”Life of Pi”
A striking adaptation of the Yann Martel’s book of the same name, Life of Pi enthralled audiences on Broadway and the West End with its larger-than-life puppetry and enchanting tale of survival and faith. Shipwrecked 16-year-old Pi Patel floats through the Pacific Ocean all alone, save for his unlikely travel companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning play transforms the Academy of Music stage, bringing to life Pi’s fantastical account of his 227 days at sea.
When: Tuesday, July 15-27
Where: Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.
CAICU’s Salsa Lounge featuring Orquestra El Macebeo
Mural Arts and CAICU are partnering with Taller Puertorriqueño for an evening of salsa on Thursday, July 17, featuring music by Orquestra el Macabeo and an interactive performance by dance duo Elian Gomez and Ashley Rivera. Join us for music, dancing, and a pop-up by Amy’s Pastelillos, with special guest Wanda Raimundi Ortiz of the upcoming Mural Arts project Vamonos pa’l Monte. One of the incredible sensations of the current Puerto Rican salsa scene, Orquesta el Macabeo recovers the island salsa tradition to update it with new ideas and the energy of its eleven musicians, with backgrounds in punk rock, ska, and reggae. Formed in 2008, with almost 10 years playing all over the world, they present us with their 4th studio album: La Maldicion del timbal, or The curse of the timbal. Their plan: revindicate the authentic heavy heavy sound of the Salsa Gorda with its sound and lyrics that tell stories about real life to which anyone can relate.
When: Thursday, July 17 from 6-8 p.m.
Where: Taller Puertorriqueño, 2600 N. 5th St.
Yoga at Independence
Find your flow with Yoga at Independence, a free outdoor yoga series for all ages and experience levels. Sessions are led by instructors from Monarch Yoga and offer a peaceful morning practice in a beautiful, historic setting. Walk-ups welcome; registration encouraged. Bring your own mat or towel (limited mats available).
When: Saturday, July 19 at 9 a.m.
Where: Independence Historical National Park, 143 S. 3rd St.
Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival
Just off the main drag in West Powelton, the Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival at Saunders Park Greene draws thousands of revelers each year to celebrate jazz music in all its flavors. The free festival typically features performances by some of Philly’s funkiest jazz musicians, community vendors selling locally made goods, and pay-as-you-go cool treats and summer eats at the food trucks. For updates and this year’s lineup, keep an eye on the festival’s Instagram.
When: Saturday, July 19 from 12-7 p.m.
Where: S. 39th Street and Powelton Avenue
Summer Vibes Block Party
The highly anticipated Summer Vibes Block Party returns, offering the community an opportunity to celebrate Trans Joy with WWCC’s Arcila-Adams Trans Resource Center. The free event offers an exciting mix of entertainment, including live performances, delicious food from local vendors, engaging art projects, interactive workshops, and valuable resources from local LGBTQIA+ organizations dedicated to supporting the trans community and its allies.
When: Saturday, July 19 from 4-7 p.m.
Where: William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.
Africatown Food Tours
Africatown invites guests to explore the vibrant flavors and cultural richness of Southwest Philadelphia’s Woodland Avenue! Developed by the African Cultural Alliance of North America (ACANA) and supported by Visit Philadelphia, this new culinary experience offers a guided walking tour through Philadelphia’s Africatown in Southwest Philadelphia. Participants will enjoy four curated tastings representing West African, Jamaican, Southern American, and Italian cuisines, while meeting local chefs, visiting neighborhood shops, and learning about the deep-rooted history and future of this thriving corridor. Tours are led by WeVenture and are now available to the public every Saturday.
When: Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 PM
Where: Woodland Avenue, Southwest Philadelphia
Summer Ale Festival
Party animals, take a sip on the wild side at the Philadelphia Zoo’s Summer Ale Festival. This adults-only shindig in the center of America’s first zoo features live music and entertainment, food trucks, animal exhibits and over 100 award-winning craft beers, hard iced teas, seltzers and ciders. Tickets must be purchased online in advance and include a souvenir tasting cup.
When: Saturday, July 19 from 7-10 p.m.
