Photo by MART PRODUCTION
FunTimes Magazine ‘Culture & Entertainment’ column, Week of August 21, 2023
August has plenty to satisfy your summer event appetite: Community days, pet washes, book signings, sunset concerts at the lake, and jazz jams flowing on the river. As we cruise into the summer home stretch, there’s no FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) with these free or low-cost events in the Philadelphia area.
FunTimes events are mentally sharp
Saturday, August 26, 2023. FunTimes is going all out to get out the word in the community about mental health resources. This Saturday near 60th and Walnut streets, FunTimes is part of a free outdoor community event promoting services and solutions for mental-health awareness with event hosts, Pennsylvania State Rep. Joanna McClinton and Philadelphia City Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST. The same day, FunTimes will be a partner for the BET Expo & Back 2 School Celebration. BET stands for Bringing Everybody Together, which is exactly what this community event will do. BET is a partner with its event participants, the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families, and the Logan School. Check out the DJ, the basketball, Moon Bounce, and the cool cars in the auto show, and get a free school backpack. Take home community resources like mental-health information. To top it off, a movie will be shown at 8 p.m. EST. Bring your chair. James Logan Elementary School, 1700 Lindley Ave., Free, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (movie show time), E-mail: info@mybetfamily.com or mybetfamily.com.
Opening the door to design in the Black home
Friday, August 25, 2023. Radio personality Dyana Williams will lead a conversation with Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason on their new book, “AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home.”
Hays and Mason are a husband-and-wife interior design couple originally from Philadelphia. Explore the role of the African-American family home as a foundation of Black culture. This guide provides cultural context through photos of the homes of actors and musicians, artists, curators, and business execs. Through the world of home design, it highlights gentrification, redlining, and other serious housing issues in Black history. It shows African-American residences as “a missing piece in the narrative of both interior design and American history.” A book signing will follow the discussion. The authors’ media and design brand AphroChic promotes African Diaspora cultures through a lifestyle magazine, podcast, and various products. Pre-register. Tickets: $10; 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST. The African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St. 215-574-0380 or aampmuseum.org.
Jazz flows on the river…
Friday, August 25 & Saturday, August 26, 2023. Get jazzed up! Six-time Grammy-nominated and NAACP Image Award Winner, The Baylor Project, and Grammy-nominated soul singer and drummer Jamison Ross will headline the two-evening Waterfront Jazz Festival presented by The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia. It will feature local and national artists including the O2001 Jazz Ensemble and SNACKTIME performing along the Delaware River. Free, 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST (opens at 6 p.m. EST). Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, 101 S Christopher Columbus Blvd., 215-629-3200 or delawareriverwaterfront.com.
Hero Thrill Show Pep Rally is coming at ya….
Helping families of fallen firefighters & police
Wednesday, August 30, 2023. Enjoy super-cool performances on sizzling-hot wheels at the Hero Thrill Show Pep Rally. It will be a sneak preview of the carnival-style Thrill Show extravaganza coming up in September. To create excitement, Center City will be pumped up at lunchtime with the dazzling daredevil maneuvers of the elite world-famous Philadelphia Police Highway Motorcycle Patrol Drill Team. The Motorcycle Drill Team will be joined by Mounted police horses, K-9 units, bicycles, and fire engines. The police and fire departments will give you a glimpse of the boardwalk-inspired Hero Thrill Show that has been entertaining the wide-eyed masses for 68 years. What other event gives you a sample before you buy? The ticketed Thrill Show fundraiser is on Saturday, September 9th at noon EST. Support the post-high school educations of the families of Philadelphia-area police and fire personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty. Pep Rally is free, noon to 1 p.m., EST, outdoors, Market Street, between 18th and 19th streets. Staged kickoff program in front of 1818 Market St. For tickets (15 individuals; $35 for families up to five members) to the September 9th Hero Thrill Show: via Facebook or http://www.herothrillshow.org.
