A hot weekend of music, history fun and more
By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times
The Turk’s Head Music Festival in West Chester (Everhart Park, Bradford Avenue and Everhart Street, West Chester, 610-436-9010, http://www.turksheadfestival.com) just keeps rocking on year-after-year — and just keeps getting better.
This year, the 34th Annual Turks Head Music Festival will be held on July 17 from noon-8 p.m. in the park at the west end of West Chester. The all-day festival, which is one of the most popular and longest-running annual mid-summer events in Chester County, has a diverse line-up of 11 musical acts. The annual music-oriented party is presented by West Chester Recreation. It is a free event that appeals to the entire family with a wide range of live music as well as a variety of other activities geared to all ages. Attendance usually tops 5,000 — unless there is bad weather.
West Chester Swing Kings will be the opening act at noon. Matt Santry is scheduled to take the stage at 12:44 p.m. followed by Tree Walker at 1:28 p.m., The Fair Trade at 2:12 p.m. and Groove Merchants at 2:56 p.m.
RJ Scouton will perform a set at 3:40 p.m. and Kevin McCove will play at 4:24 p.m. Mark DeRose will perform at 5:08 p.m. followed by Bushmaster at 5:52 p.m. and Jimmy Jorge and the Latin Express at 6:36 p.m. Lion’s Paw will be the final act with a set at 7:20 p.m.
Visitors to Everhart Park this Sunday are welcome to bring picnic lunches and are advised to bring lawn blankets or folding chairs. The festival will also feature a wide array of food concessions with hot food and cool beverages.
Other popular annual features at the Turk’s Head Music Festival include kids’ play area with moon bounces and a zip line, a misting tent and an arts-and-crafts show featuring over 70 talented artisans who will be demonstrating and selling their crafts. There will also be a free yoga class in the park prior to the festival at 10 a.m.
If you want to attend a traditional summertime fair, you can do it this weekend — the final weekend for the Malvern Fire Company Fair (Monument Grounds, Monument Avenue, Malvern, 610-647-0693, www.malvernfireco.com). The event will be held now through July 16 from 6-10 p.m. each night.
The free event features rides, games and fun for the entire family and discount ride coupons will be available at local merchants. As an added attraction, there will be a gala fireworks display on July 15 at 9:30 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, the fireworks extravaganza will be postponed to July 16.
Bastille Day will be celebrated locally.
There will be a very unique event in the area this weekend to commemorate Bastille Day.
In France, Bastille Day is a major holiday (“Fete Nationale”) that is celebrated on July 14. The holiday commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, which was held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille.
Bastille Day is also a major annual event at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site (22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-236-3300, www.easternstate.org).
On July 16 at 5:30 p.m., the site will host the “22nd Annual Bastille Day Celebration” — a celebration that features The Bearded Ladies (an experimental cabaret troupe), food, kids’ games, thousands of TastyKakes, jugglers, the singing of “La Marseilles” and, starting at 5:30 p.m., the storming of a real Bastille.
The troops will capture Marie Antoinette (whose own troops will be pelting the crowd with 3,000 packaged pastries from the prison’s medieval towers). Ignoring her mocking cries of “Let them eat TastyKake!,”, the mob will drag the monarch to a real, functioning guillotine, which was specially built for the occasion. Then, the crowd will decide her fate.
The “completely historically accurate” reenactment of the storming of Bastille will be emceed by the voice of Paris herself, Edith Piaf, and will include appearances by Napoleon, Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin, and a six-foot French Baguette.
This playful reenactment of the storming of Bastille will be emceed by the voice of Paris herself, Edith Piaf (portrayed by John Jarboe, Artistic Director of The Bearded Ladies), and will include appearances by Napoleon, Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin, and a six-foot-tall French Baguette. Attendees can expect confetti cannons, stilt walkers, a cardboard horse, and a catwalk so long it divides Fairmount Avenue.
New for 2016 is the French Family Carnival, presented by Valley Green Bank. From 2:00 p.m. until the performance begins at 5:30 p.m., guests can enjoy music, games, and entertainment on Fairmount Avenue, including an inflatable obstacle course, Tastykake eating contest, water balloon toss, jumbo Jenga and Twister, face painting, and arts & crafts.
Tours of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, a 19th-century landmark which was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The prison was home to many of America’s most notorious criminals, including Al Capone and Willie Sutton. Tours include the cellblocks, the central rotunda, the solitary exercise yards, and death row.
Following the beheading, local Fairmount restaurants will come alive with French-themed entertainment as well as food and drink specials, and the penitentiary will reopen for rare twilight tours at a discounted admission price (Adults, $10; students, seniors and children, $5).
