January 17, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Dilworth Park's annual ice festival returns Saturday with skating and sculptures. A sober curious 'Dry Vibes' tour also stops in Philadelphia that day.
It's been a week of snow, ice and slippery sidewalks — and thanks to the Friday forecast, that's likely to continue into the weekend. But rather than fight the cold, Philly is encouraging its residents to embrace it with an elaborate ice festival just outside City Hall.
Ice sculptures and skating will be the focus of Dilworth Park's free festival on Saturday, which also will feature circus acts and a giant igloo. The annual Ice Festival also includes "dueling" live carvings, so rest assured: There will be double chainsaws.
Indoor weekend activities in the area range from a dance show in Atlantic City to a mocktail-forward "Dry Vibes" event in Callowhill. Foodies also can claim their first Center City Restaurant Week deals on Sunday, while history nerds can enjoy the first of Eastern State Penitentiary's "Justice 101" lectures from home.
Given the slushy conditions this weekend, be sure to check out each event's social media for updates on postponements or cancelations:
At a frosty festival this Saturday, guests can glide along ice or watch artists hack through it. Between 3-7 p.m., Dilworth Park will host its annual Ice Festival, a chilly good time featuring figure skaters, circus performers and firepits. Carvers also will be on hand to construct a baby grand piano made entirely of ice, which a pianist from the Marian Anderson Historical Society will play at 6 p.m.
Learn to mix your own mocktails at "Dry Vibes," an event centered on sober (or sober-sometimes) living. The traveling festival will arrive in Callowhill on Saturday at noon, setting up shop in the Location 215 building on Spring Garden Street. Speakers, mixology classes and a wellness marketplace are on the schedule, and guests can sample plenty of alcohol-free cocktails throughout the day.
Nearly 100 restaurants will sell cheap eats during the biannual Center City Restaurant Week. Participating eateries will offer $45 prix fixe three-course dinners (or $60 "premium" dinners, if you're down to splurge) beginning Sunday and continuing through Saturday, Feb. 3. A smaller pool of restaurants also will offer $20 two-course lunches in the afternoon.
Students of the merengue and mamba can pick up some new moves at a live "Dancing With the Stars" show this weekend. The reality competition is hitting the road for a tour, which stops at the Borgata in Atlantic City on Friday at 8 p.m. Season 32 winners Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy will perform alongside several professional dancers featured on the ABC show.
Save yourself a seat for "Justice 101," the new free virtual lecture series from Eastern State Penitentiary. The classes will explore the history of the U.S. justice system with help from expert guest speakers. The first lecture topic is civil disobedience and incarceration, and the guest is Hasan Jeffries, a history professor at Ohio State University. It will be held Friday at 12 p.m.
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