Celebrating Black businesswomen
Through August 31, 2023. August is National Black Business Month, and WOMEN’S WAY is recognizing the moment by showcasing the stellar community contributions of Black entrepreneurs. WOMEN’S WAY’s reasoning is simple: Black and Brown women are the fastest-growing group in the business world. “Yet, they are underrepresented in business ownership and face systemic barriers to accessing capital due to historical disinvestment in Black women,“ according to WOMEN’S WAY. Along with WOMEN’S WAY, Mom Your Business and Zenith Wealth Partners established Phirst Market Ventures (PMV). The goal is to develop a business equity fund for women-of-color entrepreneurs to tackle the current gaps in securing financial resources to start up and grow. The challenge is even greater since most Black and Brown businesses are one-owner shops. Addressing strategies to close the gender and racial wealth gap is part of the mission of WOMEN’S WAY, 123 S. Broad St., Suite 1320, 215-985-3322, or womensway.org.
Pampering your pooch
Thursday, Aug 24, 2023. To celebrate National Dog Day (which officially is August 26th), Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, along with the no-kill animal shelter Saved Me in Philadelphia, will offer free dog washes at a pop-up puppy boutique. Saved Me will have irresistible, adoptable dogs onsite. Philadelphia’s Doggie Style Pets will set up a treat bar, plus two gift baskets will be raffled. That’s not all. Get a free caricature with your pet by Caricatures by Courtney. Free, but donations to Saved Me are appreciated. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST. On the sidewalk of Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, 433 Chestnut St. in Old City, 215-925-2111, http://www.savedme.org/ or eventbrite.com.
A musical sunset at ‘The Lakes’
Tuesday, August 29, 2023. It’s getting really deep and spiritual at Franklin D. Roosevelt Park in South Philly. The once-gritty FDR Park, or ‘The Lakes,’ as it’s known by the locals, is certainly rebranding. It’s being transformed through a massive facelift and expanded organized activities into one of the crown jewels in the city’s vast Parks and Recreation network. And by the way, that network is notable as the nation’s largest urban landscaped public park system. And it’s all happening across the street, in the shadow of Philly’s professional sports complex.
Naturalist’s Trance is the name of the park’s latest event featuring a “durational, improvisational music performance on the lake” of saxophonists and percussionists performing on the dock during the summer sunset. And it’s all improv, performed in tune with the “natural environmental rhythms… of flowing water, leaves blowing in the wind, and birdsong.” Enjoy the performance from the dock or a paddle boat in the water, or from the historic pavilion above. Free, 7 p.m. EST. Franklin D. Roosevelt Park, 1500 Pattison Ave. https://www.firemuseumpresents.com
Pop Ups’ organizer Cara Schneider Bongiorno
Just what happened in South Philly?
Wednesday, August 30, 2023. Learn about one of the strangest and most outrageous events in Philadelphia history — a massive medieval-style party called the Mischianza in South Philly during the Revolutionary War. It’s part of the off-the-wall PHILLY HISTORY POP UPS featuring entertaining presentations on little-known Philly stories of people or historic events in still-standing places. If you are not a curious person, skip to the next event in our event calendar. Free, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST. Corinthian Gardens, outside of the Eastern State Penitentiary, 2050 Brown St., (enter at Brown Street near Corinthian Ave.) Sign up or https://linktr.ee/phillycara.
Down on the farm…
Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Do not “farm out” this opportunity to volunteer. Farm Philly Volunteer Days at the Carousel House Farm is calling you. Plant, weed, maintain crops, and take part in harvesting for weekly food distribution. Carousel House Farm, 4300 Avenue of the Republic, Fairmount Park. Volunteer opportunities: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST. For all ages; bring friends. Carousel House is a 5.2-acre indoor and outdoor complex with a picnic area, garden, playground, and fitness track. It features an auditorium, computer room, gymnasium, multipurpose rooms, and swimming pool. It has served as a recreational and educational facility for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. 215-685-0278 or farmphilly.org or farmphilly@phila.gov.