Enjoy a “Full Moon Tour” at the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania.
If you’re looking to have a howling good time this weekend, consider the “Full Moon Tour” at the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania (465 Speedwell Forge Road, Lititz, 717-626-4617, http://wolfsanctuarypa.org).
The Sanctuary offers this tour once a month on the closest Saturday to the full moon. This month, the date is July 16 and the full moon is known as the Buck Moon. This is an event in which participants are invited to create their own experiences.
Instead of following a tour guide from pack to pack at a regulated pace that fits within a 45-minute time line, you get to go at your own pace from pack to pack talking to a tour guide who is stationed at each pack. You can listen to what they have to say about the wolves when stopping at a station or you can ask questions.
With this tour, you move at your own pace. If you get tired, you can go over and sit next to a roaring bond fire (weather permitting) and just relax. Visitors are requested to bring a blanket, a flashlight, a chair and maybe some hot dogs and marshmallows.
The remaining tours this year are August 20, Sturgeon Moon; September 17, Corn Moon; October 15, Hunter’s Moon; November 12, Beaver Moon; and December 10, Cold Moon.
The tour starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and no reservations are required. Participants must be 16 (with proof of age) or older to attend the Full Moon tour.
Nadjah Nicole
If you want to hear top-flight female music acts such as Angela Sheik, Nadjah Nicole and Nalani & Sarina play in a small, comfortable setting where their performances are upfront and accessible, you can do it on July 21 at the Fifth Annual Ladybug Music Festival (theladybugfestival.com).
The free event, which will be held in the 2nd & LoMa neighborhood along Market Street downtown Wilmington, is a block party that will run from 5-10 p.m. and feature 40 talented music acts — all female.
This year, Third Street and the outdoor courtyard of Del Tech will also have vendors and live music. The music will begin around 5 p.m. and will be nonstop on multiple stages until 10 p.m.
Some of the other featured acts slated to play the 2016 Ladybug Festival are Caroline Rose, Nadjah Nicole, Vanessa Collier, Audra Mclaughlin, Joy Ike, SIRSY, Boomscat, Jerzy Jung, Lovebug & Me, The Coolots, Sharon Sable, Andrea Nardello, Megan Knight, Giada J, Tara Hendricks, Hotsy Totsy, Swing That Cat, J and the 9s, Dirty Purple, Amanda Duncan, and Kira Alejandro.
The line-up also features Ladybird, Danielle & Jennifer, Dr. Rege & Global Rhythms, Kitty Mayo, Phyllis Chapell, Royal & Toulouse, Nicole Lyn, The Means, Mckinley Short, Alex Voegele, Midnight Mob, Taylor Tote, Lauren Kuhne, Lisa Malatesta, Lullanas, Lauren Marsh, Ava & Marlena Awitan, Aziza Nailah, Runners Revenge, Molly Mausolf, Becca Krueger, Heather Heather, and Cecilia Grace.
Women have had a big influence in American music — in all genres including jazz.
Philadelphia has had a tradition of great jazz going back generations. This area has produced many of the greats in the jazz world, including John Coltrane, Jimmy Smith, Byard Lancaster, Sun Ra and Jaco Pastorius.
Laurin Talese
Each summer, the Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival celebrates the rich history of jazz in Philadelphia. On July 16, PEC (People’s Emergency Center) is hosting its 10th Annual Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival (Powelton Avenue at 39th Street, Philadelphia, 267-777-5893, http://www.lancasteravejazzfest.com).
The one-day festival, which this year celebrates “Women in Jazz,” is scheduled to run from noon-7 p.m. at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center’s Saunders Park Greene, which is located at 39th Street and Powelton Avenue (one block south of the Lancaster Avenue business corridor).
The list of acts slated to performer at the free event includes Sumi Tonooka, Charlene Holloway, Monette Sudler, Pheralynn Dove, Laurin Talese, Nzinga Banks, Allesandra Pollack, Dr. E. Diane Lyle-Smith and the Universal Dance and Drum Ensemble.
Invisible River will again be held this weekend in Philadelphia.
Invisible River 2016 (http://www.invisibleriver.org), which will be held on July 15 and 16 on and around Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River, is more than just an annual community festival. And, it’s more than just a site-specific aerial arts performance. It also includes Schuylkill River Arts Day.
The Invisible River event was founded in 2010 and has continued to grow each year. Now, it’s a full-scale celebration of the Schuylkill River — a celebration that incorporates boating, visual arts, dance, music, aerial arts and festive entertainment. It is set along the bank of the river and in the air above the water in the vicinity of the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and East Fairmount Park.
