June 13, 2024
Provided image/Jessica Griffin
The Rosenbach Museum stages an all-day reading of 'Ulysses' by James Joyce every June 16. This Bloomsday festival includes live music and a custom beer from Attic Brewing Co.
Once you hit a certain age, no one reads to you anymore — unless you count the people who narrate audiobooks ... or the Rosenbach.
On Sunday, the museum will put on its signature event: Bloomsday, a daylong reading of James Joyce's "Ulysses." There will be special speakers, musical performances and a custom beer, but the bookworms aren't the only ones partying this weekend. Pickle lovers will gather at Xfinity Live! for a whole day devoted to their favorite brined vegetable, and Pride Month celebrations continue with a field day and a bar crawl. Since Juneteenth falls on a Wednesday this year, the Philadelphia festival and parade will be held Sunday. All that and more are included in your weekend guide:
Rise and brine for the Big Dill, the pickle-themed bash arriving at Xfinity Live! on Saturday. The touring event, supposedly the largest pickle party in the world, will offer pickleball, pickle-eating contests, a pickle rave and all kinds of unexpected pickle-flavored or -topped treats, including ice cream. The festivities begin at noon, but you'll need a $24.99 ticket to get in.
Keeping nana's famous meatloaf recipe in the family can be tricky, especially when there's only one stained copy of it lost in someone's cookbooks. Two preservation specialists will demonstrate the best ways to care for these heirlooms at a free Saturday afternoon event at Parkway Central Library. Stick around until the end to ask them one-on-one questions or swap recipes with other home chefs.
James Joyce is kind of a big deal at the Rosenbach, which houses the Irish writer's original manuscript for "Ulysses." The museum shows its love for the classic novel every June 16, the day the story is set, with a day-long reading on Delancey Place. Between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., speakers including state Sens. Nikil Saval and Vincent Hughes, and Fergus Carey, the Irishman behind many Philadelphia bars, will read Joyce's text. The festival, called Bloomsday after the protagonist Leopold Bloom, will also feature live musical performances, food trucks and a custom beer from Attic Brewing Co.
The third weekend of Pride Month promises a LGBTQ+ field day in Fairmount Park. Head to the John Welsh Memorial Fountain between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday for a little friendly competition. Players can try their hand at "minigames" like cornhole, slip-and-slide and the dunk tank for $10 or pony up $15 to join a kickball or tug-of-war team. Just as field day winds down, a bar crawl around the Gayborhood — featuring Woody's, GloBar and Tabu — begins at 3 p.m.
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