BLOCK PARTIES AND FESTIVALS
Uptown Beer Garden Grand Opening
May 11, 5-7 p.m.
Uptown Beer Garden
1735 JFK Blvd.
Pay as you go
facebook.com/UptownBeerGarden
West Market’s scenic beer garden returns just in time for happy hour on Thursday. Make your way to the 9,000-square-foot space for the opening fete, which features free samplings from the 2017 menu and reduced drink prices, like $5 cocktails, $4 wine and $3 beer. Can’t make it that night? Enjoy similar specials at happy hour every Monday to Friday all summer from 4-6 p.m.
Night Market
May 11, 6-10 p.m.
Burholme neighborhood
Cottman and Rising Sun avenues
Pay as you go
thefoodtrust.org
The Food Trust’s popular street food festival returns for 2017 with a romp in Northeast Philly’s Burholme neighborhood. This—the first of four Night Market’s happening through October—features a lineup of food trucks like Dump N Roll, Grubaholics, Mr. Bubbles Seafood Truck and Moon Dawg Sundaes, to name a few. There’s entertainment, too, from the likes of band The Living Sample and hip-hop dance program Move Makers Philly.
Spruce Street Harbor Park Opening
May 12-October 1
Spruce Street Harbor Park
301 S. Columbus Blvd.
Pay as you go
delawareriverwaterfront.com
Philly’s beloved outdoor wonderland along the Delaware returns for summer 2017 this weekend with a three-day festival on top of all your favorite Spruce Street Harbor Park staples (think: hammocks, dining options, a floating beer garden and all those twinkling lights.) The festival, UNIVESTival, features activities all weekend long, with an emphasis on a trio of excellent live musical performances by King Britt (May 12), Son Little (May 13) and Trinidelphia (May 14).
IPA, Champagne & Rosé Block Party
May 13, 1-8 p.m.
Hawthornes Beer Cafe
738 S. 11th St.
Pay as you go
hawthornecafe.com
Just a few blocks south of South Street, Hawthorne’s annual block party attracts booze lovers of all persuasions for an impressive lineup of 75-plus varieties of IPA, champagnes and rosés. The party continues outside the bar area with live music from the The John McNutt Trio and a handful of DJs, and a Kids Zone decked with bubble wands, hula hoops, a chalk obstacle course and more.
Chinese Lantern Festival
Through June 11
Franklin Square
200 S. Sixth St.
$17
historicphiladelphia.org
The Chinese Lantern Festival returns to Franklin Square with a whole new array of glowing creations through June 11. This year’s lit-up wonderland includes 29 lantern displays and 1,500 individual sculptures—including the 200-foot dragon that’s been rebuilt for this year’s spectacle. On top of the lights, taste Asian cuisine and other goodies at the Dragon Beer Garden and time your arrival so that you catch the host of traditional performances scheduled throughout the run.
MUSIC
Eddie Money
May 12, 9 p.m.
Valley Forge Casino
1160 First Ave., King of Prussia
$45
vfcasino.com
Rocker Eddie Money helped define the sound of the 80s with a string of Top 40 hits like “Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise” and his biggest chart topper, the Grammy-nominated duet with Ronnie Spector, “Take Me Home Tonight.” See him shake his, um, money maker this Friday night during the spring-long Valley Forge Music Fair.
“Music Among Us”
May 13, 7 p.m.
The Mann Center
5201 Parkside Ave.
Free
manncenter.org
Pack a picnic and head to outdoor venue The Mann Center to enjoy some classical tunes while taking in the gorgeous Philly skyline views. Students of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra perform movements by Beethoven, Bernstein, Barber and more. They’ll be joined throughout the program by young artists from Play On, Philly! and the Rock School for Dance Education.
Brian McKnight
May 13, 8 p.m.
Keswick Theatre
291 N. Keswick Ave.
$39.50-$65.00
keswicktheatre.com
So many babies were made during the 90s to Brian McKnight’s catalogue of sensual soul jams, like “Back at One,” “Anytime,” and “The Only One for Me.” The Buffalo-born crooner, now approaching 50, is keeping the romance alive on his latest album, “Better,” and an even newer single, the sex-funky “Forever.”
THEATER
“Buzzer”
Through May 28
Studio X
1340 S. 13th St.
$10-$40
theatreexile.org
Theatre Exile’s latest examines what happens when a houseguest wears out his welcome. Tracey Scott’s “Buzzer” stars Akeem Davis, an attorney who moves into a nice new neighborhood with his wife. Things are on the up and up until his childhood friend Don moves in after a stint in rehab.
SHOPPING
PAFA Annual Student Exhibition
May 12-June 4
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
128 N. Broad St.
pafa.org
Springtime means that area art schools are beginning to roll out student works in exhibitions that allow the public to come in, browse and even purchase unique items from a host of artists of tomorrow. PAFA’s Annual Student Exhibition must be one of the oldest. This week, the institution opens its doors to the 116th event of its kind with 1,000 works in various media. There’s an opening reception on May 12, from 4 to 9 p.m. After that, the exhibit is open to the public through June 4.