The event, which is being produced and choreographed by performance artist and dancer Alie Vidich, will run from 2-8 p.m. and feature a troupe of dancers, a drum line procession, an arts festival, a beer garden and visual arts installations.
The Grand Finale at 5:30 p.m. will showcase aerialists suspended from the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. The aerial show is titled “Beck Epoch” and is sure to thrill spectators. “Beck Epoch” is an aerial exploration of swinging, swimming, swiveling and suspension from above the Schuylkill River.
At 2 p.m., a group will gather at the Mander Recreation Center at 2 p.m. to start the festival with a drum line procession along the river to the main festival site. From 2-8 p.m., there will be activity on the parking lot of St. Joseph’s University’s boathouse with boat rentals and paddling lessons, environmental-focused demonstrations and classes, free yoga, interactive art installations, and local food vendors.
Spectators are welcome to come to the river bank and enjoy all the festivities for free.
The Philadelphia Zoo (34th Street and Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-243-1100, www.philadelphiazoo.org), which is located along the Schuylkill River, is a great place for family visits during the hot summer months.
However, if you go to the Zoo on July 16 in the evening, you’ve got to leave family members under the age of 21 at home.
From 6:30-10 p.m., the Philadelphia Zoo is hosting its Sixth Annual Summer Ale Festival and the event is only for guests over the age of 21. The festival, which is a rain-or-shine event, will run until 10 p.m. but the taps will be turned off at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 and must be purchased in advance.
The Philadelphia Zoo’s popular fundraising event features live music, seasonal ales and local cuisine — all served up in the middle of a wildlife oasis. One of the featured breweries at this year’s festival will be Downingtown’s Victory Brewing Company.
Some of the other participating beer producers are Crooked Eye Brdewery, Saucony Creek Brewing Company, Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company, Evil Genius Beer Company, Old Forge Brewing Company, Penn Brewery, Coney Island Brewing Company, Starr Hill Brewery and Free Will Brewing Company.
On July15 and 16 and again on July 22 and 23, Laurel Hill Cemetery (3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-228-8200, www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org) will present a program called “Shakespeare in the Cemetery: Richard III.”
A thrilling twist on the traditional “Shakespeare in the Park” motif, this production of King Richard III is directed by Josh Hitchens and features Ryan Walter, Neena Boyle, Megan Edelman, Rachel Gluck, Josh McLucas, and Loretta Vasile.
This summer Laurel Hill and The Mechanical Theater welcome visitors to land godforsaken and ghost-haunted. Shakespeare’s brooding character study asks us as it has for centuries: in a world where there are no gods – only kings- can we be reconciled with each other? Or shall we kill each other to the last man, and the ghosts inherit what’s left?
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. (with prescheduled rain dates of Sunday, July 17, or Sunday July 24). Check in takes place at Laurel Hill Cemetery’s Gatehouse entrance at 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia. Attendees are requested to bring their own blankets, beach chairs, picnics, and beverages.
Tickets are $20 and advanced purchase is suggested. Free parking is located in the lot across the street from the Gatehouse.
The Ninth Annual Downtown Media Car Show will be held on July 17 from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Veterans Square on State Street in Media.
The free annual event, which is sponsored by the Delco Cruisers Car Club, United Savings Bank, and Granite Run Buick/GMC, will feature more than 300 antique cars on display.
All the stores and restaurants in downtown Media will be open during the event. Visitors can expect comfortable viewing of vintage cars in an area with plenty of trees and shade.
Rain date for the 2016 Downtown Media Car Show is July 24.
This weekend, Peddler’s Village (Routes 202 and 263, Lahaska , 215-794-4000, www.peddlersvillage.com) will host a special event called “Bluegrass and Blueberries.”
The two-day event will celebrate National Blueberry Month with everything blue at Bluegrass and Blueberries, which will run from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. both days. It will feature locally grown blueberries and blueberry treats plus bluegrass and country music acts. The event is held rain or shine. Admission and parking are free.
Visitors will be able to purchase locally grown, field-cultivated berries at Bechdolt’s Orchards Farm Stand, as well as blueberry pies, blueberry butters, jellies and preserves, blueberry shortcakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry cupcakes, chocolate covered blueberries, homemade blueberry fudge, and blueberry soda.
Live music will be provided by Ray Owen, Borderline, Mike Brill, and Vintage Drive Daisy Jug Band. There will also be a sidewalk art show as well as a stilt walker and the always-entertaining pie-eating contests.
