June 06, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Two art festivals are taking place is weekend: The Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show runs Friday through Sunday and Art for the Cash Poor, above, returns on Saturday in Olde Kensington. Also happening this weekend are the West Philly Porchfest music festival, Odunde Fest in South Philly and it's the last weekend for Philly Beer Week.
This weekend will be a big one for patrons of the arts — whether they prefer paintings, African dance, landscaping or up-and-coming Philly music.
Not one but two festivals will be dedicated to the fine arts. In Olde Kensington, artists will sell their work at affordable price points during a one-day festival and on Rittenhouse Square, painters and sculptors will display their pieces Friday through Sunday. The Odunde Festival in South Philadelphia, meanwhile, will showcase African dance, music and wares during its signature Sunday block party.
Music is also the foundation of West Philly Porchfest, a unique concert series where local acts perform from homeowners' porches and stoops. Green thumbs can appreciate the gardens of Society Hill during special ticketed tours, and anyone can celebrate the fine art of brewing at the final Philly Beer Week events.
The returning West Philly Porchfest invites musicians into the most intimate outdoor spaces: people's porches. Performers will take to the unique stages in homes throughout Spruce Hill, Cedar Park, Walnut Hill and Squirrel Hill on Saturday between 12-6 p.m. With roughly 200 porches (and even more musical acts) participating, it'll be hard to wander West Philly without picking up a tune.
Love art, but can't afford a Jackson Pollock (or even a knock-off Jackie Potluck)? A Saturday festival will offer original pieces from over 100 artists for $250 or less. Art for the Cash Poor will line the 1400 and 1500 blocks of North American Street between 12-6 p.m. The showcase is also an opportunity to support local artists, who keep 100% of the profits.
Join the long-running Odunde Festival in South Philadelphia as the celebration of African (and African American) culture turns 49. The main event is the Sunday block party, where dancers, drummers and headliner Dru Hill will perform from stages on South Street and Grays Ferry Avenue. The festivities start at 10 a.m.
All weekend long, Rittenhouse Square will display paintings, prints and sculptures in the open air. The Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show returns to the park with works from 145 artists, including some local students. (The whole thing was started in 1928 by student artists, who hung their work in the park from clotheslines.) This year's exhibition includes originals from patients in the art therapy program at Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation hospitals.
Take a (legal) peek inside someone's backyard during two days of garden tours in Society Hill. The ticketed, self-guided event invites you into the outdoor spaces of 18 homes in the historic neighborhood, which supposedly boasts the largest concentration of buildings from the 1700s and early 1800s in the United States. Tours will run Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 p.m.
Philly Beer Week may be shutting down Sunday, but it's still got plenty of parties on the books before then. The roster includes an emo music night at Fat Lady Brewing, a "lawn jawn" at American Sardine Bar, a pinewood derby at Good Dog Bar and a "yappy hour" at Love City Brewing benefitting Morris Animal Refuge — and featuring at least one adoptable pup.
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