Top 5 things to do this weekend in Jacksonville: Car show, Rod Stewart, vampires, Keb' Mo'

Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
Updated ·3 min read

Beemers and bluesmen, vampires and video rock stars, it sure is shaping up to be another whopping weekend in Northeast Florida.

You can shop for some new wheels, catch a Rod Stewart or Cody Johnson concert, tour a historic plantation, catch a show by a new theater group and be scared out of your wits, all without traveling more than an hour or so.

Car show

Need wheels? The Jax International Auto Show is this weekend.
Need wheels? The Jax International Auto Show is this weekend.

Take a look out at your own driveway if you need a reason to attend this weekend's Jacksonville International Auto Show. More than 20 automakers will be on hand to show you their newest models, and you can even test-drive some of them. The show is at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and is open from noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. $15.

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Live music

Rod Stewart kicks off the Daily's Place concert series on Friday.
Rod Stewart kicks off the Daily's Place concert series on Friday.

Country and classic rock step to the forefront for three Jacksonville-area concerts this weekend, while blues and R&B star in St. Augustine. The Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series at Fort Mose Historic State Park in St. Augustine wraps up with a show featuring Christone "Kingfish" Ingram at 7 p.m. Friday ($42-$99) and Keb' Mo' at 7 p.m. Saturday ($42-$99). Country star Cody Johnson brings his Leather Tour to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena for a sold-out show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A few blocks away, Rod Stewart plays the first show of 2024 at Daily's Place, starting at 8 p.m. Friday ($63.25-$178.75). Carl Palmer recreates the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer through video technology at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall ($59.50-$99.50)

Love Bites

Love Bites brings Halloween scares to the Valentine's Day season.
Love Bites brings Halloween scares to the Valentine's Day season.

Surely the creepiest vampires ever are those in '80s horror movies, so it makes sense that the folks at 13th Floor Jacksonville turn to that source to populate the scare mazes for Love Bites, their one-weekend-only Valentine-themed haunted house off Arlington Expressway. It's open from 7-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $24.99-$89.99.

'A Small Fire'

The players in Lumen Repertory Theatre introduced themselves to Jacksonville last year through a series of "ShakesBeer" productions.
The players in Lumen Repertory Theatre introduced themselves to Jacksonville last year through a series of "ShakesBeer" productions.

A new theater troupe in Jacksonville opens its new season with "A Small Fire," a drama about a woman who begins losing her senses. Lumen Repertory Theatre, which made its debut last year with a series of "ShakesBeer" shows at local breweries, will put on "A Small Fire" at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at San Marco Church on Naldo Avenue. The show continues through March 2. $45.

Kingsley Heritage Celebration

Kingsley Plantation in northeast Jacksonville was a real working plantation, with 32 tabby cabins to house the slaves who worked the fields. Kingsley Heritage Celebration looks back with living history demonstrations, ranger-led tours, performers, speakers and activities for kids starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. During a 6:15 p.m. luminaria ceremony, names of those enslaved on the grounds will be read aloud.  Free.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Things to do in Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend