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We don’t have falling leaves to transfix us around here, but staples of the season are everywhere this weekend, including tequila in Boca Raton, drones over Pompano Beach, and bonfires and melting marshmallows in Lake Worth Beach. Let’s cozy up …

THURSDAY

Stars come out: Dierks Bentley and Hardy will lead a star-studded list of country performers for the Stars and Strings concert at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Thursday to raise money for Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to families of fallen or disabled military. Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert, which also includes Nate Smith, Dasha, Zach Top and Hudson Westbrook, start at $49.05 at Ticketmaster.com.

SFSFF is here: The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, a cultural tradition of the season, has been postponed until February, but in its place this weekend FLIFF will offer the Savoir-faire Shorts Film Festival. A nimble and efficient survey of dozens of comedies, dramas, thrillers, sci-fi, animation and documentaries from across South Florida and around the globe, screenings will take place Thursday through Sunday at Savor Cinema in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The films have been grouped into themed blocks of 90 to 120 minutes, with admission to each block a mere $10. For details on all films and showtimes, visit FLIFF.com/shorts.

Creative impulse: The Wilton Manors Art District will kick off the inaugural Wilton Manors Art Week on Thursday with an opening-night party at Hunters Nightclub from 7 to 9 p.m. Events will continue through Sunday with gallery talks, films, live art, workshops, chef demos, music, theater and other performances at a variety of locations, among them ArtsUnited Gallery, Wilton Art Works Gallery, Rosen Fine Art, Fierce Art Gallery Studio, Island City Stage and Gray Box Theater. Visit WiltonManorsArtDistrict.org.

Thursday laughs: Comedian and writer Josh Johnson, best known for his side-eye insights on “The Daily Show,” will be at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Yes, you’ll have to check with your usual resale site for tickets. Get updates at Kravis.org. … Raw and relentless stand-up Doug Stanhope will do one night at the Fort Lauderdale Improv in Dania Beach on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $46.90 at ImprovFTL.com.

Local sound: West Palm Beach indie-rock band Lavola will return to Clematis Street nightspot Respectable Street on Thursday at 9 p.m. with their excellent tribute to Radiohead, beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $13.39. Visit Facebook.com/respectablestreet.

FRIDAY

Field of gold: Rock crooner Sting will bring the popular amalgamation of Police hits and jazzy solo work on his 3.0 Tour to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Both shows are down to resale tickets at Ticketmaster.com.

Come as you are: Subtropic Film Festival will gather local creatives and culture cognoscenti for a weekend of  screenings, parties, panels, workshops and artist talks Friday through Sunday. Opening-night events will happen at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, coinciding with the Norton’s Art After Dark programming on Friday (5-10 p.m.). The evening’s main feature, Xander Robin’s documentary “The Python Hunt,” is a sellout, but the Subtropic crowd should make Art After Dark extra buzzy, as will music by The French Horn Collective. Art After Dark costs $10, or $5 for students, at Norton.org. Also at the Norton, Subtropic will host a 2 p.m. Saturday screening of “River of Grass,” an appreciation of the Everglades and environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. The film is free with museum admission: $18, $15 for seniors (60+) and $5 for students. Subtropic will move the rest of its Saturday-Sunday screenings to Afflux Studios in Palm Springs for films grouped in blocks themed to art, nature, romance, feminine rage, bro culture, kids, immigrants, protest and more. Each block costs $10, day passes are $20, weekend passes (Saturday-Sunday) cost $30. Visit Subtropic.org.

Beatlemania: The Deerfield Beach Historical Society this weekend will shed some light on a little known chapter in the city’s past: the time in 1970 when George Harrison hid out here while he prepared for the release of monumental solo album “All Things Must Pass” and the formal breakup of the Beatles. Harrison’s visit is captured in an exhibit of 18 never-before-seen photographs titled, “George Was Here: The Best Kept Secret in Deerfield Beach,” on display at the Johnny L. Tigner Community Center for two days only — 6 to 9 p.m. Friday (with food, drinks and Harrison music by Dark Horses) and 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free both days. Visit Facebook.com/deerfieldhistoricalsociety.

King of queens: To a resume that includes “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner, “Traitors” contestant and host of HBO’s “We’re Here,” Bob the Drag Queen added New York Times bestselling author with the release in March of “Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert.” The widely praised novel, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books, imagines the abolitionist hero creating a hip-hop album and live show about her life. Bob will perform at the Fort Lauderdale Improv at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $41.90+ at ImprovFTL.com.

Friday night live: Live Dead & Brothers (including Berry Duane Oakley, Les Dudek, Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, and Pete Lavezzoli) will celebrate the music of Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $40.71 at BrowardCenter.org. … Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers will be at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, with doors open at 7:30 p.m. General-admission tickets cost $69.50 at CultureRoom.net. … Grammy-winning gospel star Tamela Mann, with special guest VaShawn Mitchell, will perform at the Miramar Cultural Center on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $85.25 at MiramarCulturalCenter.org.

Smoke on the water: An official unofficial marker of the fall/winter season around here, the Lake Worth Beach Bonfires & Night Market return on Friday, with live music and s’morsin’ by the fire from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lake Worth Beach Casino & Beach Complex. The BYO-chair/blanket event, sponsored by Benny’s on the Beach, will continue on the first and third Friday of the month through Feb. 20. Admission is free. Visit Facebook.com/LakeWorthBeachPBC.

SATURDAY

Tequila sundown: The Tequila Festival returns to Boca Raton on Saturday, setting up at Mizner Park Amphitheater from 5 to 10 p.m. with unlimited neat samples and cocktails from more than 30 premium tequilas, mezcals and agave spirits, and edible sustenance from favorite local restaurants and street-food vendors. The evening will include lounge areas, swag giveaways and a soundtrack from The Supervillains, Paul Anthony and The Reggae Souljahs, Tasty Vibrations and DJ GQ. Tickets start at $96.98 at TheTequilaFest.com.

Green day: Saturday morning will be brighter with the season’s kickoff of Green Market Pompano Beach, with fresh produce, artisan goods, wellness items and live music on display from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the downtown Pompano Beach Cultural Center. There will be free admission and swag bags for the first 100 attendees. Visit Facebook.com/GreenMarketPompanoBeach.

Free arts: The free-admission Kravis Center Block Party will bring a wide variety of music, dance, art, interactive activities, games, food and drink in and around the West Palm Beach venue on Saturday from 1 to 8 p.m. Led by Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, performers will include Spred the Dub, Surfer Blood, Spider Cherry, J Blue and DJ Mike Locke, along with dance from The Guatemalan-Maya Center’s SALTT Youth Group and performers from Ballet Palm Beach, Palm Beach Opera and the Palm Beach Symphony. Visit Kravis.org.

Sky lights: The Pompano Beach Drone Show Extravaganza, which has quickly become a Veterans Day Weekend tradition in South Florida since its debut just three years ago, will bring 500 illuminated drones to the sky over the beach at the Fisher Family Pier on Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission is free to the show, which will be bracketed by music from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Free shuttles will run from Pompano Beach Community Park between 1 and 10 p.m. (chairs and coolers permitted). For information on parking, street closures and other details, visit PompanoBeachFL.gov/events.

