October 04, 2023
Need to cool off after screaming yourself hoarse at one of the Phillies' Wild Card games? Recharge this weekend with a turkey leg, public art or a procession of dogs in T-Rex costumes.
The turkey legs (and apple cider doughnuts and caramel apples) will be available at Reading Terminal Market, which is celebrating fall with a harvest festival on Saturday. The public art is in Chestnut Hill, which will revive its Night of Lights projections and light displays along Germantown Avenue on Friday. As for the dinosaur dogs, you'll have to snag a ticket to the Mutt Strut, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society fundraiser at the Navy Yard.
Other weekend events include a kimchi festival in LOVE Park and a "Mean Girls" musical at Kimmel. Here's a rundown of what's happening around town:
Dogs decked out in their Halloween best will stroll South Philly as part of an annual fundraiser. The Mutt Strut will take place at the Navy Yard, where registered pets and their people can enjoy live music and food, test out an agility course or enter a costume contest. The ticketed event benefits PAWS, which operates two pet adoption centers and a wellness clinic in the city. Strutting starts at 10 a.m. on Sunday, not Saturday — the event was recently moved to its rain date due to the forecast.
The Korean Cultural Foundation will celebrate a fermented food staple at the annual Kimchi Festival on Saturday. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the group will offer a kimchi tasting station and cooking workshops at LOVE Park. Visitors can also play Korean folk games, try a sparkling rice wine or learn taekwondo through on-site demos.
Take a bite out of autumn at the Harvest Festival on Filbert this Saturday afternoon. Hosted by the Reading Terminal Market, the fest will feature seasonal treats from regular market vendors, like apple cider doughnuts from Beiler's and turkey legs from The Original Turkey. Other activities include axe throwing, pumpkin painting and line dancing with a bluegrass band.
Relive the drama of high school as "Mean Girls" comes to Miller Theater. The Broadway musical, based on Upper Darby-native Tina Fey's 2004 movie, last passed through Philly in 2019. Now it's back for a six-day stop at Kimmel, running through this weekend. Like the film, "Mean Girls" follows transfer student Cady as she navigates a new school and falls in with the popular "Plastics" clique. Unlike the film, it includes choreographed musical numbers.
DJs, funk bands and vendors will gather under the El on Saturday for the second annual Fishtown Music & Arts Festival. Between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m., musicians will play underneath the Market-Frankford line as restaurants including Middle Child Clubhouse and LMNO serve refreshments. Over 70 local craftspeople will sell their wares at the Now + Then Marketplace. While the market is free to attend, access to the rest of the festivities costs $28.52.
In honor of National Coming Out Day, which falls on a Wednesday, the Gayborhood will host a Pride parade and a community festival this weekend. The parade begins on Saturday at 4 p.m. at 5th and Market streets, ending at Broad and Locust streets at 6 p.m. The festival picks up the next day at noon and will feature food trucks, dance spaces and wellness tables connecting people with STI testing and employment.
Chestnut Hill will kick off an illuminating look at the neighborhood's history on Friday with its annual Night of Lights. Historical images and films will be projected onto buildings along Germantown Avenue, which will also be lit up in bright colors. Visitors can learn about George Washington's march through the area in 1777 or the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who built some of America's most famous city parks. The free public art expo will run from 7-9 p.m. every evening through Oct. 14.
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