Where: Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Ave.
A Better World Is Possible Block Party
Mural Arts’ Porch Light program will host A Better World Is Possible Block Party — a day of reflection, healing, and celebration as we unveil a powerful Gun Violence Memorial Sculpture and officially open the new Peace Park. This free community event will feature live performances, art activations, family-friendly activities, food vendors, and access to local resources, creating a space for connection, remembrance, and hope. Presented in partnership with the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), Raw Tools, The Simple Way, and Mural Arts Philadelphia, this gathering invites all to envision a safer, more peaceful future for Philadelphia.
When: Sunday, July 20 from 12-5 p.m.
”A Summer Day”
Experience the haunting beauty of Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s “A Summer Day,” directed by inventive Co-Artistic Director Yury Urnov in a production that delves into the depths of human connection, memory, and existential longing. Is there one day in your past that you keep replaying again and again? When do we start spending more time in the past than in the present? Through Fosse’s poetic language and Urnov’s innovative direction and immersive visual design, audiences are transported into an epic and intimate world where past and present intertwine, inviting reflection on the fleeting nature of time and the eternal search for meaning. Often referred to as a modern-day Ibsen, Fosse won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023 – one of the few playwrights to ever receive that honor – and is rarely produced in the United States.
When: through Sunday, July 27
Where: The Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St.
”Demond Melancon: As Any Means Are Necessary” at AAMP
Demond Melancon (b. 1978) works solely with a needle and thread to sew glass beads onto canvas. He began this practice in 1992 when he first became part of the Black Masking Culture of New Orleans, a culture whose roots are woven through more than two centuries of history. Big Chief Demond Melancon is well known for creating massive Suits as a Black Masker. His Suits are sculptural forms based on the size of his body, which are composed of intricate, hand-sewn beadwork revealing a collective visual narrative. In 2017, Melancon pioneered an emerging contemporary art practice using the same beading techniques he’s been refining over the past 30 years in the Black Masking Culture.
When: through Sunday, July 27
Where: African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St.
Discover play mode at the LEGO® Summer of Play
This summer, families in Philadelphia and beyond can get ready for a celebration of play like no other at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Philadelphia with an all-new event. The LEGO® Summer of Play event will have new activities to help kids discover their unique play mode — whether they love to create, discover, build, dance or simply play their own way. Families can join a workshop to learn how to create a LEGO bee and design a playful city with the Master Model Builder where their imaginations can run wild. Kids of all ages can boogie to the DJ GoodVibes dance party and then have fun spotting surprise LEGO creations in MINILAND which has Philadelphia’s cityscape created out of more than 1.5 million LEGO bricks.
When: through Sunday, Aug. 3
Where: LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Philadelphia, in Plymouth Meeting Mall, 500 W. Germantown Pk., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Back-to-School Donation Drive
Members of the West Philadelphia non-profit, ACHIEVEability, are calling on the community to help support students this upcoming school year as they officially kick off their annual Back to School Drive. ACHIEVEability is collecting school supply donations to help ensure 1,250 children return to school fully equipped and ready to learn, grow, and succeed. Supplies the non-profit is looking to collect include new backpacks, pens, pencils, notebooks, crayons, calculators, and additional classroom must-haves. The school supplies will then be given out to students during ACHIEVEability’s Backpack Drive on Wednesday, August 13. Donations can be shipped to or dropped off at ACHIEVEability’s office.
When: through Friday, Aug. 8
Where: ACHIEVEability, 5901 Market St.
”Of Earthen Kin: Works by Katie Kaplan” at PMG
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (PMG) presents a new exhibition titled “Of Earthen Kin: Works by Katie Kaplan.” The exhibition features new work by Katie Kaplan, a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist whose work spans printmaking, sculpture, textiles, video, and installation. Her artistic practice is rooted in cultural organizing, activist art, and mutual aid. These values manifest through her commitment to collaborative and community-centered art-making. Her current body of work focuses on the environment, particularly through the lens of vibrating landscapes and close-up examinations of fungi and foliage.