A good meal: The seventh annual Taste of Recovery culinary festival returns on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. at The American German Club in Lake Worth, featuring samplings by chefs from top local restaurants (including City Oyster, Louie Bossi, Elisabetta’s and Rocco’s Tacos) to raise money for addiction-treatment programs at Delray Beach nonprofit The Crossroads Club. Tickets cost $65, $75 at the door, if available (expect a sellout). Visit TheCrossroadsClub.com.

Saturday laughs: Plantation-raised, Emmy- and Grammy-nominated singer, satirist, actor and author Randy Rainbow will bring his new show, “National Freakin’ Treasure,” to the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale at 8 p.m. Saturday.  Tickets are available, starting at $46.61, at Ticketmaster.com.

‘Science’ lesson: If you’re in an ’80s mood, one of the more unlikely pop stars of the era, composer, musician and entrepreneur Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science,” “Radio Silence,” “Hyperactive!”), will perform on Saturday at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., with general-admission tickets set at $49.35. Visit CultureRoom.net.

More free arts: Pembroke Pines Festival of the Arts will fill the grounds at the Charles F. Dodge City Center from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, featuring art, food and live music from a diverse lineup of popular performers. Saturday will include sets by Colombian American Grammy nominee AleMor, jazz saxophonist Nestor Zurita and Miami’s relentless party band Los Wizzards, followed on Sunday by classic rockers The Flyers, Cuban-American country singer (and firefighter) Gabriel Key and blues-rock firebrand Shaw Davis & The Black Ties. Admission is free. Visit PinesFestival.com.

Saturday tributes: Popular Eagles tribute band The Long Run will play Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. General-admission standing tickets cost $30.52, with table seating also available. Visit CrazyUncleMikes.com. … Veteran AC/DC tribute Shoot 2 Thrill will be at Galuppi’s in Pompano Beach on Saturday from 7:30 to 11 p.m. General admission (standing) is $10, with table seats by reservation. Visit Galuppis.com. … Boy-band tribute act Larger Than Life will perform on the Live at the Amp! concert series at Veterans Plaza Amphitheater in Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is free. Visit PBGFL.gov.

SUNDAY

Sound advice: Rising Delray Beach groovers Artikal Sound System, on their national Reggae Rock of Love Tour, will stop in for a hometown show at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, sharing music from 2025 album “Are You Smiling Yet?” (worth checking out). Tickets cost $35.25 at JoinTheRevolution.net.

All for love: Classic rock heartthrob Bryan Adams brings his North American tour, accompanied by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Adams will add music from new album “Roll With the Punches” to hits including “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?,” “All for Love” and “Heaven.” Not surprisingly, seats are available as resales at Ticketmaster.com.

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell. 

Are you ready to get festive?

The Thanksgiving turkey may still be frozen, but South Florida is moving full steam ahead into the winter holidays.

If you’re itching to skip ahead to dazzling light displays, visits with Santa and performances of “The Nutcracker” even before you slice into the pumpkin pie, this month has some gifts all wrapped up with a bow for you.

Gather around as cities light their decked-out centerpiece trees — and one giant beach snowman — to flip the switch on the merry-making fun.

Plus, you’ll find new yuletide celebrations lighting the way to a jolly holiday season. For example, Lion Country Safari, the drive-thru wildlife park in Loxahatchee, has debuted a nighttime festival, Lanterns & Lights Safari Nights, through January.

“The lantern festival kicks off just ahead of the holiday season, when families are often looking for magical opportunities to make memories and connect,” said Lion Country Safari spokeswoman Haley McCann-Gonzales. “The lanterns are inspired by nature and wildlife, and they complement the animals under our care in a stunning environment that we feel guests will really enjoy.”

Created by Tianyu Arts and Culture Inc., each light display is unique, she said, “but the lantern renditions of the animals we care for in the park are extra-special to us.

“We also have some lantern pathways, including a long stretch of flamingos and larger-than-life flamingo feathers, as well as an overhead flower tunnel, which are particularly beautiful.”

A longtime Palm Beach County tradition, Hoffman’s Chocolates Winter Wonderland is migrating south after its home, the flagship location in Greenacres, closed up shop earlier this year.

The event, from Nov. 22 to Dec. 30, has found a new home at Flamingo Gardens in Davie, where it will merge with that attraction’s annual Garden of Lights to take over 10 acres with a 35-foot Christmas tree, Santa’s Village and thousands of lights. Proceeds will support Flamingo Gardens’ educational and conservation mission, with a portion for the BBX Capital Foundation, which invests in arts, education and other South Florida programs.

“We outgrew our original space, but now, thanks to our amazing partnership with Flamingo Gardens and Amazon, we’re turning up the holiday cheer in a big way,” said Lois Marino, executive director of the BBX Capital Foundation and director of community engagement for BBX Capital, Inc., parent company of Hoffman’s Chocolates.

“Get ready for dazzling lights, heartwarming moments and unforgettable memories the whole family will treasure for a lifetime.”

So, get ready for Christmas in November with this roundup of holiday happenings in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

BROWARD COUNTY

Light the night 

Fort Lauderdale is getting a jumpstart on the holidays with spectacles of light debuting for the season at the following free events. Visit parks.fortlauderdale.gov/special-events.

• “Get Lit,” the launch of Light up Lauderdale, a 10-week celebration of lights along the New River, takes place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at Esplanade Park, 400 SW Second St. The lighting ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m., with the Fort Lauderdale Symphonic Winds performing at 7 p.m. A kids’ zone will be open throughout the event.
• Light Up the Galt with music, entertainment and food from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at North Beach Restaurants and Shoppes, Northeast 33rd Avenue and Northeast 33rd Street, Galt Ocean Mile. Play in the kids’ zone and browse the art show on 34th Street starting at 6 p.m. Watch as a tree is lit at 6:30 p.m., with a performance from the Fort Lauderdale Symphonic Winds following at 7 p.m.
• Light Up the Beach with Olas, the 20-foot beach snowman, who will be back in his spot at State Road A1A and Las Olas Boulevard. The festivities take place from 5:3o to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at Las Olas Oceanside Park (The LOOP), 3000 E. Las Olas Blvd., with 50,000 lights along the beachfront starting at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a kids’ zone with Santa, inflatables and slides. The Fort Lauderdale Symphonic Winds will take the stage at 7 p.m.

Lace up your skates for Dania After Dark — Light Up Dania Beach, which will feature an ice-skating rink from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 15 at City Hall Plaza, 100 W. Dania Beach Blvd. There will be a Christmas tree lighting, photo opportunities with Santa, and a Christmas village with treats. Other activities include: an Ugly Sweater Competition, a drone show and face painting. Bring an unwrapped toy for the Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue Holiday Toy Drive. Free. Visit daniabeachfl.gov.

Hoffman’s Chocolates Winter Wonderland spreads out across 10 acres at Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S. Flamingo Road, in Davie, from Nov. 22 to Dec. 30. Open nightly from 5:30 to 9 p.m. (except Nov. 27 and Dec. 24-25), the holiday display includes thousands of lights, a 35-foot Christmas tree, free photos with Santa in Santa’s Village (select nights through Dec. 23), Hoffman’s Chocolates Pop-up Shop, The Sweet Ride ice cream truck, seasonal treats at the Flamingo Pond Café and musical performances. Tickets are $24 for guests age 12 and older, $17 for ages 3 to 11, and free for those 2 and younger. Visit flamingogardens.org/winter-wonderland.

