BlackStar Film Festival, Fall Out Boy, and 2nd Street Festival in this week’s ‘Things To Do’

Music and entertainment are on the docket this weekend. Willie Nelson and the rest of The Outlaw Festival tour group drop by The Mann Center Saturday before the venue quickly turns over to welcome three ‘90s hitmakers for a Summer Block Party Sunday. Plus, Fall Out Boy concludes their U.S. tour with a stop in Camden. And one of Philly’s flagship arts events, the BlackStar Film Festival, moves downtown for the first time in its 12-year run.

Special Events | Arts & Culture | Outdoors | Food & Drink | Music | New Jersey | Delaware

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Special Events

2nd Street Festival

• Where: 2nd Street, between Girard and Spring Garden Street
• When: Sunday, Aug. 6, noon – 10 p.m.
• How much: Free, pay as you go

Northern Liberties closes its main street for a day of food, music, and celebration. The 2nd Street Festival will take place between Girard Avenue. and Spring Garden Street. The fest promises live music on two stages, multiple deejays, and over one hundred vendors. The area’s popular eateries and breweries are also expected to participate . Plus, North Bowl Philly is hosting concerts all weekend long in conjunction with the festival.

ACANA Festival

• Where: Great Plaza, Penn’s Landing, 101 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. 
• When: Sunday, Aug. 6, 2 p.m. – 8 p.m.
• How much: Free, pay as you go

The African Cultural Alliance of America hosts the ACANA Festival on the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing. The annual celebration of African culture brings vendors, musicians, dancers, and community organizations to the waterfront. The ACANA Fest is part of the PECO Multicultural Series, which puts on other cultural fests including the Hispanic Fiesta, the Irish Festival, the Carribean Festival, and the Islamic Heritage Festival.

BlackStar Film Festival

• Where: Multiple venues and online
• When: Through Sunday, Aug. 6
• How much: Various prices from $20 – $350 range from single screening, day passes, virtual-only passes, and all-access festival passes. There are also discounted entry tickets for youth, seniors, and ACCESS pass holders.

The 12th annual BlackStar Film Festival includes 93 films from 31 countries across the African diaspora. As the fest focuses on independent filmmakers, many of whom are on the festival circuit seeking distribution, it is exempt from SAG strike rules. Panels, parties, and networking events supplement the in-person and virtual screenings for the five-day fest.

Otherworld

• Where: 2500 Grant Ave. #1
• When: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• How much: $34.99

Billed as an interactive art museum, Otherworld opens its first location in Philadelphia on Friday. The attraction is akin to the immersive experiences around the country in 2022 that included Prince: The Immersive Experience, Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free, and Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience. They used technology, historical replicas, and vignettes to provide a multimedia view of the late icons. Otherworld is similar but with a contemporary art focus.

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Arts & Culture

True West

• Where: People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, Pa.
• When: Through Sunday, Aug. 27
• How much: $42 

The Sam Shepard-penned “True West” gets a contemporary update with an all-Asian cast. In the play, Lee and Austin, two very different brothers, contend with their past, future, and each other while trying to write a script that each of them believes could change their fortunes.

Barnes Foundation First Friday: Black Buttafly

• Where: The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. 
• When: Friday, Aug. 4, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• How much: $28 

August means a new group of First Friday happenings around the city, and if you’ve ever been to one at the Barnes, you know they’re among the city’s most eclectic and inclusive gatherings. This First Friday should be no exception, with local jazz/soul artist Black Buttafly performing in partnership with BlackStar Film Festival. On Sunday, Free First Sunday Family Day is also being held at the museum.

First Friday: Science Down the Shore

• Where: Science History Institute, 315 Chestnut St. 
• When: Friday, Aug. 4, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
• How much: Free

The Science History Institute is committed to educating the public, so they design their First Friday events to appeal to more than just science geeks. During their First Friday: Science Down the Shore event, they explore the chemistry of sunscreen, the technology behind portable coolers and swimsuit fibers, and how to decode thermometers and barometers. Who said science has to be dull?

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Outdoors

Peach & Sunflower Festival

• Where: Shady Brook Farm, 931 Stoney Hill Rd. Yardley, Pa.
• When: Saturday, Aug. 5, Sunday, Aug 6, Saturday, Aug. 12, Sunday, Aug. 13, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• How much: $12 

Eating a juicy peach is among the most enjoyable yet simple pleasures of the summer months. And the towering sunflower is among its most recognizable symbols. They combine for the Peach & Sunflower Festival at Shady Brook Farm. The all-ages event includes wagon rides, pedal go-karting, an obstacle course, a new cow train, and the Instagram-ready giant swing. It is a ticketed festival, and some options are an additional cost. That includes the peaches and sunflowers, which you have to purchase separately.

