‘Grove’ by artist Staci Watson, October Gallery Museum, (octobergallery.com)
FunTimes Magazine ‘Culture + Entertainment’ events column, week of July 22, 2024.
Fast Fact: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the national average to gas up your car in the early 1950s was 27 cents a gallon. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to $3.52 per gallon today.
“If you’re not barefoot, then you’re overdressed.”
— Author unknown describing summertime
It has been said that the ocean makes the friendliest wave. So, catch a cool summer wave of these free or low-cost hot events. Let’s go around the horn with an array of entertainment featuring everything from tasty tacos to old-school filthy funk. And with July signaling that the year is half over, seize the day before the summer waves goodbye. And please don’t forget: When event-going, take precautions, especially when in groups and indoors, with the reported rise of COVID-19 variants.
Rice bowls, BBQ and beer at Wissfest
Saturday, July 27, 2024. There’s always something brewing at the Wissahickon Brewing Co. in historic Wissahickon Valley in East Falls. Next on tap will be Wissfest, a one-day festival of food fun, artwork and award-warding craft beer from the ever-expanding upstart brewer. Enjoy an abundant selection of delightful dishes by Philadelphia-area vendors in a luscious beer garden. Vibe to some of Philly’s most talented musicians performing on the brew house stage. Indulge in a stellar list with top-shelf drafts, slushies, and special cocktails and taste a creative menu of Halal cart rice bowls, wraps, BBQ, and scrumptious side dishes. Free admission, 4 p.m. EST to 11 p.m. EST Wissahickon Brewing Company, 3705 W School House Ln. 215-483-8833 or wissahickonbrew.com.
It’s Dessert Heaven, Sweetie!
Sunday, July 28, 2024. We don’t want to use the Lord’s name in vain, but Sweet Jesus! Dessert lovers high-tail down to Sweet & Savory Mini Dessert Expo at the African American Museum in Philadelphia for decadent frozen desserts, confections, custards, and puddings. You won’t be sorry unless you’re on a diet. The event will feature deliriously delectable sweets and treats from culinary artists in the Black community. Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, this party for the palate is tempting: Ice cream, gelatos, yogurt delights, candy nuts, chocolates, and custards. You get the caloric picture. Also enjoy food, drinks, and live entertainment in the Luscious Lounge and Delicacy Dessert Market. For ages 21 and over. Register, in advance, $10 to $75. 4 p.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST. African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St., 215-574-0380 or http://aampmuseum.org.
The Marchioness, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
An Exhibit With Urgency
Through Sunday, February 9, 2025. For an evocative art experience, check out The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure exhibition focusing on the urgency around artistic expression. The exhibition features 26 Black and African diasporic contemporary artists who employ figurative painting, drawing, and sculpture to capture the rhythms and complexities of Black life today. The promotional material explains: “Through their work, these artists invite us to consider Blackness as a lived experience rather than as a biological fact.” One true fact is that the exhibit was created by Ekaw Eshun, a Ghanaian-born and U.K.-based curator and writer, and organized by the National Portrait Gallery in London, along with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The curators are Erica Battle and Yocari De Los Santos. Part of the exhibit’s title, The Time is Always Now, is inspired by an essay by writer James Baldwin in 1961 about desegregation. The social-rights activist called for urgency, and wrote: “The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.” $30 (adults over 19), students: $14; pay as your wish on the first Sunday of the month; Open Mondays, Thursdays to Sundays, 10 a.m. EST to 5 p.m. Philadelphia Museum of Art/ Dorrance Galleries, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. E-mail: Maggie.Fairs@philamuseum.org. 215-763-8100 or philamuseum.org.
Get In The Game…
Thursday, July 25, 2024 to Sunday, July 28, 2024. Gamers: This is for you. Games On is a four-day pop-up activation of friendly competitions and live broadcasts of TV games. Plus, enjoy happy hours, lunch hubs, breakdancing clinics, a soccer TV watch party, face painting, spike ball, badminton, beach volleyball, table tennis, and something called paddle smash (*Google it.) Enjoy a tented air-conditioned zone, communal tables and lounge space, and jumbo viewing screens of televised select games. Free, times vary, from one hour to all day. For those who want “accelerated access” to the events, pre-register. Philadelphia’s City Hall apron/ Dilworth Park, 1 S. 15th St., E-mail: info@unitedfray.com, creativephl.org, eventbrite.com.
This Funk Is Fire…
Sunday, July 28, 2024. The last Sunday of the month never sounded so funky fine. We are talking about the Funk Da’ Last Sunday Dance Party, a cool evening filled with the nostalgic joy of old-school R&B and funk. The event will feature the slick horns, bass, and guitar licks of The Urban Guerilla Orchestra and music by DJ Ol’Skool. $30 (buy tickets in advance or at the door), 3 p.m. EST to 7 p.m. EST. Germantown Social, 220 W. Chelten Ave, 267-283-7434 or www.UGOFunk.com.
Taco Time, Amigos
Saturday, August 3, 2024 & Sunday, August 4, 2024. Did anyone say “taco?” Salsa down to Philadelphia’s 7th annual Taco Festival to get your fiesta fix of over 30 tacos and food vendors slinging more than 85 different types of tacos. Check out the margarita bars, giant nacho station, Lucha Libre Wrestling, kids’ pinata smashing, live bands, DJs, Karaoke, mariachi and folkloric performers, and taco and hot chili pepper-eating contests. There’s more; go wild at the Giant General Vendor Market, the Silent Disco in 1100 Social, DJ & Sports Game Watch Party in NBC Sports Arena, mechanical bull riding, Buckle Bunnies in the PBR Philly, carnival games, and a free Kids Fun Zone with face painters, bounce houses, and balloon twist. General admission: $12.99; free for kids under age 10; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST to Sunday, 8 p.m. EST. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, 1100 Pattison Ave. phillytacofest.com.
Vibe To The Rhythms Of The Motherland
Sunday, August 4, 2024. ACANA FEST 2024 has been promoted as the East Coast’s largest African music festival. No doubt it has been a must-see event for 16 years. This year, celebrate African culture at its authentic best with African music, ethnic food, homemade crafts, jewelry, art, and clothing. Check out Awilo Longomba, a Congolese musician and star, and Liberia’s JZyNO, an emerging contemporary Afrobeat artist. JZyNo will bring his host of hits — “BUTTA MY BREAD,” “KUU KUU,” “Kpan Kpan Me,” and more — to the stage. Joining Longomba and JZyNo will be performers Tunde Success, a Nigerian guru of the talking drum; Wazumbians, a Ghanaian music group, and Sharon Katz & The Peace Train featuring South African beats, and the Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble. The festival will pay tribute to the cultural contributions of Robert Dickson, co-founder and CEO of the Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble, who died last year. ACANA FEST will be presented by the PECO Multicultural Series and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. Free admission, 2 p.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST. Cherry Street Pier at Penn’s Landing (Pier No. 9), 121 N. Columbus Blvd. acanausa.org