“Hard Rock the Holidays,” a light show featuring more than 2 million LED lights, displays and family experiences, is coming to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood, from Nov. 29 to Jan. 3. A total of 24 acres of the Guitar Hotel Pool will be transformed into a winter wonderland with more than 20 themed areas, photo opportunities and a light and music show synchronized to holiday classics. Seasonal entertainment, food and drinks will be part of the experience. The show is available from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 7. General admission is $45 for adults, $10 for guests ages 7 to 12, and free for those age 6 and younger. Visit hardrocktheholidays.com.

Holidays on parade

The It’s a Wonderful Life in Plantation Holiday Parade steps off at 9 a.m. Nov. 22 at the intersection of Broward Boulevard and Northwest 46th Avenue, with participants such as community groups, schools and businesses. The route will head north on Northwest 69th Avenue and west on Fourth Street to Plantation City Hall. Free. Visit plantation.org.

Season of shows 

Join the Peanuts gang for “A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Miramar Cultural Center, 2400 Civic Center Place. Tickets are $26.33 to $29.25. Visit miramarculturalcenter.org.

Hollywood Ballet Academy’s “The Nutcracker” will have performances at 1 and 6 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 NW 11th Place. Young dancers will reimagine Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece. Tickets are $35-$40. Visit showpass.com/hba-nutcracker-2025.

Trees in the spotlight

Light Up the Night will celebrate Dania Beach’s birthday and bid an early welcome to the holidays from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 15 at City Hall, 100 W. Dania Beach Blvd. There will be music, a ceremonial tree lighting and a visit from Santa. Free admission. Visit daniabeachfl.gov.

Hollywood continues its Centennial Celebration featuring a concert with On the Roxx, plus photos with Santa and a tree-lighting ceremony from 5 to 10 p.m. Nov. 21 at ArtsPark at Young Circle, 1 Young Circle. Free. Visit hollywoodfl.org.

Light Up MLK from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 22 at Annie Adderly Gillis Park, 601 Dr. MLK Blvd., Pompano Beach. Performances, food, games, giveaways and the ceremonial lighting kick off the holiday season during the 18th annual event. Free. Visit eventbrite.com.

Visits with Santa & family fun

Through Dec. 24, visit Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops in Dania Beach (200 Gulf Stream Way) and Miami (11551 NW 12th St.) to get a free photo with Ol’ St. Nick and participate in holiday-themed games, crafts and more. Children can send their holiday wish lists to the North Pole via mailbox. Reserve a time to see Santa up to a week in advance at basspro.com/santa.

Ride giant slides at the free Winterfest Family Fun Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 23 at Esplanade Park, 400 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale. Other activities include cookie decorating, entertainment by School of Rock, a snow mountain, puppy kissing booth and more. The nearby Museum of Discovery & Science will offer free admission from 3 to 5 p.m. after the event. Visit winterfestparade.com/events.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Illuminated adventures  

Lion Country Safari’s first lantern festival, Lanterns & Lights Safari Nights, features more than 60 wildlife displays and a Prehistoric Land of Legends from 6 to 10 p.m. on select nights through Jan. 18. Try out interactive installations such as glow swings, seesaws and tunnels. Sample holiday cocktails and fare from a wild eats-themed menu. Santa Claus is scheduled to make an appearance on Dec. 19 and 20. The festival is open in the walk-through adventure park, 2003 Lion Country Safari Road, Loxahatchee. The drive-thru park, rides and waterpark will be closed and no animals will be accessible. Gemstone mining will be available. Admission for guests age 3 and older is $27.99 in advance or $29.99 at the gate. Admission is free for kids younger than 3, though a ticket is required. Visit lioncountrysafari.com.

Starting Nov. 21, Lights 4 Hope returns to Okeeheelee Park, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach. The 2-mile, drive-thru light display will be open Fridays to Sundays through Dec. 7, then Dec. 26 to 28, and nightly from Dec. 12 to 23. Hours vary. The nonprofit Lights 4 Hope Inc. performs hospital and home visits to provide decorations, presents and gift cards to families of children who are terminally ill or facing life-changing physical needs. Tickets are $25-$45. Visit lights4hope.org.

Zoo Lights are back Nov. 21 through Jan. 4 at the Palm Beach Zoo, 1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach, with thousands of lights shining along the pathways to each animal habitat. There will also be music, a 24-foot animated holiday tree, family activities, and food and drink available for purchase. Visit Santa through Dec. 23 in the Winter Pavilion. Adults-only (21 and older) nights are set for Dec. 4, 11 and 18. Ticket prices vary. Hours: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Visit palmbeachzoo.org.

Skate into the season

For the second year, a Winter Wonderland has popped up in front of The Ben hotel, 251 N. Narcissus Ave., West Palm Beach. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Jan. 4, the site features a real 50-by-66-foot outdoor ice rink. The Holiday Tree Forest makes it debut this year with decorated trees created in collaboration with nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. A full-service holiday bar serves hot chocolate, hot toddies, s’mores, popcorn and other treats. Shop from chalets and enjoy entertainment such as Live Music Saturdays, Santa Claus Sundays and other rotating events. Admission is free, but ice skating requires a ticket purchase for a 90-minute session ($25 for adults; $10 for children age 4 to 11). Skate rentals are available. Visit thebenevents.com.

Santa arrives at malls

Santa’s Arrival Parade kicks off his annual visit at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at The Gardens Mall, 3101 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens. Welcome him as he’s escorted by characters and the Palm Beach Gardens High School Marching Band on his way to Santa’s Enchanted Garden in the Grand Court. He’ll be available for photos from Nov. 8 to Dec. 24 during mall hours. Stilt Walking Elves will hang around Grand Court from 1 to 4 p.m. on weekends. There’s also a Kids’ Corner Holiday Shop on the upper level of Grand Court from Nov. 7 to Dec. 24. Children can receive a free coin to shop there; coins may also be purchased (three for $5), with proceeds benefiting The Arc of Palm Beach County, which serves people with disabilities. Visit eventbrite.com.

Santa’s Arrival Party is coming to The Mall at Wellington Green, 10300 Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, along with a bubble show and holiday treats. Photo opportunities will be available from Nov. 15 through Dec. 24 at The Ice Palace. Hours will vary. Visit shopwellingtongreen.com/events.

Let’s see those trees 

CityPlace’s “Wrapped in Wonder,” a season-long celebration with nightly snowfalls, The Wishing Tree light shows, Santa’s Workshop and performances, kicks off from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 8 at the outdoor shopping complex, 700 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach. Santa will make his entrance, plus catch a preview of “The Nutcracker” with a performance of “The Waltz of the Snowflakes” by Ballet Palm Beach. The nightly snowfall and tree light shows happen at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. daily through Dec. 31 (weather permitting). At Santa’s Workshop, take photos from 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 to 7 p.m. Sundays. All events are free. For more details, visit cityplace.com/west-palm-beach-events.

CP Group’s 10th Annual Tree Lighting & Holiday Extravaganza is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, 5000 T-Rex Ave. Festivities include Santa and his Workshop Tent, dog adoptions, food truck, cash bar and bounce house, Admission is free with a toy donation collected at the entrance to support Spirit of Giving’s holiday drive. VIP tickets are $60 adults and $16 for guests age 16 and younger. Rain date is Nov. 21. Visit 2025cptreelighting.eventbrite.com.