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Food & Drink

Chef Kurt Evans: Chef in Residence Program

• Where: The Cafe, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. 
• When: Friday, Aug. 4 – Sunday, Aug. 6, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• How much: Pay as you go

Chef Kurt Evans is the Philadelphia Art Museum’s chef-in-residence this weekend. His Black Dragon Takeout combines Chinese takeout with traditional Southern dishes, leading to intriguing combinations like collard green egg rolls, General Roscoe’s chicken, and oxtail Rangoon.  The Philadelphia native uses food to amplify social justice initiatives through his EMI (End Mass Incarceration) dining series, which brings people from across the criminal justice landscape together over a meal, and his Cooking for the Culture dinner events with veteran and up-and-coming Black chefs. His Black Dragon Takeout concept, which reclaims abandoned Chinese restaurants in the Black community, is ramping up now.

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Music

Outlaw Music Festival

• Where: The Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave. 
• When: Saturday, Aug. 5, 3:10 p.m.
• How much: $38 and up 

At 90, Willie Nelson isn’t even thinking about retirement. When he brought the first Outlaw Festival to President Joe Biden’s hometown of

Scranton, Pa., in 2016, it was an immediate hit. The 90-year-old folk/country singer and his famous friends, including Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, and Bonnie Raitt, helped it become a touring juggernaut in the ensuing years. This year, as Nelson celebrates his milestone birthday on the road, he’s making a stop at The Mann Center with the Avett Brothers, Kathleen Edwards, Marcus King, and more.

Summer Block Party: Jodeci with SWV & Dru Hill

• Where: The Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave. 
• When: Sunday, Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m.
• How much: $28 and up

The ‘90s is a beloved decade in pop culture, especially if you love R&B bands. SWV, Jodeci, and Dru Hill dominated the tabloids (the precursor to social media) with internal drama and the charts with hits like “Right Here,” “Forever My Lady,” and “Tell Me,” respectively. SWV even got an assist from Michael Jackson on the “Right Here (Human Nature)” remix. Despite the challenges of fame, they’ve all managed to retain most or all of their original members and are heading to the Mann on the Summer Block Party tour.

Sistah Soul Series

• Where: Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd. 
• When: Friday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• How much: Free, with registration 

In the second of three Sistah Soul Series events at Cherry Street Pier, cultural curator and host Shekhinah B. will introduce a performance by a selected local artist. This is part of First Fridays at the Pier which include art installations, craft vendors, and food at the arts complex.

Concerts by Candlelight: Daniel Alan Maltz

• Where: Laurel Hill Mansion, 3487 Edgeley Dr. 
• When: Sunday, Aug. 6, 2 p.m.
• How much: $30 

Vienna-based fortepianist Daniel Adam Maltz will play at the Laurel Hill Mansion’s Concerts by Candlelight series this weekend. Maltz specializes in the music of Hadyn, Beethoven, and Mozart, the composers of the First Viennese School. Maltz plays on the historic fortepianos of the era to approximate the colors and tones of the music they created, per a press release about the event.

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New Jersey

Fall Out Boy – So Much for (Tour) Dust

• Where: Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd. Camden, N.J.
• When: Sunday, Aug. 6, 6:30 p.m.
• How much: $49 and up 

More than two decades after they started in a Chicago suburb, the band Fall Out Boy is still making music together and soaking in the accolades from a devoted fanbase. They’re on the So Much for (Tour) Dust tour in support of their latest studio album, “So Much (For) Stardust,” released in March. This is the band’s last date before an international tour this fall. They are on the road without longtime guitarist Joe Trohman, who took a mental health leave.

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Delaware

Dean Ford & The Beautiful Ones: A Tribute 2 Prince

• Where: Freeman Arts Pavilion, 31806 Lake View Dr., Selbyville, Del.
• When: Saturday, Aug. 6, 7 p.m.
• How much: $25

Dean Ford channels the late Minneapolis legend with his tribute band, The Beautiful Ones. He started the band in Portland, Maine, in 2011, years before Prince’s untimely passing in 2016. No idea if the Purple One knew it existed, but Prince’s longtime keyboardist Matt “Doctor” Fink has played with Ford and the Beautiful Ones at selected shows. They’ll be onstage at the Freeman Arts Pavilion on Saturday night.