When: through Sunday, Aug. 10
Where: Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South St.
CraftNOW Create Summer Camp
Following four successful years, CraftNOW and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation are partnering again to bring Philadelphia’s biggest free art class back to 129 neighborhood recreation centers, serving nearly 20,000 campers since the program was launched. CraftNOW, through its CraftNOW Create program, will coordinate with local galleries and museums to provide over 10,000 hours of free craft instruction to 6,000 children. This year’s program expands into nine new recreation centers, allowing CraftNOW to reach new neighborhoods and communities. This year’s summer camps offer a variety of craft activities provided by 14 CraftNOW Partners, including Asian Arts Initiative, The Clay Studio, DesignPhiladelphia, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. In collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, CraftNOW will be providing take-home kits with art supplies and free passes to the museum for each student and up to five more members of their family.
When: through Friday, Aug. 15
Where: various locations across the city
”Where I’m From” at the Barnes
This summer, the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia present “Where I’m From,” an exhibition of original work created by artists from Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Rec Crew, a 24-week job readiness and life skills program for justice-impacted young adults, and artists at State Correctional Institution Phoenix (SCI Phoenix), southeast Pennsylvania’s maximum-security prison for men. Free with general admission to the Barnes, “Where I’m From” will be on view in the second-floor classroom of the Collection Gallery.
When: through Monday, Aug. 25
Where: The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.
Center City District SIPS returns
The pay-as-you-go Center City District SIPS series is back for its 21st season with lots of happy hour revelry. Enjoy CCD SIPS happy hour al fresco at Cret Park and Dilworth Park. The weekly Wednesday night program offers substantial discounts at nearly 100 (and counting) bars, restaurants and beer gardens throughout Center City. The CCD SIPS promotion is simple: $5 beer, $6 wine, $7 cocktails and half-priced appetizers from 5 to 7 p.m. at favorites like Franky Bradley’s, Taste Cheesesteak Bar, Harp & Crown, Independence Beer Garden, Pizzeria Vetri, Square 1682, Bud & Marilyn’s, Cavanaugh’s, Chris’ Jazz Cafe, Continental Midtown and more. After happy hour, enjoy 15% off dinner at select locations.
When: Wednesdays through Aug. 27 from 5-7 p.m.
Where: Dilworth Park, 1 S. 15th St.
East Passyunk’s Italian Passeggiata returns
East Passyunk Avenue, South Philadelphia’s historic commercial corridor known for its 160+ independently-owned restaurants and shops, will become the ultimate local hangout on Thursday evenings this summer. This year’s event is sponsored by Top Dog Cocktails with featured products available at bars up and down the Avenue. Participating bars and restaurants will offer special happy hour pricing, which includes $6 beers, $7 wines, and $8 cocktails, complemented by $8 small bites. Retailers and service businesses will activate the sidewalk in front of their businesses with pop-up shopping, bins of books and vinyl, flower bars, and more, encouraging visitors to leisurely stroll along the Avenue like an Italian promenade. This event echoes the Italian tradition of the passeggiata — a “leisurely walk or stroll, especially one taken in the evening.”
When: Thursdays through Aug. 28 at 5-7 p.m.
Where: East Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival
For 2025’s Year of the Snake, the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square will showcase magnificent giant lighted sculptures crafted from steel frames and wrapped in vibrant silk, blending light and culture. The popular 200-foot-long dragon returns along with never-before-seen giant lantern displays, with more lights, more lanterns, and more wattage than ever before. Exploring more than 1,100 individual sculptures placed in nearly 40 groupings, visitors will embark on a magical journey through enchanting forest-themed displays and a radiant underwater realm, where lanterns and interactive delights showcase the splendor of China’s culture alongside diverse wildlife and vibrant marine wonders. In addition to the gorgeous light installations, guests can enjoy live cultural stage performances, see the choreographed fountain light show in the historic Rendell Family Fountain, taste food and drink options including Asian cuisine and American comfort food, drink a toast at the Cocktail Garden, and shop for Chinese folk artists’ crafts.
When: through Sunday, Aug. 31 from 6-11 p.m.