Boca Raton will have its Holiday Tree Lighting at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 22. Take a selfie with Santa throughout the night at the Boca Raton Art Museum, 501 Plaza Real. At 7:15 p.m., Mayor Scott Singer will light the tree that also illuminates 50,000 LED lights on 75 palm trees throughout Mizner Park. Musical performances start at 7:30 p.m. There also will be a holiday market, food and drinks for sale, a craft station, characters and snow flurries. Free admission. Visit myboca.us.

Meet and greet Santa at a Holiday Tree Lighting at 6 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Lake Worth Cultural Plaza, 414 Lake Ave. The city event will also have family activities, food trucks and performances throughout the event. Free admission. Visit lakeworthbeachfl.gov.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

NightGarden brings more than 800 new lighting fixtures, fairy encounters and installations to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, from Nov. 7 to Jan. 11. A Tree of Life, Canopy Walk, movie nights, dance parties, laser shows, winter snowfalls, food and beverages are part of the seasonal experience. Ticket prices vary. Visit fairchildgarden.org.

Catch Luminosa: A Journey Through Light daily from Nov. 14 through March 7 at Jungle Island, 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Miami. In its fourth year, the outdoor light festival will showcase illuminated sculptures, handcrafted silk lanterns and performances throughout the property. Visitors walk the trail through themed lands representing different ecosystems. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Prices vary. Visit luminosamiami.com.

Become immersed in six holiday worlds at Christmas Wonderland at Tropical Park, which will be open Nov. 13 through Jan. 4 (closed Nov. 24, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8). Find more than 50 rides, light shows, fireworks on Fridays, Santa’s Sky Shot stunt show, a reindeer-themed aerial act and other entertainment. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Prices vary. Visit miamiwonderland.com.

By LINDSEY BAHR

The Nuremberg trials have inspired filmmakers before, from Stanley Kramer’s 1961 drama to the 2000 television miniseries with Alec Baldwin and Brian Cox. But for the latest take, “Nuremberg,” writer-director James Vanderbilt focuses on a lesser-known figure: The U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who after the war was assigned to supervise and evaluate captured Nazi leaders to ensure they were fit for trial (and also keep them alive). But his is a name that had been largely forgotten: He wasn’t even a character in the miniseries.

Kelley, portrayed in the film by Rami Malek, was an ambitious sort who saw in this assignment an opportunity to write a book (bestselling, he hoped) on his findings about the men who committed such atrocities. Over several months he conducted many hours interviews and Rorschach tests with the inmates, including fallen Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering ( Russell Crowe ), who proved an especially fascinating subject as the highest ranking official still living.

The film, in theaters Friday, centers on a series of conversations between Kelley and Goering, who develop something almost like a friendship — or at least a temporary understanding. It’s interesting, morally murky territory fitting of the filmmaker best known as the screenwriter of “Zodiac” that does gesture toward some provocative ideas — including the very concept of war tribunals overseen by the victors. But it can’t quite synthesize its classical form with the bleak, sobering truths at its core.

Crowe, who speaks both German and English in the film, is well suited to playing this charismatic, larger-than-life egoist who believes he can outwit those around him. Curious choices are made, though, about what to tell of his transgressions during the war and the angelic representation of his wife and daughter in hiding.

Goering is likely not as much of a household name as “Nuremberg” seems to assume, but Crowe does get to do some of his best work in years. Malek, wild-eyed as ever, portrays Kelley as an overconfident opportunist who is more than willing to cross lines to gain Goering’s trust. Are we rooting for him, though? Not exactly.

You might think that these chats would be the kinds you don’t want to leave — a meeting of two unique minds trying to figure one another out, and yet there’s a spark and intrigue lacking. An unnerving descent into the mind of Hitler’s right hand man this is not. Instead, they talk about fathers and greatness and sometimes magic tricks. Perhaps that’s why Vanderbilt, who based his film on Jack El-Hai’s book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” broadens his scope beyond the prison cell to include the story of how the unprecedented trial came together, with Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (a very good Michael Shannon) leading the charge to build a case against the Nazi leaders.

What results is a familiar historical drama, weaving together many various characters in the buildup to the climactic courtroom showdown. With an expansive and recognizable ensemble cast, including Richard E. Grant as the British lawyer Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, John Slattery as the commandant of Nuremberg prison, Colin Hanks as another psychiatrist brought into the fold (Gustave Gilbert, whose writings would eclipse Kelley’s) and Leo Woodall as a German speaking U.S. officer, “Nuremberg,” stately and sober, is what we might have called Oscar-bait once upon a time.

The most fascinating character is probably Woodall’s, but the real story of Sgt. Howie Triest, a German Jewish emigre, is used as a reveal late in the film to motivate a humiliated Kelley to “do the right thing” and help Jackson and the lawyers bring Goering to justice.

Oddly, the trial is filmed like a standard courtroom drama, resorting to cliches and a rousing but hollow “we got him” moment that feels antithetical to the film’s larger point, that there is little glory in the charade and the convictions. At the end of it all is death anyway.

What does it say about a nearly two-and-a-half hour drama when the 80-year-old footage from inside Nazi concentration camps that was shown inside the real courtroom is the most compelling and memorable sequence? Perhaps in these days of Holocaust denial, it’s never a bad idea to remind people of the truth. But will anyone harboring those assumptions stumble upon “Nuremberg” and, if they do, make it that far into the film?

Kelley would go on to write that book, “22 Cells in Nuremberg,” but his chilling conclusions were not exactly embraced in that postwar moment. He did not find monsters or psychopaths in those cells, after all, but instead saw essentially normal people. Kelley wrote a warning: “I am convinced that there is little in America today which could prevent the establishment of a Nazi-like state.”

“Nuremberg,” a Sony Pictures Classics release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “the Holocaust, some language, violent content, smoking, brief drug content, some disturbing images, suicide.” 148 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

By BRIAN MELLEY

LONDON (AP) — When it came time to receive his knighthood, soccer great David Beckham knew what to do. He bent his knee like, well, Beckham.

King Charles III tapped his shoulders with the blade of a sword and “Becks” was transformed to Sir David Beckham.

“This is without doubt my proudest moment,” the Inter Miami co-owner said after Tuesday’s ceremony at Windsor Castle. “I’ve been very obviously lucky in my career to have won what I’ve won and done what I’ve done, but to receive an honor like this, of a knight, is beyond anything that I ever thought that I would receive.”

The distinction marks the pinnacle of Beckham’s effort to rehabilitate his image following events that at times alienated him from fans during a long and distinguished career. He also has had a very public persona as a fashion model, husband to Victoria “Posh” Beckham of the Spice Girls and “Bend it Like Beckham” movie muse.

The 50-year-old was knighted for his services to sport and charity, having partnered with UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s fund, for two decades and campaigned with a charity working to eradicate malaria. He also played a pivotal role in London being awarded the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, author of “The Remains of the Day” who previously was knighted, was recognized in Tuesday’s ceremony as a Companion of Honor for literature. Renowned musicals singer and actor Elaine Paige was given a damehood, the female equivalent of a knighthood.

