 6pm (bring a mat)
🃏 Board games & beers at Max's Sports Bar, 6pm (free to play, 21+)
🧠 Trivia at Momma's, 7pm
🧠 Trivia at Aldo's Pizza Pies Downtown, 7pm
🃏 Poker night at Bardog Tavern, 7pm
🎸 Live music: Rockin 88's at Blues City Cafe, 7pm
Midtown
🏃 Free twilight yoga or Pilates at Overton Park Shell, 5:30pm
🃏 Board games & bad movies at Hi-Tone, 6pm (no cover)
🎸 Live music: winterforever, Livid Noise & Saw It Coming at Growlers, 8pm ($10, all ages)
East Memphis
🎸 Live piano at Folk's Folly Cellar Lounge, 5:30pm
📚 ACOTAR midnight book release party at Novel, 9:30pm (preorder required)
Cordova, Germantown & Collierville
🧠 Trivia at Huey's Cordova, 7pm
🧠 Trivia at Huey's Collierville, 7pm
🎶 Spooky music bingo at Huey's Germantown, 8pm
South Memphis & Millington
🎸 Live blues: Shake the Monday Blues at Smooth Living (Whitehaven), 6pm ($10)
🧠 Trivia at Huey's Millington, 7pm
DeSoto
🎶 Spooky music bingo at Huey's Olive Branch, 7pm
🎤 Karaoke at Huey's Southaven, 8pm
Host a game night? Reply and we'll add you.
That's it for today!
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Have a great week, Memphis. We'll see you tomorrow.
— 901 Today
