Ames, Set, Go!

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

February 24, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Hello and happy Tuesday!

This week is full of an assortment of events ranging from jazz to cabaret performances, lectures on history and nature, college and high school basketball, comedy shows, art tours and more.

As always, if you have an event submission, email the information to [email protected]. To learn more about what we like in calendar submissions, check out our contact page.

Thanks for your continued support,


Co-Editors: Anthony Capps & Amber Mohmand
[email protected]

Event Spotlight

Benny Benack III | Photo by Matt Baker

Performing Arts

Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Great American Crooners

7 p.m. | Stephens Auditorium

Great American Crooners focuses on quintessential crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Bobby Darin, whose velvety voices and sentimental serenades made them superstars on stage and on screen. The show features Robbie Lee and Shenel Johns, who’ve both graced Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages.

 

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Calendar of Events

Ongoing

🎥 Cyclone Cinema: Wicked: For Good
7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday | Carver 101
Now living in exile as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) needs to reunite with Glinda (Ariana Grande), who resides at the palace in Emerald City, to transform herself, and Oz, for good.
FREE

 

🎤 Echoes of the Eras
7 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday | St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 209 Colorado Ave.
The Ames Choral Society's annual cabaret performance will feature familiar music from the past several decades. There will be full chorus and small group numbers, plus solos from several members of the Choral society.
$15 ages 13+; $5 ages 6-12

Tuesday, Feb. 24

🎤 The Simon & Garfunkel Story
7:30 p.m. | Stephens Auditorium
An immersive concert-style theater show following the folk duo's career.
$38+

Wednesday, Feb. 25

🎨 Art Walk: Geometry of Nature
Noon | Jischke Honors Building
Join a free guided tour of several botanical and nature-themed sculptures on campus that center around the shapes and structure of life.
FREE

 

🏀 Women's Basketball: Iowa State vs. Oklahoma State
6:30 p.m. | Hilton Coliseum
The Cyclones take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
$17+

 

☢️ The Ames Connection to WWII's Manhattan Project
7 p.m. | Ames Public Library
The top-secret race during World War II to master nuclear fission before Nazi Germany played out in 32 sites across the U.S. and Canada, including one in Ames. Speaker Kathy Svec's father, Harry J. Svec, was pulled into the research while a graduate student in Chemistry at Iowa State University.
FREE

 

🎺 Jazz Night: The Music of Thelonious Monk
7:30 p.m. | Martha-Ellen Tye Hall, Music Hall
ISU Jazz Combos dedicates a full concert to Thelonious Monk, who shattered the dogmatic notions of jazz composition and improvisation, featuring treatments of his music by Miho Hazama, John Fedchock, Paul Motian and Wynton Marsalis.
$10; free for students and youth

Thursday, Feb. 26

🎨 Curator’s Tour: Tell Me a Story
5 p.m. | Brunnier Art Museum
Explore the Tell Me a Story exhibition at the Brunnier Art Museum co-curators Michèle Schaal, professor of French and women’s and gender studies, and museum curator Adrienne Gennett for the only joint curator-led public tour of this exhibition.
FREE

 

😂 Kiss Off Comedy Battle
7 p.m. | Alluvial Brewing
Live stand-up comedy battle featuring local and regional comedians Ben Robles, Mara Hansen, Alex Carter, Damon Tucker, Nikky Thiccy, Justin Bulver, Dannie Tee and Wade Taylor.
$5

 

This talk with Dr. Amy Burgin explores how climate shifts, land use changes, and human management are transforming lakes, wetlands, and rivers—and why these changes matter for water quality, biodiversity, and the future of our landscapes.
FREE

 

🎶 Ned McGowan, Composer/Flutist
7:30 p.m. | Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Music Hall
This concert by Ned McGowan, an American-Dutch composer, flutist, researcher and teacher, living in Amsterdam, Netherlands, features compositions performed both by him and his collaborator, Gregory Oakes.

Friday, Feb. 27

🏀 Boy's Basketball: Ames vs. Mason City
7 p.m. | Ames High School
The Ames Little Cyclones take on the Mason City Riverhawks.

 

🎤 Jasper Tide
7 p.m. | Alluvial Brewing
Jasper Tide is a new jazz fusion group with an emphasis on groove-set sail with us!
$10

 

🎤 Southbound
7 p.m. | Ames City Auditorium
Presented by KHOI, Southbound is a six-piece tribute band honoring the Allman Brothers’ music.
$15 adults; $5 students

 

🎺 Symphonic Band Concert: Explorations
7:30 p.m. | Martha-Ellen Tye Hall, Music Hall
An evening with the ISU Symphonic Band that will inspire your spirit to take risks, be brave, and go explore.
$10; free for students and youth

Saturday, Feb. 28

Discover how artificial light is disrupting wildlife – year-round and right in your backyard. Join us to learn how light pollution affects everything from fireflies and pollinators to migrating birds and butterflies.
FREE

 

🎨 Explore! Artful Engineering and Technology
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Brunnier Art Museum
Explore the connections between art and technology with free activities and crafts for children and families will focus on cityscapes, mapmaking, 3D modeling, and technology.
FREE

 

🏀 Men's Basketball: Iowa State vs. Texas Tech
3 p.m. | Hilton Coliseum
The Cyclones take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. If you can't score tickets, you can find the game on CBS.

 

🎉 37th Annual Town & Gown Musicale
7 p.m. | St. John’s by the Campus
Gala fundraiser featuring a musical collage and a gourmet buffet.
$40

🎤 Blame Not the Bard
7 p.m. | Alluvial Brewing
Dynamic Celtic folk band featuring fiery instrumentals and storytelling.
$7+

Sunday, March 1

🎤 Iowa Statesmen Choir Concert
1 p.m. | Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Music Hall
$10; free for students and youth

 

Discover the work of metal sculptor Albert Paley in this lecture by Anne Pagel, curator of the Karen and Robert Duncan Art Collection. Explore how Paley transforms metal into bold, evolving sculptures that investigate form, materials and innovation.
FREE

 

📖 Purim Storytime
2 p.m. | Ames Public Library
Join us for a joyful Storytime as we celebrate Purim, a Jewish holiday commemorating the bravery of Queen Esther and the saving of the Jewish people. Enjoy songs, crafts and treats as we read the Purim Big Book.
FREE

 

🎻 Central Iowa Symphony: Young Artists Concert
3 p.m. | Ames City Auditorium
Central Iowa Symphony features competition winners — Iulia Fang-Kawamuro, piano, and Qimeng Michael Li, violin — and local choir with music by Shostakovich and Mozart.
$20 adults; free for students and youth

Monday, March 2

💵 Not Buying It: How to Overcome Our Urge to Overconsume
6 p.m. | Sun Room, Memorial Union
Ashlee Piper, sustainability expert, TV personality and author, speaks about overcoming the urge to overconsume.
FREE

Upcoming events on our radar

👩‍🏫 Mar. 26: Norah O’Donnell, Ames City Auditorium