Beckham is the only English soccer player to score at three different World Cups, and his career included the triple-winning campaign of 1999, when Manchester United won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League.

With 115 appearances for the England national team, Beckham is third on the all-time list. He also captained the side on 59 occasions.

After leaving Manchester United in 2003 — a move that devastated fans — Beckham played for Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy and Paris Saint-Germain.

His career hit a low point at the 1998 World Cup in France, where Beckham was widely vilified for his petulant kick of Argentina player Diego Simeone, which saw him sent off and left the team short a player. Many fans blamed him for England’s exit.

In 2023’s Netflix documentary series “Beckham,” he described the abuse he experienced, which included an effigy of him hanging from a noose outside a London pub.

“I knew it was bad at the time, but going over that whole thing was quite a tough one,” he told The Associated Press at the time.

Beckham’s knighthood was announced in June during the king’s birthday honors list. The awards, which are also given out at New Year’s, recognize contributions to British life.

Last month, Rabbi Danny Stein welcomed a group of 20- and 30-something Jews to his living room on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he regularly holds Torah study, to analyze the Netflix series “Nobody Wants This.”

“It’s not a sacred text,” Stein said. “But it’s certainly something that is worthy of Jewish attention.”

Centered on the relationship trials of a young rabbi (Adam Brody) and a podcaster with little exposure to Judaism (Kristen Bell), the first season of “Nobody Wants This” had become a nearly unavoidable topic of discussion in many American Jewish communities since its debut last fall.

It was celebrated as a mainstream television show that highlighted the beauty of Jewish ritual, dissected for its commentary on intermarriage and critiqued for how it represented Jews and their religious practice. It also made the phrase “hot rabbi” go viral.

Having invited an audience to watch the premiere of the show’s second season, which began streaming in full on Oct. 23, Stein opened with a brief teaching about the power of words to “create worlds.” It was perhaps the first time that Abraham Joshua Heschel, the 20th-century rabbi, would be put in conversation with this particular rom-com, Stein acknowledged.

But after watching the Season 2 premiere, the group’s discussion turned to the main critique of the show’s first season: its portrayal of Jewish women. Stein asked the 15 or so attendees to move to one side of the room if they felt the show portrayed Jewish women positively and another if they felt it did not. The results were divided, and a reflective discussion followed about characters that some critics had described as rooted in negative stereotypes.

“I almost wonder what it would be like to watch the show in a Jewish bubble, where no one else in the world sees it,” one attendee, Cassie Perez, said. “Would we be laughing, like, ‘My grandma’s like that; my mom’s like that’?”

After the release of Season 1, a succession of online commentaries asserted that the show plays into stereotypes of the overbearing, judgmental Jewish mother and the frigid, controlling wife — especially in contrast to the fun-loving, freewheeling non-Jewish podcasting sisters (played by Bell and Justine Lupe) who suddenly destabilize their social order. The subject drew out complex feelings from Jewish viewers, some of whom were charmed by the show — and accepted that comedy often invites exaggeration — but felt irked by the portrayals, particularly of the rabbi’s mother and sister-in-law.

“The Jewish women in Season 1 were there to tie down the male characters,” as Emma Gray, a journalist who has examined the show on her podcast, “Rich Text,” put it later by phone. “And suddenly you have these two blond sisters whose arrival was meant to free them.”

Among the most pressing questions surrounding Season 2 has been whether the show could win over its critics — not only the professional ones but also those who debated the topic in groupchats and at Shabbat dinners.

Not everyone agrees that there was a problem to fix. The show’s creator, Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism and based the plot loosely on her courtship with her husband and podcast with her sister, has rebutted the criticism. “It’s so rare to have a beautiful Jewish story on a mass commercial scale,” she told The Hollywood Reporter recently, “that to focus on something and decide it’s problematic to Jews just felt very shortsighted to me.”

Still, the show was open to collecting feedback. Jenni Konner, one of two showrunners who stepped in for the second season, invited her own rabbi, Sharon Brous, to have lunch with the writers as they worked on the new season. (Foster, who oversaw the first season, remains heavily involved as a writer and an executive producer.) The show has had Jewish writers and rabbinical consultation from Season 1 on, but Brous brought additional perspective.

“I told them that their job is to be comedy writers,” Brous recalled, speaking later by phone. “And yet we are living through a moment in which there is a very dangerous and concerning spike in antisemitism around the world.”

They had the responsibility, she added, of “representing Judaism on one of the largest platforms available.”

Brous said she found the first season’s portrayal of Jewish women to be “cringeworthy,” and the depiction of Jewish practice lacking. She offered insights in the meeting into religious strictures around Shabbat and the festive holiday of Purim, which was featured prominently in Season 2.

“I could tell they really wanted to get this right,” Brous said.

In Season 2, the two Jewish female characters who were most heavily scrutinized had clear moments of softening. Esther (Jackie Tohn), who is the sister-in-law of the hot rabbi, Noah, had been one of the fiercest opponents of the relationship between Noah and Bell’s character, Joanne. This season, Esther becomes something of a guide in Joanne’s search for a foothold in the family.

And while Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), remains hostile toward the prospect of a non-Jewish daughter-in-law, she agrees to open her weekly Shabbat dinner to Joanne.

With the family’s resistance diminished, the central conflict of the show becomes more internal: Will Joanne feel called to convert to Judaism? And if not, will Noah embrace an interfaith relationship?

The debate among viewers picked up where it left off. In starting a daily newsletter about the season, Lior Zaltzman, of the Jewish parenting website Kveller, called the premiere “another Jewish holiday of sorts.” Synagogues have scheduled watch parties and discussions. In Chicago, the show has inspired programming for interfaith couples.

At the home of Stein, whose Jewish community organization is known as Base Upper West Side, some of the chatter centered on the issue of authenticity. Did that accent, that character, that scene of religious observance feel authentic? Speaking to the group, Stein steered away from that line of thinking.

“There’s so many different ways Jews look, Jews act, how Jews are in relationships,” he said. “All sorts of different ways that we interact in the world and live in the world.”

In reviews of Season 2, some critics who once castigated the show’s portrayal of Jewish women have written approvingly of the added depth the show’s writers gave to Esther, who gets her own substantial side plot. (“I’m not always mad,” she insists amid an identity crisis, “I’m also very fun!” — a wink, perhaps, to the public dissection of her character.)

Allison Josephs, an Orthodox advocate for Jewish representation in entertainment, had major qualms with Season 1. She said the Jewish references in the new season came off like trivia at times. But she appreciated flashes of meaningful religious teachings, such as Rabbi Noah’s interpretation of “ayin tovah” — Hebrew for “good eye” — as a way to look at one’s partner in a favorable light.

Less favorable views of the new season remain. Some consider the interpretations of Jewish identity overly simplistic. (The show “still struggles with its Jewish women,” Judy Berman wrote in Time, while also calling out the conspicuous absence of discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.) Others have resumed fact-checking the show’s Judaism.

But that’s not to say they aren’t having fun.

“It feels actually very innately Jewish to talk and discuss and kvetch and criticize a piece of art that is portraying Judaism in a certain way,” Molly Tolsky, the editor of Hey Alma, a feminist Jewish culture site, said. “And I think people enjoy doing it.”

In one scene of “Nobody Wants This,” Joanne is quick to warm to that part of Judaism.

