Cinco de Mayo or the Kentucky Derby, either or, or both this weekend you better get out there and celebrate. There are plenty of tequila and julep-laden festivities going on this weekend, and while we don’t usually include the forecast—it’s gonna be muy bonito outside.

Telemundo Utah Cinco de Mayo Festival 2019

Distinctively Mexican, with beans and fresh corn tortillas, it’s the biggest and best day for those who love mariachi. The Cinco de Mayo festival is going on at the Gallivan Center. 4 de Mayo, 2019, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main St., SLC.

Not So Cinco de Mayo Show

Sunday, which is on the actual Cinco and not the Quatro, is another great venue, featuring the team from Hot Mess Creative, a Brooklyn-born pop songwriter and artist, a local comedian and an RnB artist. Don’t worry, tequila will be there too. May 5, The State Room,  638 S. State Street, SLC, Starts at 8 p.m.

Cinco de Mayo at Hearth and Hill

Enjoy flavors of Cinco de Mayo with traditional Mexican dishes, made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Hearth and Hill’s special event menu include Pazole Braised Pork and Sergio’s Chile Relleno and top them off with flan or a slice of tres leches. Sunday, May 5,  3  p.m., 1153 Center Dr., Kimball Junction.

Kentucky Derby Gala at Fort Douglas O Club

Got a big hat and bow and no place to go? This year join the Junior League of Salt Lake City for mint juleps at the 3rd Annual Kentucky Derby Event. Guests can enjoy live broadcasting of the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby along with a raffle, silent auction and lots of gentlemen and gentlelady fun. Saturday, May 4 from 2 – 6 p.m., Fort Douglas Officer’s Club, University of Utah, SLC.

Derby Day at High West Distillery

Derby Day at High West. Photo by Trevor Hooper, Courtesy High West

To keep up with all of SLC’s hot mess of Eat & Drink activities go here.

On discovering our destination, Lyft driver Andres broke into song on our way to Disney’s Aladdin – The Musical, “I can show you the world…” We joined in, stumbling and laughing through the lyrics with him. Last Friday evening, April 26, 2019, the Eccles Theatre was bustling with many happy folks and families, children carrying into the theatre prop-up cushions for their seats, while others took selfies in front of an Aladdin event sign. Before entering, we broke down to purchase a small and pricey bag of gummy bears—they were delicious. Inside the theatre, the curtain itself was mind-blowing. It resembled a great Persian rug, gleaming with richly colored stripes of red, gold and green.

Aladdin – The Musical is running now until May 12, 2019. Be sure to reserve your tickets for upcoming Broadway hits at the Eccles: School of Rock, RENT and the Book of Mormon coming soon.

Disney Theatrical Productions under the direction of Thomas Schumacher presents Aladdin, the US tour, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book and additional lyrics by Chad Beguelin, photographed: Clinton Greenspan (Aladdin), Lissa deGuzman (Jasmine), Zach Bencal (Babkak), Jef Feder (Kassim), Philippe Arroyo (Omar), Jonathan Weir (Jafar), Jay Paranada (Iago) directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw

You all know the story so we won’t go into that, Genie, of course, is the narrator and in a booming voice leads “Arabian Nights” which opens up the stage to the city of mystery and enchantment—Agrabah. The musical version sticks to the plot of the animated one, although Aladdin’s sidekick monkey “Abu” was replaced by three male characters, his best friends and fellow-street rats, who second only to the genie stole the show. We appreciated the fact that they replaced the animated animal characters with humans because it would have been less (and still was a stretch) believable than if they had added, say a stuffed tiger, or someone in a monkey suit.

We also appreciated that many men were shirtless, ripped and dancing around with swords—and that the genie wasn’t. While six of the songs were from the original animated movie, several original scores were added. Aladdin’s solo, “Proud of Your Boy” was about proving to his dead mother that she could be, um proud, and was a bit, odd. Maybe it’s just me but I feel like Aladdin should be proving things to himself! But I’m a mom.

The dramatic set changes, magic carpet night backdrop sky and costume changes were flawless. Big highlights: the cave of wonders disco scene and the “High Adventure” sketch with Aladdin’s three amigos making an attempt to rescue him.

For more upcoming theatre events and reviews, you don’t need a ticket, just go here.

Eleven years and 21 movies later and it’s all come down to this: the Avengers try to recover from (and possibly correct) the “Decimation” — the snap heard ’round the universe — in 2018’s “Infinity War.”

No spoilers here, but hit the bathroom before you see Avengers: Endgame because you won’t want to miss a moment of its three-hour runtime.

But thankfully it doesn’t feel like three hours since Endgame delivers the goods on multiple levels: the highs and the lows; the fan service and easter eggs; the action sequences and moments of reflection; cameos and callbacks; surprises and hints at what’s to come. The bad guys get their comeuppances and the good guys get their just rewards.

It seems to have been written by and for lovers of sci-fi, comics, these characters and MCU movies specifically in order to give its audience exactly what they wanted. It’s also almost as much a love story as it is an action-packed adventure, and the plot may be a bit dense for younger viewers. There’s also more PG-13 violence than usual (courtesy of Thor/Chris Hemsworth who is in no mood to play) and language from perennially stalwart Captain America/Chris Evans (language, Cap!).

But then again, this isn’t your lighthearted Ant-Man romp; Endgame starts with a gut-punch hot on the heels of “Infinity War” and barely lets up from there. It’s an aptly named culmination of the MCU’s first three phases and a dang near perfect capper to all that has come before.

It seems that the creative team comprised of directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely created a wish list of everything they ever wanted to see from these movies, threw it all against a wall, and then created a script that might make it all stick.

Some heroes are brought back from the Decimation while others are revived in a way that doesn’t cheat their initial loss. Some are sacrificed in a satisfying way while others are poised to become so much more in Marvel’s Phase Four and beyond.

Less powerful Avengers shine in larger, important roles while highly powered heroes don’t save the day on their own. The usual quip machine that sometimes undercuts the drama is put in a lower gear, but it still rears its head from time to time. Heroes who were decimated obviously get limited screen time but make the most of what they eventually get. Elements also exist that will delight long-time comic book readers while still being welcome to those who are strictly fans of the movies. And certainly the mechanics of the time travel plot are wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey, but I haven’t found a time travel movie that isn’t on shaky theoretical ground to some extent. At least the writers try to address some of the concerns brought up by such a complex plan while using the trappings of time travel to close some loops while opening others up to the possibility of a Phase 4 appearance (or a series on Disney+).

I will confirm that outside of an appropriate sound effect there is no end credits scene after a major victory lap for the main characters kicks off a rather extensive credit roll. I guess Marvel thought that after three hours of “Endgame” fans would probably want to go home, but they thought wrong as many (of us) who stayed were upset that there wasn’t something more. Even at three hours, Avengers: Endgame was something I didn’t want to actually see end.

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• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language
• Running time 3 hours, 1 minute
• Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
• Writing Credits: Christopher Markus (written by) & Stephen McFeely (written by), Stan Lee (based on the Marvel comics by) and Jack Kirby (based on the Marvel comics by), Jim Starlin (comic book)

See all of our film coverage here.