Where: Franklin Square, 200 N. 6th St.
Dino-Mite Summer
Connect with the wonders of the natural world through hands-on discovery, dinosaur exploration, and real science in action this July and August at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Unearth fossils like a paleontologist at The Big Dig, meet live turtles and insects, and chat with Academy scientists. From stormwater science and sustainability to fashion, dinosaur tours and a weekend-long celebration of insects, every visit brings new opportunities to investigate biodiversity, ecology, evolution and more.
When: through Sunday, Aug. 31
Where: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.
Summer Resident Artists Exhibition
The Clay Studio, Philadelphia’s preeminent ceramic arts and resident artist center, premieres three new exhibitions highlighting and celebrating the work of its Resident Artists. The Clay Studio’s Jill Bonovitz Gallery features “Where Do We Go When We Open the Heart?” by Hawaiian multi-disciplinary artist Akiko Jackson, Parallax by South Korean sculpture artist Minah Kim, and New Work by Philadelphian ceramic artist Kevin Snipes.
When: through Sunday, Sept. 7
Where: The Clay Studio, 1425 N. American St.
”Word Powered: Exploring Free Speech Through Art” at NLM
“Word Powered: Exploring Free Speech Through Art” is a juried exhibition that examines the dynamic relationship between censorship, freedom of expression, and diverse perspectives. Bringing together a range of artistic voices, mediums, and subject matter, the exhibition challenges visitors to reflect on their role in safeguarding the right to free speech and better understand how language can be manipulated, suppressed, or celebrated. The works on display invite audiences across the political and cultural divide to engage with the potency of words, demonstrating how art can spark vital conversations and illuminate our collective voice.
When: through Monday, Sept. 8
Where: National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
“The Pearl Bailey Showcase” at AAMP
Pearl Bailey was an award-winning actor, singer, songwriter, and author. Whether she was performing on Broadway, opening for Duke Ellington, captivating audiences in Philadelphia nightclubs, or starring in her own daytime television show, Pearl Bailey’s passion and talent made her a beloved entertainer worldwide. Objects from the Bailey-Bellson Collection, including scrapbooks, archival photographs, and letters from friends and admirers worldwide, will be on display.
When: through Sunday, Sept. 13
Where: Where: African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St.
”Voices of the Community: Local Black Preservation” at HSP
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) proudly announces the opening of its summer exhibit, “Voices of the Community: Local Black Preservation.” Support for this exhibit comes from The Haverford Trust Company and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society Endowment Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation. The exhibit explores the history, migration, and preservation of African American communities in Philadelphia, and Lawnside, New Jersey. Through personal archives, flyers, photographs, and ephemera, the exhibit highlights how Black individuals and communities have preserved their own stories across generations through the built environment, music, memory, and collective action.
When: through Friday, Sept. 26
Where: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust St.
Storytime in the Square
Join Ms. Chen from Independence Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia every other Wednesday for free storytime and crafts in the Pavilion or on the Great Lawn. Stories, rhymes, and dancing explore different themes throughout the season ending with bubbles and fun crafts. All kids and their caregivers are welcome.
When: through October 22 from 10-11 a.m.
Where: Franklin Square, 200 N. 6th St.
Lansdowne Farmers Market
The 18th season of the Lansdowne Farmers Market features the borough’s first-ever fully themed summer lineup. The new program is designed not only to nourish our bodies but also to strengthen community connections and promote mental well-being. Following a successful winter pilot and the buzz-worthy Egg-nostic Egg Hunt, the market will now feature a unique theme every Saturday including Pride, Juneteenth, Classic Cars, Food Truck Day, International Blues Day, and more. Each week, visitors will find live music, fresh local food, artisan vendors, and interactive nonprofit and community partners offering a welcoming space to connect, decompress, and celebrate together. Themed programming is part of a broader effort by the Lansdowne Economic Development Corporation to create consistent, joyful experiences that support emotional wellness and reduce social isolation—an urgent public health need.
When: Saturdays through Oct. 25 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Veterans Landing, 30 N. Lansdowne Ave.
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