“A religion that encourages me to argue?” she says. “Love that.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

OJAI, Calif. (AP) — Diane Ladd, the three-time Academy Award nominee whose roles ranged from the brash waitress in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” to the protective mother in “Wild at Heart,” has died at 89.

Ladd’s death was announced Monday by daughter Laura Dern, who issued a statement saying her mother and occasional co-star had died at her home in Ojai, California, with Dern at her side. Dern, who called Ladd her “amazing hero” and “profound gift of a mother,′ did not immediately cite a cause of death.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

A gifted comic and dramatic performer, Ladd had a long career in television and on stage before breaking through as a film performer in Martin Scorsese’s 1974 release “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” She earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for her turn as the acerbic, straight-talking Flo, and went on to appears in dozens of movies over the following decades. Her many credits included “Chinatown,” “Primary Colors” and two other movies for which she received best supporting nods, “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose,” both of which co-starred her daughter. She also continued to work in television, with appearances in “ER,” “Touched by Angel” and “Alice,” the spinoff from “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” among others.

Through marriage and blood relations, Ladd was tied to the arts. Tennessee Williams was a second cousin and first husband Bruce Dern, Laura’s father, was himself an Academy Award nominee. Ladd and Laura Dern achieved the rare feat of mother-and-daughter nominees for their work in “Rambling Rose.”

A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Ladd was apparently destined to stand out. In her 2006 memoir, “Spiraling Through the School of Life,” she remembered being told by her great-grandmother that she would one day in “front of a screen” and would “command” her own audiences.

By the mid-1970s, she had lived out her fate well enough to tell The New York Times that no longer denied herself the right to call herself great.

“Now I don’t say that,” she said. “I can do Shakespeare, Ibsen, English accents, Irish accents, no accent, stand on my head, tap dance, sing, look 17 or look 70.”

By MARK KENNEDY, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Ciara, Foreigner, Lil Jon, Kool & the Gang, Busta Rhymes, Mickey Guyton and Teyana Taylor will feature in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will also cement “KPop Demon Hunters” as a pop culture phenomenon with appearances by the movie’s singers on the ground and cute characters in balloons overhead.

An eclectic group of stars — from ballet dancer Tiler Peck to YouTube’s “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans — will join the annual holiday kick-off, highlighted by Audrey Nuna, EJAE and Rei Ami of HUNTR/X, the fictional girl group at the heart of the Netflix K-pop hit.

The trio are behind the film’s soundtrack, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and recently went platinum. Two characters from the movie — Derpy Tiger and Sussie — will join the parade lineup as a mid-sized balloon and the adorably named balloonicle.

The parade will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 27 in all time zones and will feature 32 balloons, three ballonicles, 27 floats, 33 clown groups and 11 marching bands — all leading the way for Santa Claus. The familiar TV hosts — Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker from the “Today” show — will return on NBC and Peacock. More stars will be announced later.

Broadway, Buzz Lightyear and Debbie Gibson

Broadway will be represented by cast members from “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Just in Time” and “Ragtime,” while the Radio City Rockettes will be there and some serious athletes — three-time U.S. national champion figure skater Ilia Malinin and U.S Paralympian Jack Wallace.

Every year, spectators line-up a half-dozen deep along the route to cheer the floats, entertainers and marching bands. Last year, more than 31 million people tuned in on NBC and Peacock, up 10% from the previous year and marking the biggest audience ever for the parade.

This year, four new featured character balloons will debut, including Buzz Lightyear, Pac-Man, Mario from Super Mario Brothers and a 32-foot-tall balloon onion carriage featuring eight characters from the world of “Shrek.”

Ahead of next year’s 100th anniversary of the parade, organizers are also including balloons from previous marches, including Rainbow trout, the Happy Hippo Triple Stack, Wigglefoot and Freida the Dachshund.

Six new floats will also debut this year, including from Holland America Line, Lego, Lindt chocolates, “Stranger Things” and a bunch of whimsical sheep trying to get to sleep courtesy of Serta.

Some of the stars on hand will be Jewel, Debbie Gibson, Drew Baldridge, Matteo Bocelli, Colbie Caillat, Gavin DeGraw, Meg Donnelly, Christopher Jackson, Darlene Love, Roman Mejia, Taylor Momsen, Calum Scott, Shaggy, Lauren Spencer Smith and Luísa Sonza.

The marching bands will hail from South Carolina, California, Texas, Arizona, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Santiago, Panama. The New York Police Department’s marching band will also join.

One of the best things about South Florida is that our subtropical climate means that we can have festival fun just about all year long. With that in mind, welcome to “SoFlo Festivals, Festivities & Family Fun,” a new feature that will give you a monthly look ahead to celebrations throughout Palm Beach and Broward counties. Here’s our list for November, but keep coming back to this post because we’ll continue to add events.

BEER-B-Q ON 38TH AVE.

The sixth annual edition of this block party, presented by the City of Lauderhill and the Lauderhill CRA, will offer street food, live music and local vendors. Hosted by Ray J, the entertainment roster will include stars of hip-hop, reggae and R&B such as Amerie, Ball Greezy, Blade Martin, Ronnie VOP and Wayne Wonder.
WHEN: 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday, Nov. 1
WHERE: Commercial Arts and Entertainment District,1803 NW 38th Ave., Lauderhill
COST: Free general admission is free, $87.61 for VIP
INFORMATION: 954-730-3000; lauderhill-fl.gov

LAGOONFEST 2025

Lake Worth Lagoon is celebrated with this family friendly festival featuring interactive environmental exhibits, wildlife presentations, a mascot parade, guided cruises with Aqua Adventure Tours and photo opportunities, as well as a Kids Zone (with face painting, lawn games, crafts and hands-on displays).
WHEN: 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1
WHERE: Flagler Drive, between Clematis and Fern streets, in downtown West Palm Beach
COST: Free admission
INFORMATION: thepalmbeaches.com/lagoonfest

AMPLIFY ARTS

This new performance series gives South Florida’s emerging talent a stage and marketing help from the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. First up is Sons of Mystro and Alexander Star & The Golden People. Then there are five other productions — ranging from theater and Brazilian big band to LGBTQ-themed ballet and a free outdoor concert — throughout November in the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater and Abdo New River Room venues as well as the adjoining Esplanade Park.
WHEN: Sons of Mystro and Alexander Star & The Golden People set for 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.
WHERE: Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
COST: $41.30-$64.90
INFORMATION: browardcenter.org

THE ITALIAN FESTIVAL ON DEERFIELD BEACH

In addition to authentic Italian cuisine for purchase, there will be Wine Stomping Contests, Spaghetti Eating Contests, Beach Bocce Games, a Kids’ Zone and entertainment including Pulcinella Orchestra, Carlos De Antonis and special guest Paul Castronovo from Big 105.9 FM radio. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Italian Cultural Society of America and the Broward Sheriff’s Office Foundation.
WHEN:

• noon-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1
• noon-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2

WHERE: Main Beach Parking Lot, 149 SE 21st Ave., Deerfield Beach
COST: Free admission
INFORMATION: ilcircoloflorida.org

