Friday, Sept. 27, 6:30-9 p.m.

If animals could speak, they’d tell you to go to the Oklahoma City Zoo for ZooBrew V, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27. The annual soiree will be held outdoors at the zoo, 2101 N.E. 50th St., with festivities, great food to sample from the city’s most original restaurants and artisan beers from local breweries and distributors to sample. Be a part of the silent auction to further help the zoo. This event is for ages 21 and older only, so please leave the little ones at home. Tickets to the event and are $30 for ZooFriends members and $35 for non-members. If you’re a designated driver, it’s only $10 to get in. Tickets, however, are limited to only 750 guests, and the event always sells out. Get them before 5 p.m. Thursday. Read more at www.zoofriends.org.

Saturday, Sept. 28, 6 a.m.

The race is on Saturday, Sept. 28, at ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin, in Tulsa for the annual event bringing breast cancer survivors and supporters together. Komen Race for the Cure Tulsa begins with registration and packet pick-up at 6 a.m. followed by the survivor breakfast at 6:30 a.m. The timed 5k run starts at 7:30 a.m. with other events (including the survivor parade and ceremony, the untimed 5k, kids’ run events and 1-mile fun run and walk rounding out the morning. The course goes through downtown Tulsa and the Brady Arts District. Registration ranges from $15 (youth)-$40 (adult timed 5k) for individuals, but team registration is also available. Join the team, and find out more at www.komentulsa.org.

Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.

Tulsans with a palate for lush flavors and flowers always keep their calendars open for An Evening of Wine & Roses, Tulsa Garden Center’s annual toast to fall. This year’s wine tasting event with food in the heart of the rose garden takes place Friday, Sept. 27. The night begins with the sponsor tasting from 6-7:30 p.m. The garden tasting event takes place from 7-9:30 p.m. With an assortment of decadent appetizers and desserts plus wines from some of Tulsa’s finest vintners, Wine & Roses is a signature event in itself. Tickets are $65 (garden center members) to $80. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. The Tulsa Garden Center is located at 2435 S. Peoria Ave. For more, visit www.tulsagardencenter.com.

Saturday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m.

Fans of a good concerto need wait no longer as the Oklahoma City Philharmonic returns with a new season of shows featuring great concert soloist and timeless compositions. For its big “Opening Night” show, 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, conductor Joel Levine leads the Phil in three works – Saint-Saens’s Symphony No. 3 (“Organ Symphony”), Wolf-Ferrari’s Overture to “The Secret of Suzanne” and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Even better, OKC Phil welcomes international concert pianist Andrew Von Oeyen to an exciting night of classics. Tickets are $15-$53 at www.myticketoffice.com, and the concert will be at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. For more, visit www.okcphilharmonic.org.

Sunday, Sept. 29, 11 a.m-4 p.m.

We’re not entirely sure what to expect at the first ever BaconFest Tulsa, Sunday, Sept. 29. According to www.facebook.com/baconfesttulsa, this outdoor event will feature the area’s finest and most creative chefs, bakers and baristas all working with our favorite breakfast staple – bacon – and competing to be crowned Boss Hog of BaconFest. The Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St., in Tulsa’s Pearl District wants to fill your plate with gourmet bites and desserts from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. There will also be an amateur bacon cooking contest, bacon haiku contest and a bacon look-a-like contest. It’s the Nightingale, which has brought tales strange, true and esoteric to its stage for more than a decade, so we’re know it will be unlike any other benefit we’ve seen. Advance tickets are $20, but tickets at the gate are $25. Price coveres sampling and goodie bags. Proceeds will fund capital improvements of the theater. Go online for more details.

Thursday, Sept. 19-Saturday, Sept. 21

The Gateway Foundation in Broken Arrow celebrates 50 years of opening opportunities to people with developmental disabilities with the annual celebration of sky-high wonder. The Gatesway Balloon Festival kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Gatesway Foundation headquarters at 1217 E. College, in Broken Arrow. Hot air balloons lift off and light up the night’s sky to honor the client’s served by the organization. On Friday, Sept. 20, the fun moves north to Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs, 16305 Oklahoma 20, in Claremore with such activities as tethered balloon rides, children’s play area and more beginning at 4 p.m. The festival continues through Saturday with balloon flight competitions, live entertainment and more scheduled. Admission and parking is free. For more, visit www.gatesway.org.

Friday, Sept. 20-Saturday, Sept. 21

Rodeo action and cowboy music are the big stars of the Oklahoma State Fair this weekend. Look for the PRCA’s Xtreme Bulls Tour & Concert to stop at Oklahoma State Fair Park, 3001 General Pershing Blvd. The fiercest bulls in the circuit get ready to face the sports biggest names at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, in the park’s Jim Norick Arena. When the dust settles, the Eli Young Band steps up to entertain. The next night, look for more bull busters followed by Clay Walker in concert. Tickets are $18-$25 each night, available online at www.okstatefair.com. While you’re there, check out what else the fair has in store for its final weekend.

Saturday, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Signature Symphony Classics makes “The French Connection” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, as it marks the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Barry Epperley and the Signature Symphony play sections of the composition that sparked a small riot in Paris when it was introduced in 1913. Along with its choreography by Vaslav Nijinksy and set and costume designs, The Rite of Spring was unlike anything that had been heard before and was reviled by many. Eventually, the composition would be exonerated as one of the most important of the 20th century. Guest pianist Thomas Lanners joins in this evening that also includes work by Ravel at the VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education at Tulsa Community College, U.S. 169 and 81st St., Tulsa. “The French Connection” opens Epperley’s final season as artistic director with Signature Symphony. Tickets are $25-$35, available at www.signaturesymphony.org.

This weekend

Think chamber music has the effect of two sedatives and a dry martini? Brooklyn Rider could be the ensemble that dispels that mindset for good. The string quartet takes its repertoire seriously – a blend of classics and wildly inventive interpretations bending genres – but if Brooklyn Rider stands out, it’s because of its attitude. Fresh and willing to take chamber music into new environs and directions, the ensemble brings a new kind of energy to every performance. And, Tulsa is lucky, because we’ll get three chances to see Brooklyn Rider. Catch it at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, for a free community performance at Foolish Things Coffee, 1001 S. Main St. Later that night, Brooklyn Rider performs a salon concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center’s Westby Pavilion for season subscribers, but tickets may be made available later this week for that show, too (check at www.chambermusictulsa.org). At last, look for the group at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at the Tulsa PAC’s John Williams Theatre, 110 E. Second St. Tickets are $25 each. Help Chamber Music Tulsa celebrate its big 60th season at www.myticketoffice.com.

Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

Art is in the eye of the beholder, and if you can hold it in your hands, too, the experience is that much more meaningful. Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition brings back its popular social and art sale event, the 12×12 Art Fundraiser, a benefit for the arts organization. Some 150 of Oklahoma’s finest artists work on small canvases and donate the works for the silent and blind auction scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at 50 Penn Place 1900 N.W. Expressway, Oklahoma City. Bidding begins at $175 on each work. Want more? Look for great food from favorite local restaurants and live music at this one-night-only event. Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Read more at www.12x12okc.org.