Entertainment Reporter

Ben Crandell

Ben Crandell is a feature and entertainment writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. A native New Yorker and a University of Houston graduate, he’s a fourth-generation newspaperman who believes journalism can solve any problem. Except the Mets shortstop hole.

Shaggy will be one of the headliners at the Stay Strong Jamaica benefit concert at Hard Rock Live on Friday. (Michele Eve Sandberg/Contributor)

Weekend things to do: Oshogatsu at Morikami, Las Olas Art Fair, Stone Crab Fest, Todd Packer ‘Office’ trivia

January 2, 2026 at 12:27 p.m.

On New Year's Weekend, will we set the tone for 2026 with s'mores and mocktails or pastrami and Todd Packer?

Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell makes his first-ever appearance as Santa Claus at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

A Christmas gift for Santa: What you learn as an unlikely first-time St. Nick in South Florida

December 24, 2025 at 9:17 a.m.

How a Sun Sentinel writer’s random decision to grow a beard for the Florida Panthers led to an anxious debut as Santa Claus — and a lesson: Santa is real.

Miami City Ballet will perform the Christmas classic “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” at the Arsht Center through Sunday. (Miami City Ballet/Courtesy)

Things to do through New Year’s Eve: Shakira, Marlon Wayans, We Belong Here festival, Rob Reiner films

December 26, 2025 at 12:45 p.m.

Highlights include 'The Choir of Man' at the Kravis Center, the Jonas Brothers at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood and New Year's Eve omakase in Boca Raton.

Scene from a SantaCon past on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)

Weekend things to do: Andrea Bocelli, The Taylor Party, Rust Market and, looking ahead, Matzoball!

December 19, 2025 at 11:49 a.m.

Our favorite concerts, festivals, restaurant and brewery events this weekend across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Shaggy will be one of the headliners at the Stay Strong Jamaica benefit concert at Hard Rock Live on Jan. 2. (Michele Eve Sandberg/Contributor)

Stay Strong Jamaica benefit concert to bring Shaggy, Julian Marley, Wailers to Hard Rock Live

December 16, 2025 at 11:45 a.m.

Top reggae and dancehall acts will help raise money for Hurricane Melissa disaster relief.

Richard Adler of West Palm Beach, plays Santa during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Promenade at Coconut Creek. Adler is a real beard Santa, a prized version of Santa actors who are in short supply this holiday season. (Jim Rassol/Contributor).

The Santa shortage of 2025: Claus community scrambles to meet demand of holiday season

December 11, 2025 at 12:17 p.m.

Demand is up, and so are prices, as real-beard Santa Claus actors try to keep up with job requests for parties and events.

If you're looking for a different holiday warm-up, try the elegantly presented Petra Tea at Sufrat Mediterranean Grill. (Sufrat Mediterranean Grill/Courtesy)

Weekend things to do: Miami City Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker,’ Flamingo Flea, Pink Talking Fish, boat parades all over

December 12, 2025 at 11:40 a.m.

This weekend begins a two-week sprint through boat parades, Nutcrackers, holiday concerts, office parties, ugly sweater events, Santa-themed bar crawls and Matzoballs. Here's how to embrace it.

James Beard Award-nominated chefs Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth at the Florida Room at The Fort pickleball complex in Fort Lauderdale, with the burger and chicken sandwich inspired by their trips to Shake Shack. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Drive-thru confessions: South Florida chefs reveal fast-food crush, from Skyline Chili to Shake Shack

December 6, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

Life is not all foie gras and Champagne: "I had just come from a $400-a-head dinner and we’re at McDonald’s."

Artist Maurizio Cattelan's piece "Comedian" was an irreverent sensation at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019. It later sold for $6.2 million. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP file photo)

The Art Basel 2025 quiz: Can you tell which oddball event is fake? (Hint: The $7,000 martini is real)

December 5, 2025 at 10:27 a.m.

Here are 16 oddball Art Basel happenings, not all of them true. Can you pick the real Basel events from the fake?

Oh, the sights you'll see on a Water Taxi Holiday Lights Cruise, which returns to Fort Lauderdale this weekend. (Michael Laughlin/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)

Weekend things to do: David Byrne, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Jamboree Flea, John Mulaney, Chocoholics 5K

December 5, 2025 at 9:37 a.m.

This is that heartwarming time of year when we would do well to look for opportunities to warm the hearts of others, because you just never know.

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