GALBANI FEAST OF LITTLE ITALY

Now in its 24th year, this foodie festival will have vendors offering Italian dishes for purchase, Voga Wine seminars, a Bar Italia, a Sicilian Oven Pizza Eating Contest and — new this year — the Uno Vino wine garden. There will also be cooking demonstrations from local chefs as well as chef Marco Sciortino from the British TV cooking competition, “Come Dine with Me.” In addition to carnival rides and games, live entertainment (with emcee Virginia Sinicki from 97.9 WRMF FM radio) will include Italian ballads, standards, pop and opera classics from singers and bands including Tony Quaranti, Angelo Venuto, The Atlantic City Boys, Franco Corso, Philippe Harari and Anthony Nunziata.
WHEN:

• 4-10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7
• 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8
• 1 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9

WHERE: Abacoa Town Center, 1267 Main St., Jupiter
COST: Free admission and parking
INFORMATION: feastoflittleitaly.com

THE TEQUILA FESTIVAL

This popular party-hearty event returns for the fourth year with its signature unlimited tastings of tequilas, mezcals and craft spirits from dozens of brands, as well as neat pours and full cocktails. There will also be food pop-ups, live music, DJs and a bartender competition.
WHEN: 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8
WHERE: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
COST:

• $96.98 ($99 on day of the festival)
• $142.47 VIP

INFORMATION: thetequilafest.com

Before Hollywood, California, became America’s undisputed film capital, silent-film studios flocked to two equally sunny locales to strike it big: Palm Beach and Jacksonville.

These winter movie meccas rich in warmth and inexpensive labor drew some 30 New York- and Chicago-based studios to the thriving Florida cities during the 1910s. Here, studios made over 300 mostly short films and marketed them to a movie-obsessed public. By decade’s end, the studios were gone or bankrupt and its silent films lost to time and neglect — though it wouldn’t be the last time the Sunshine State lured Hollywood back.

The legacy of films using Florida as both a character and a glamorous backdrop will be unspooled in the new memorabilia exhibit, “Sunshine Cinema: Florida in Film,” opening Friday, Nov. 14, at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum in West Palm Beach.

A century-spanning chronology of movies filmed in Florida with a Palm Beach emphasis, the show comes from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and features 25 artifacts, iconic props and movie costumes, from a 1910s Thomas Edison kinetoscope to Tony Montana’s tropical shirt in “Scarface.” Many items are on loan from NBCUniversal and the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.

“We’ve got the earliest images of Palm Beach ever captured on film, the golden age of movie palaces, the age of the drive-in up to COVID-19’s effects on the local movie industry,” says Erica Grant, the historical society’s director of curatorial affairs. “It’s a lot. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to put on a sequel to this show, so we wanted to pack in as much information as we could.”

Grant couldn’t think of a better place to start than 1910s Jacksonville, home to Metro Pictures (later Hollywood titan Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and an upstart named Norman Studios, where Richard Norman produced groundbreaking “race films” casting Black actors in positive roles in the segregated South. Clips from the 1926 aviation romance, “The Flying Ace,” one of Norman’s last-surviving films, will be shown in the museum’s 2,000-square-foot gallery.

“It features an all-African American cast and went on to inspire entire generations to dare to be a pilot, an aviator,” Grant says. “It’s the power of film to move generations.”

Florida East Coast Railway expansion drew more tourism to the Palm Beaches, and by 1917 filmmakers had already made “Island of Happiness” and “Isle of Tomorrow,” two pictures capturing glamorous life in Palm Beach and the bluebloods who lived there, Grant adds. Even silent-movie stars like Lionel and Ethel Barrymore, Rudolph Valentino and Billie Burke (later Glinda in the original “Wizard of Oz”) swooped in for winter visits, she says.

“Lillian Gish, Bebe Daniels — they all made a habit of coming to Palm Beach to film. They set the tone for class expectations and beauty norms for audiences to follow,” she says.

Other sections of the exhibit feature 1890s clips from Thomas Edison — including one of Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley firing a rifle — alongside century-old Palm Beach photos from the Historical Society’s collection. One section on golden-age movie houses spotlights the old Bijou Theatre in West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Playhouse as lavish gathering spaces for premieres.

By the 1940s, Palm Beach enjoyed a second filmmaking boom, and another section on display confronts Hollywood’s “harmful, not-so-great” history of racial stereotyping from that period, Grant says. For example, the 1953 Rock Hudson Western, “Seminole,” also screening in the gallery, depicts characters in war paint attacking white men against a score of thudding drums.

“So we break that scene apart to encourage visitors to confront how stereotypical images on film try to replace reality,” she says.

Among the big attention-grabbers are the memorabilia, including Tom Hanks’ NASA suit from “Apollo 13,” Vin Diesel’s tank top from “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and the sheriff uniform worn by Roy Scheider’s character, Chief Martin Brody, in “Jaws 2.”

A section is devoted to late actor and Jupiter resident Burt Reynolds, featuring scripts and movie costumes donated to the museum by Reynold’s niece, Nancy Hess.

Visitors also will find interactive touchscreens where they can create movie posters or build a movie scene from scratch.

“We are thrilled to bring this dynamic exhibition to life,” says Jeremy Johnson, president and CEO of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. “‘Sunshine Cinema’ celebrates not just the movies filmed here, but the people, places and legacy behind them.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Sunshine Cinema: Florida in Film,” presented by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County

WHEN: Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Nov. 13; exhibit runs Nov. 14-May 30

WHERE: Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, 300 N. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

COST:

• Opening reception: $125 for general admission (beer, wine, light bites and self-parking); $500 for VIP (open bar, celebrity bartender and valet)
• After Nov. 13, admission is $12 for adults and free for guests age 18 and younger

INFORMATION: 561-832-4164; PBCHistory.org

On a November day in 1970, at a momentous time in the most consequential year of his life, one of the most famous people in the world was sitting alone on a blanket by the ocean south of the pier in Deerfield Beach, as far away from the pressure of being George Harrison as he could get.

The Beatles guitarist and songwriter had just days before put the finishing touches on his solo album, “All Things Must Pass,” a deeply personal statement that would forever change critical perceptions of Harrison as an artist. As he sat on the beach, the album was mere weeks away from being revealed to the public on Nov. 27.

At the same time, the album’s release would be tangible evidence, if the world still needed it, that the long and winding road of the Beatles’ fractious breakup was coming to an end. Paul McCartney would file a lawsuit to dissolve the partnership the following month.

The rumor of Harrison’s presence over the course of some 10 days in Deerfield Beach — closely guarded by locals, some who admit to never having actually seen him — sounds so unlikely, so fantastical, that it’s fair to wonder if it actually happened. George Harrison in Deerfield Beach? Seriously?

Longtime resident Jeff Fisk, a Beatles fan from an early age who bought the 45 of Harrison’s single “My Sweet Lord” on the day it was released, was a fifth-grader when the chatter hit the playground at St. Ambrose Catholic School in January 1971.

The story he heard, which had spread through the local surfing community, was too good to be true: Harrison was at the beach when he was recognized by a surfer chasing after his board and, upon questioning, admitted his identity. The surfer, a respected figure on the waves in Deerfield Beach, was named Paul McCartney.

“You hear a story like that in fifth grade, it’s gotta be true. I told that story for 50 years,” Fisk says with a laugh.

