With spring just around the corner, here are free upcoming outdoor or mostly virtual family-friendly events focusing on music, art, food nature, and education. But before venturing out, contact the event organizers to confirm event hours and find out their current pandemic-related safety policies such as masking and proof of vaccination.
FOOD
Food traditions of the African diaspora
March 5 & 12, 2022. Make new healthy recipes from old ways and the classics rooted in the traditions of the African Diaspora, with “A Taste of African Heritage,” online cooking classes. Celebrate dishes from the Caribbean to down south. Free with registration, 1 p.m. to -2:30 p.m.
Register at bit.ly/ATOAH222, www.freelibrary.org
This pizza gets high marks!
Now. If you are craving pizza, well, that’s normal. But craving a pizza museum? Check out Pizza Brain, the world’s first museum of American Pizza Culture. And it’s right in Philly! It features thousands of pizza-related items from pizza cutters to toys. The extensive collection was recognized in the Guinness World Record as the largest assembly of pizza items. This pizza joint also is a great restaurant with fun innovations like ramen noodle-topped pizza. Sounds delicious. 2313 Frankford in Fishtown, 215-291-2965, pizzabrain.org
ART & EDUCATION
Make My Portrait
Now. Tell the world about yourself or someone you admire by making a portrait. Portraiture, a popular art form, has been used to capture the appearance, wealth, personality, and even the mood of a person. Some artworks are self-portraits, while others are portraits that artists painted of others. See examples as inspiration and explore PAFA’s online collection. Search “Make My Portrait,”Pafa.org
Kids can try their hand at making art
March 13, 2022. Check out the Virtual Family Art Academy hosted by the Pennsylvania of Fine Arts (PAFA). Kids can join an art educator live online, and make creative projects with materials found mostly at home. Most projects require white paper, construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, coloring materials, pencils, and watercolors. Free with registration, 10:30 a.m. to noon, PAFA,118-128 N. Broad St, 215-972-7600, kromanenko@pafa.org or pafa.org
Tami Charles
Webinar for kids and young adults
March 8, 2022. Join children’s and young-adult writer Tami Charles for a webinar about her books and life as an author. Charles is a New York Times bestseller of All Because You Matter and various books catering to a young audience. A limited number of free books are available for educators who sign up. Event is free with registration. 11 a.m., Free Library of Philadelphia,1901 Vine St., 215-686-8663, www.freelibrary.org
Foot Fetish
Now. There’s a museum for everything, it seems. Try this on for size: The Shoe Museum at Temple University School of Podiatry Medicine is shoe-casing 1,000 varieties of footwear in a dozen exhibits. Shoes are from the Philadelphia Mummers Parade — the world’s oldest continuous folk parade — the military, United States presidential first ladies, sports stars (Reggie Jackson, Joe Frazier), the world’s largest man, bridal shoes from the 1840s, many women’s styles, and those representing 30 countries including a 2,000-year-old pair of Egyptian sandals. There is an educational aspect of the exhibits related to shoe cobbling and podiatry. Free admission but with scheduled appointments. Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, 148 N. 8th St. (between Race and Cherry sts.), 215-777-5750, Ajmeyr@temple.edu
MUSIC
The influence of Haiti
March 20, 2022.Indulge in the sights and sounds of Philly’s Kanaval Ball, a fusion of Haitian Carnival and Mardi Gras presented by WXPN radio. Hundreds of enslaved Haitians moved to New Orleans two centuries ago helping to create the distinct rhythms of the Crescent City’s music. On the musical bill are Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the prominent Haitian bands RAM and Boukman Eksperyans, and Haitian folkloric dance company Nadia Dieudonné & Feet of Rhythm. Feast on authentic Haitian cuisine from accomplished local chefs. Costumes are encouraged. Register in advance for free tickets, 4 p.m., The Fillmore Philadelphia, 29 Allen St., 215-898-6677, xpnkanaval.org
NATURE
Go take a hike
Now.Get back to nature in America’s first urban refuge. Tackle the terrain of 10-mile trails, fish, kayak, see wildlife up close, and learn about the environment. The 3.5-mile wetland loop offers opportunities to walk, bike and see wildlife – hundreds of species of plants, trees, birds, insects, and mammals. The Big Boardwalk Loop is shy of a mile and is wheelchair accessible. 7 days a week, free, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, 8601 Lindbergh Blvd., 215-365-3118, fws.gov
