April 17, 2024
Franki Rudnesky/PhillyVoice
Dilworth Park's roller rink kicks off another season at 12:15 p.m. Friday. Record Store Day and 4/20 also fall on this weekend, and Philadelphia businesses are partaking.
Vinyl collectors and burnouts, assemble. This weekend has a little something for each of you — and all of your rollerskating pals, too.
Record Store Day arrives on Saturday, bringing exclusives like WXPN's latest limited-edition album to independent shops in the area. Stores in Philadelphia also will be offering weed-shaped cookies that day, for slightly different reasons. (Hint: Check the date.)
Dilworth Park's roller rink returns Friday for another season, and Manayunk's annual StrEAT Festival comes back Sunday. But if animatronic dinosaurs are what you're after, you'll have to drive to Montgomery County, where a true-to-size T. rex will be in residence all weekend.
The largest food truck festival in Pennsylvania rides into Philadelphia on Sunday. The Manayunk StrEAT Festival features more than 50 food trucks from the Mid-Atlantic area, plus neighborhood restaurants and select gourmet vendors. They'll all be on Main Street between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., along with bands and craft sellers.
A real dinosaur? Kinda dangerous, also very dead. But animatronic raptors? That's fun for the whole family. The robo dinos of Jurassic Quest are once again stomping through the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center for a weekend of shows in Oaks. The traveling spectacle features models scaled true to size, including a 60-foot-long Spinosaurus and an 80-foot-long Apatosaurus. Kids can ride some of these big guys, or meet baby versions, in between fossil digs and romps in the bounce house.
To help celebrate Record Store Day, the annual tribute to indie vinyl shops, WXPN is rolling out an exclusive album of live tracks by Philadelphia musicians. The radio station has actually done this before — on Record Store Day 2023, to be exact — but "Homegrown Originals Volume 2" features more songs and an all-new lineup. It's again available only in select record shops; Hideaway Music, Repo Records and Main Street Music are each offering it as a free gift with a purchase on Saturday.
Ready for a spin around the rink? Skaters can glide under the rainbow streamers at Dilworth Park's roller rink starting at 12:15 p.m. Friday, when the springtime pop-up relaunches. It'll be open for business every day until Sunday, June 30. Reservations are strongly encouraged, so don't forget to snag a one-hour slot before you go.
Two pink pop culture icons are visiting the area on Saturday with exclusive accessories. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Barbie fans in Bridgewater, New Jersey can stop by the touring Barbie Truck for clothes, totes, blankets and other swag they won't find anywhere else — though they'll have to hit a toy store for the dolls, which aren't part of the roving shop. During that same timeframe, a truck version of the Hello Kitty Cafe will park at Philadelphia Fashion District. It sells macarons and madeleines, as well as exclusive swag like a Hello Kitty plushie in a teacup.
Saturday is also 4/20 (blaze it). Though recreational weed is not legal in Philadelphia, businesses are finding creative ways to help their customers observe the occasion. Cake Life Bake Shop in Fishtown, for instance, is offering a special menu of "munch-worthy" treats, including a giant smashed cookie of three of its flavors. Just a few blocks north, Evil Genius Beer Co. is rollin out its latest "Pineapple Express"-themed ale at a 4/20 block party at its Front Street taproom. And all day long, the Philadelphia Film Society is "going green" with screenings that cater to Earth Day (i.e. "Princess Mononoke") and the hazier holiday (i.e. "Cats").
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