When the COVID-19 shutdown took hold in 2020, Fisk was on the board at the Deerfield Beach Historical Society and, as the unofficial town historian, decided to use his spare time to sleuth out the origins of the Harrison story and separate fact from fiction, including the report that surfer Paul McCartney would later tell him someone had made up.

“I was gonna prove this story or disprove it. I wanted to get some hard facts, and if I didn’t get any, then it was just a tall tale. It became a quest of mine,” says Fisk, 65.

The ensuing years of detective work, internet mining and face-to-face interviews, completed with an assist from local photographer Tom Craig, took a sharp turn in 2024 with a crucial discovery: 18 never-before-seen photographs of Harrison at a Deerfield Beach apartment building owned by his maternal uncle and aunt, Edmund and Mimi French.

The photos are the centerpiece of the Deerfield Beach Historical Society exhibit, “George Was Here: The Best Kept Secret in Deerfield Beach,” coming to the Johnny L. Tigner Community Center on Nov. 7-8. Fisk and Craig will be on hand to discuss their quest, and on Nov. 7 a video archivist will record first-person Harrison memories from anyone who wants to share them.

Don’t ask, don’t tell

Why Harrison decided to come to Deerfield Beach was hard to pin down, but Fisk points out that his mother had died that summer and Harrison spent most of his time in the city with her youngest brother and other family members.

Citing news and publicity photos taken at the time, Fisk believes Harrison came to South Florida shortly after delivering the final master recordings of “All Things Must Pass” on Oct. 30, spending 10 days to two weeks in Deerfield Beach between Nov. 2 and Nov. 21.

Accompanied by wife Pattie Boyd and Beatles road manager Mal Evans, Harrison stayed at the Shore Road Inn, a small hotel around the corner from his family’s property and about a block from the beach. Edmund and Mimi Frenches’ one-story, L-shaped apartment building, at 4020 SE Fifth St., has since been torn down, but the nearby hotel is still in business and, after a recent renovation, is now known as Pier Walk, at 460 S. Ocean Drive.

As the reluctant rock star’s visit became news around town, Fisk says, locals began to fear that too much publicity might spook Harrison and cause him to leave, possibly forever. So they set about creating a cocoon for the so-called “quiet Beatle”: Parents sat young Beatles fans down to deliver an ultimatum — leave Harrison alone, don’t ask him anything, and don’t tell anyone he’s here.

Tom Craig says that during his research, people he knew revealed that they were still keeping the secret more than 50 years later.

“I was born and raised in Deerfield and I’ve known about this since 1971. But it was always just a story. I never really knew anybody who said they had seen him or anything,” Craig says.

Bob Fleury was a regular on the waves in Deerfield Beach while at Pompano Beach High School. He had to give it up after being wounded in Vietnam, but on his return he still spent almost every day at the beach with surfer friends. One afternoon after classes at Palm Beach Community College, he arrived at the section of Deerfield Beach sand overseen by his buddy, charismatic lifeguard Sonny Utt, and noticed a police patrol car parked behind the lifeguard stand.

Fleury inquired and Utt gestured to a long-haired figure who had risen from his blanket and was walking to the waterline.

“He goes, ‘That’s George Harrison of the Beatles. That’s why the police are up here. Sort of protecting him, I guess,’” Fleury recalls.

Fleury and Utt kept their distance and never spoke to Harrison.

“The surfers knew that he was in town, but the guys I hung out with were never, like, ‘Wow George is in town!’ The guy was sitting on a blanket by himself, and we figured he just wanted his privacy. It was all about affording him his privacy,” says Fleury, 77, who now lives in Indian Harbour Beach.

Fisk and Craig came across a newspaper article from the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, published on Nov. 21, 1970, in which student Ruben Betancourt, entertainment editor for Broward Community College’s newspaper, described a two-day hunt for Harrison, finding him on the beach.

Harrison acknowledged being worried that his location might be discovered, telling Betancourt: “I am not famous anymore. I am not Beatle George anymore. If I wanted to hear screaming, I would play Shea Stadium. But I don’t. I am George Harrison, a musician. That’s all.”

Three days later, Harrison and Boyd were gone, photographed introducing the band Badfinger at a concert in New York.

Pictures imperfect

Craig believes the emotional weight of fame, the loss of his mother, the breakup of the Beatles and striking out on his own with a solo album is evident in the 18 photos featured in “George Was Here.”

“He’s wearing his heart on his face. You can see what he’s been through. You can tell it’s been a hell of a year,” Craig says. “We believe, from our research, that this period that he spent in Deerfield Beach was the only time that year that he had any downtime. He came to a place where he could pretty much just blend into the background and reflect and reinvigorate. And as far as we know, he never came back.”

The discovery of the 18 Harrison pictures began with another newspaper clipping, a 1990 story by Sun Sentinel columnist Gary Stein, whose piece on exorbitant ticket prices for a Paul McCartney concert included quotes from “probably the biggest Beatles fan in South Florida,” Pompano Beach resident Lynn Radigan.

As evidence of Radigan’s Beatlemania, Stein noted that she had once met Harrison while he visited an aunt in Deerfield Beach in 1970, taking with her a folding chair that he sat in and the butt of a Winston cigarette that he smoked.

Fisk and Craig quickly navigated their way to Radigan, who recounted her bold introduction to Harrison — the then-teenager knocked on the door at the Frenches’ apartment, telling the woman who answered that she wanted to speak to Harrison. The woman was Boyd, who brought Harrison to the door, which led to a three-hour conversation between rock star and fan in the front yard of the apartment building.

In telling the story, Radigan casually mentioned to her visitors that when her father came to pick her up, he pulled out a camera. Would they like to see the pictures?

‘The goal that Jeff and I had was to learn more about this story that we always knew about. Without these photos, it’s a nice story. But that’s about all it is.’ —  Tom Craig

Kept in a closet in a common photo album, the pictures were taken with an everyday 126 Instamatic camera, printed as 4-by-4-inch, black-and-white images with the standard white border. They are unremarkable, except that they contain an evocative gaze of George Harrison.

With decades of photojournalism work, Craig knew he was looking at a game-changer for the Harrison project.

“The goal that Jeff and I had was to learn more about this story that we always knew about. Without these photos, it’s a nice story. But that’s about all it is. This brings it to a completely different level,” Craig says.

Most of the pictures show Harrison alone, though Radigan is in two scenes, her little sister in another. Harrison is seated in a typical folding lawn chair, in jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt, barefoot with his hair pulled back in a ponytail. In some, he is holding a cigarette or a drink.

During their second interview at Radigan’s apartment, Craig fed the photos into a high-resolution scanner. On display in “George Was Here,” those pictures have been printed as 24-by-24-inch images.

“They look great. I scanned them at a very high resolution, and I had to do almost nothing to them, except for [eliminating] dust spots,” Craig says. “They’re bordered, black-and-white prints, and I left the original border. Some of them are not quite square on the paper, but I left them exactly how they were printed. They’re historical documents.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “George Was Here: The Best Kept Secret in Deerfield Beach” photo exhibit

WHEN: 6-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and 1-8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8

WHERE: Johnny L. Tigner Community Center, 435 SW Second St., Deerfield Beach

COST: Free

LECTURE: A companion lecture by Jeff Fisk will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at The Old School House, 323 NE Second St., Deerfield Beach. Admission is free.

INFORMATION: Facebook.com/deerfieldhistoricalsociety

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell.