June 05, 2025
Provided image/Odunde Festival
The Odunde Festival is an annual celebration of African, Caribbean and Brazilian culture. It turns 50 on Sunday with a 16-block street festival on parts of South Street and Grays Ferry Avenue.
For amateur detectives, the weekend is already booked: Eric the Puzzler is dropping his second citywide treasure hunt Friday, and it features an enticing grand prize.
But if brain teasers aren't your bag, fear not. There's plenty more going on this weekend, from a long-running African American street festival to an even older outdoor art show.
Ale lovers also can chase the Hammer of Glory at the returning (but reimagined) Philly Beer Week. Pride Month parties are ongoing, too, and the University of the Arts is getting an overdue funeral:
The Odunde Festival began in 1975 with little more than $100 and community support. Fifty years later, it's considered the largest African American street festival in the country — and this year's edition promises to be a blowout. The event's organizers have secured Rakim and Doug E. Fresh as the headliners for the 16-block fest, which spans parts of South Street and Grays Ferry Avenue. Vendors selling African, Caribbean and Brazilian goods will set up along the route from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dancers, drummers and additional musicians will perform throughout the day.
Philly Beer Week will be operating differently this year, due to the death of longtime organizer Rich Colli. The festival is taking more of a grassroots approach in his absence, with individual bars and breweries each doing their own thing — though regular attendees will recognize some of the events. Human Robot will host its annual Logjammin' party Saturday at Cherry Street Pier, and the Hammer of Glory already has made a few appearances. Keep an eye out for it at ongoing festivities at Standard Tap, Johnny Brenda's, Attic Brewing Company and other participating spots this weekend.
Beyond the Bell Tours is offering a crash course on drag herstory Saturday. The company's Drag Me Philly walking tour delves into the emergence and growth of the performance art locally, drawing on oral history interviews with drag queens and kings. The tour, which includes stops at thematic murals, spans 1 1/2 miles over 90 minutes. It costs $39, and departs from Walnut Street Theatre at 6 p.m.
Love wandering art museums, but wish there was more sunshine? The Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show has the solution. The almost century-old outdoor exhibit will feature work from more than 140 artists, including local students. The pieces will be on display in Rittenhouse Square Park between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday.
University of Arts alum and staff are giving the school a belated send-off this weekend. The four-day "celebration of life" is a kind of funeral for the former arts college, which shuttered abruptly last summer due to financial issues. An altar made of flyers, furniture and artwork from the university will stand in the atrium of Hamilton Hall, where mourners can gather from 1-7 p.m. through Sunday. But the event isn't all grief sessions — dancers, musicians and poets also will perform. At the end of the celebration, guests can take a piece of the altar home with them.
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