9 essential Atlanta arts events this weekend

Each week, ArtsATL curates a selection of the most exciting arts and culture events happening in Atlanta this weekend, highlighting nine must-see experiences.

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Thursday

Initiative

Aurora Theatre will produce this world premiere play by Jacob York about mortality, friendship and imagination. The play focuses on Dave, a young man in his late 20s battling aggressive cancer, who begins to worry about all the milestones he will miss if he loses that battle. Facing down his own mortality, he decides to sit down with his loved ones for one last game of Dungeons & Dragons, where he might play out all of the moments he fears he won’t live to see. March 26 through April 19.

Virtual Portfolio Review Weekend 

Atlanta Center for Photography will present this sixth annual event from March 26 through March 28. Through a selection of virtual à la carte artist talks, peer reviews, critiques and workshops, lens-based artists will have the unique opportunity to engage with leading experts in the industry. 

Stalking the Big Cat of Georgia

Local filmmaker Hal Jacobs’ new documentary tells the story of Johnny “Big Cat” Mize from North Georgia, who was one of Major League Baseball’s top sluggers during its Golden Age. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Jacobs, Jerry Grillo (author of Big Cat, a biography of Mize) and Gregory White. The event takes place at 7 p.m. on March 26 at the Decatur Library.

Friday

Harmonia Atlanta: Force of Destiny

Experience Harmonia Atlanta’s Force of Destiny at 7:30 p.m. on March 27 at Innovation Academy in Alpharetta with the Alpharetta Symphony. The program includes John Rutter’s Requiem, Antonín Dvořák’s Te Deum and Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino. They’ll also perform Te Deum and Rutter’s Requiem at Tucker First United Methodist Church at 7:30 p.m. on March 28.

March 27

Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides

Spelman College Museum of Fine Art hosts an exhibition featuring recent works by the Spelman alumna alongside a novel large-scale video installation reflecting natural environments and the rich cultural history of Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. It opens on March 27 and will be on view until September 5.

Women’s Comedy Film Festival

The Festival will showcase creative works made by women or highlighting women through story or performance. The Festival will also honor acclaimed actor, writer, producer and director Terri J. Vaughn with the 2026 WCFF Trailblazer Award. Following the 6 p.m. opening ceremony on March 27, there will be a stand-up comedy showcase at 7 p.m. There will be screenings, table reads, workshops and panels throughout the weekend at 7 Stages.

Saturday

Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival

The Head and The Heart and Max McNown are the headliners at this free annual arts and music gathering in Brookhaven’s Blackburn Park. It happens on March 28 and 29. The lineup also includes Natasha Bedingfield, Soul Asylum and local favorites Shawn Mullins and Angie Aparo.

Thriving Together Mobile Art Experience

On March 28, the Experience rolls into the Old Fourth Ward for an afternoon of music, poetry, art, healing and community. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the BLVDNEXT site (518 East Ave.) will transform into an open-air cultural gathering — with a live performance by Bria Anai and the Soul Drummers Ensemble, a live mural courtesy of the Moma Murrell Collective and sound bowl healing with Dr. Kim Farris.

Sunday

Beats & Brotherhood and City of Kings

The Tara Theatre will screen two local documentaries beginning at 6 p.m. on March 29. Beats & Brotherhood tells the story of Atlanta-based music producer showcase Stay Productive, and City of Kings explores the origins of Atlanta’s graffiti culture and its influence on the city’s current street art movement. The films will be followed by a Q&A session.

More things to do this weekend and beyond

A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident, in the 1970 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Conformist. It screens at the Plaza at 7:30 p.m. March 26 … As four friends prepare for life after high school, turning-point dramas unfold and resolve at Atlanta’s Cascade Skating Rink in the 2006 film ATL, starring T.I. It screens as part of the Georgia on Film 1972-2006 series at 7:30 p.m. on March 31 at the Plaza, exactly 20 years after its opening … On March 27 and March 28, Fly on a Wall’s Excuse the Art, which provides mentoring and support for performance works in various stages of the artistic process, returns after a year’s hiatus for its fifth run, this time at Fly on a Wall’s new location at Lindbergh Station in Buckhead … Inspired by a true story, Theater Emory’s Bright Star is a bluegrass-infused musical set in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the 1920s and 1940s. See it on stage from March 26 to April 4 … U.S. Sen. Cory Booker comes to First Baptist Church in Decatur to talk about his new book, Stand, with fellow U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock at 7 p.m. on March 27 in an event sponsored by Brave + Kind Bookshop … Pianist Gabriela Montero returns to Spivey Hall with Westward, a program featuring extraordinary immigrant composers and anchored by her improvised accompaniment to Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 film The Immigrant. She’ll perform on March 27.