Memphis In May Tickets

ACT 1, the Panamanian dance routines were beautiful and well done. 5 stars for them. Intermission was too crowded to really enjoy, but the Panamanian cuisine was interesting. ACT 2, the attempt to communicate 500 years of Panamas history through music fell well short of enjoyable entertainment. The only thing I could identify as Panamanian was the composer. The music sounded like a contemporary jazz session, so jazz fans probably enjoyed it.

Viva Panama was a nice event, but I think it could have been better. The "Ballet Folclorico" with typical dances of Panama was my favorite part, and was most representative of Panamanian culture. However, no one announced what the name of each dance was, nor what part of Panama it represented. The "Taste of Panama" was a big disappointment to me. I looked forward to seeing Chef Charlie Collins, and to having a taste of a variety of Panamanian foods, but instead he stayed at the Peabody, and the portions served were in tiny cups of much less than an ounce each one. They were served in a disorganized fashion, and the only one I was able to sample was the ceviche. The small cups that the portions were served in, were brought out on trays to a central table, and each time a tray was set down, all the portions disappeared quickly, therefore not everyone had a chance to taste all of the different foods. The second part of the program featured Jazz musician Danilo Perez, who had his name mispronounced when he was being introduced. His style of modern jazz is not one of my favorites, but nonetheless he performed the tunes very well. Although he is Panamanian, I don't think that any of his musicians were. They were from Oregon, St. Louis, Israel, etc. I don't feel that he was a very good choice to represent the music of Panama, and that perhaps a live band that played a variety of tropical music may have been a better choice, but I guess that Danilo was available for the date of this event. Anyway, thank you Memphis for hosting Panama this month.

1st half of program was a display of traditional Panamenian dancing. I thought I was watching a grade school production. Individual dances were too lengthy, large gaps of time between numbers,,no scenic backsets, overall lame. Jazz portion with Danilo was great.

It was lovely and funny. Being that much close to river and listening the symphont was really good. Glad to be there.

Great outdoor event! Good entertainment! Great way to support the Grizzlies (outdoor big screen). I only found out about the time change by seeing/hearing it in the news..a little disappointed and I missed the all time favorite Bar Kays show.

I booked 2 tickets for the Sunset Symphony performance because my friend and I were coming for the Paul McCartney concert the next evening. The Sunset event was an added bonus. We enjoyed it very much. The sunset over the river accompanied by passing towboats was a spectacular backdrop for the wonderful music. Fireworks were a nice touch.

The weather was nice and so was the entertainment. I would go again.

We thoroughly enjoyed Sunset Symphony this year. It was awesome to see the inclusion of our communities' youth. The children from Stax Academy did a great job. They were such a talented group of young people. I was also impressed by the brass section from Overton High School who participated in the Symphony's finale. I rated this a four instead of five, because it was hard to find a spot that wasn't a patch of dirt, and when we found a spot that wasn't a dirt patch, the wind blew dirt into our eyes a few times. Either way, I can't wait until we go again next year.

Excellent selections and probably the best fireworks

Traveled all the way from FL to the Memphis in May BBQ Festival looking forward to sampling delicious BBQ. Wrong! This is nothing but a scam. We purchased tickets to get in and basically walk around for an hour. There is absolutely nothing going on here except competitors feeding their friends and the judges, the general public does not get to sample or even purchase the bbq. My advice is to go to one of the nice BBQ restaurants in Memphis and skip this joke of a festival.

My husband and I went on Saturday thinking this would be the best day to sample award winning BBQ. The BBQ was pretty much done and NO BBQ!!

Wanted to watch the cooking and taste the B BQ. To settle for "FAIR" food at an event like that was totally disappointing at best. It was only a show for sponsorship. Good luck in the future

brought my brother and sister-in-law all the way from Ohio to the barbecue contest and was so disappointed that you can't even sample any of the contestants food. i will never go back there ever again! The only people enjoying are the ones who knows anybody that have a booth there. And to think that we have to pay to get in. Thanks for nothing! Please don't waste your time and money. There is absolutely nothing for the family there. Kids will be bored.

What a disappointment! We traveled all the way from California via planes, trains, and automobiles just to find out that our $9 per person entry fee gave us the privledge of purchasing overpriced street vendor food (corndogs, nachos, etc.) and "looking" at the contestant booths. No BBQ samples, no opportunities to purchase BBQ, nothing! The look of disappointment on my husband's face will forever be my only memory of Memphis. The Kingsford koozie and Weber grilling sample soveniers were nowhere near worth the $700 we spent to attend.

It was my first time attending. There wasn't enough early, good quality entertainment. They need to bring back the tradition of singing the famous song (Ol' Man River) that used to to be sung every year before the death of James Hyter. I like the planes flying by doing tricks and the 2nd half of the fireworks at the end was lovely. The Bar-Kays were good as well.

Good music, great crowd! Really liked that I could bring food, snacks, etc. Need an easy access entrance for those with small children and wagons, coolers, etc.

Came back with family and out of town guest and had great time. Weather had a great deal to do with it. Two elements lessened our enjoyment: Had my elderly Mom who has difficulty walking, and even though we were able to find out about HC parking on Riverside, we had a very long walk to get toward the stage area. We asked sever staff people before, during and after if she could utilize their carts that they were just sitting on and they all refused to provide assistance. VERY BAD! The preconcert music was so loud through the speakerss that we could not carry on a normal conversation and was a distraction, rather than a plus.

We have attended the Sunset Symphony for several years now and I have to say this year was definitely not as good as years past. We felt like they really cut down on the entertainment!! For the 2nd year in a row they had the Bar Kays, who are good but we don't want to see them every year. One of the reasons we travel so far is to see friends and the fun of this day but this year's was kind of disappointing!!

We're going back next year! Had an unbelievable time and the barkays were awesome"

Even with a music background, I was a little disappointed in the choice of music. Certainly could have had more patriotic tunes - especially during the fireworks display