Weekly Entertainment Guide – The Rite of Spring

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    Adore the earth with traditional and sacred rituals, festivals, science, music, dance and more. 

    What’s Happening

    Historic Philadelphia’s Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival

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    Walk among the larger than life illuminated displays of the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival, appearing for the first time in the Northeast United States at Franklin Square Park. Created in China – especially for this event – using traditional Chinese methods with thousands of LED lights in brilliant colors, the celebration of light and culture features more than 25 displays of giant flowers, a three-story pagoda, huge Chinese dragon, and other iconic Chinese symbols placed around Franklin Square for seven weeks, celebrating its 10th birthday, April 22 through June 12, 6th and Race Streets, Philadelphia. Open to the public during daytime hours. After 6pm at ticket is required for entry. Presented by Historic Philadelphia. Photo by Sichuan Tianyu.

    Philadelphia Science Festival

    The Philadelphia Science Festival kicks off Friday, April 22 with nine days of family friendly fun. The community-wide celebration of science and technology features more than 70 events all across the region with more than 200 partners. Highlights include Astronomy Night, Friday, April 22 at 30 different locations. Discovery Day is Saturday, April 23. Enjoy Explorer Sunday, April 24 along with many more events including the Nerd Olympics (pictured), April 29 and the massive Science Carnival on April 30 at a new location – Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing. Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Science Festival. #GetNerdyPHL

    PIFA Street Fair

    Philadelphia Festival of the Arts (PIFA) closes its 16 day celebration of art and community with the PIFA Street Fair, Saturday, April 23, 11am-7pm, featuring six blocks of art, food, entertainment, and vendors, on Broad Street between Chestnut and South Streets. Free.

     

    Sacred Arts

    Losang Samten, teacher of meditation and Spiritual Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia and National Endowment for the Arts/National Heritage award-winner, presents his annual “Sand Mandala Residency,” April 20-24, 1pm-4:30pm at Glencairn Museum, 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, PA and April 25-29, 2pm-7pm in the Philadelphia Folklore Project’s gallery, 735 S. 50th Street, Philadelphia. Take part in the mandala dismantling ceremony at Glencairn’s Sacred Arts Festival, Sunday, April 24, 1pm-5pm, and at the Philadelphia Folklore Project, Sunday, May 1, 12:30pm. A mandala is an intricate diagram of the universe, popular since around the 12th century, with various purposes and meanings, such as religious or political. Samten is the first Buddhist given permission by the Dalai Lama to make Mandalas in the West.  Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Folklore Project. 

    Naturepalooza! Family Earth Day Festival

    The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education hosts Naturepalooza! Family Earth Day Festival, Saturday, April 23, 10am-2pm, with science activities, crafts, nature walks, live animal shows, WXPN’s Kids Corner, the Philly Phanatic, and more, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road, Philadelphia. Free. Photo courtesy of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

     

    Manayunk BBQ, Bourbon, and Blues Craft Beer Fest

    The 18th Annual Manayunk BBQ, Bourbon, and Blues Craft Beer Fest is Saturday, April 23, 1pm-5pm, offering tastings of more than 70 craft beers with live blues music at the Manayunk Brewery & Restaurant, 4120 Main Street, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of the Manayunk Brewery & Restaurant.

     

    The Portside Community Arts Festival & Philly Puff

    The Portside Community Arts Festival is back now for two days, Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24, 12pm-5pm, rain or shine with live music, food, crafts, children’s activities, and Philly Puff, the inflatable sculpture contest at Penn Treaty Park, 1341 North Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of the Portside Community Arts Festival. #SassySays

    Bug & Bud Festival

    The annual Bug & Bud Festival buzzes back to downtown Milford, celebrating Arbor Day and Delaware’s State Bug, Saturday, April 23, 9am-4pm. Enjoy a Ladybug and Tree costumed parade for kids and pets, live entertainment, arts & crafts vendors, children’s activities including a children’s art show and nature related activities, paddle boat rides, games, and more, rain or shine and free along Walnut Street, Front Streets and the Mispillion Riverwalk. Photo courtesy of the Bug & Bud Festival. #SassySays

    Flavors of the Avenue

    Flavors of the Avenue returns Sunday, April 24, 12pm-4pm, South Philadelphia’s largest outdoor food and drink festival, as over two dozen restaurants and bars offer samples of their signature dishes and drinks, accompanied by a street festival with vendors, live music, craft market and more, rain or shine, near East Passyunk and Tasker Streets, Philadelphia. Presented by East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District. Photo courtesy of East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District. #SassySays

    Mt. Cuba Center’s Wildflower Celebration

    Mt. Cuba Center hosts the annual Wildflower Celebration, Sunday, April 24, 10am-4pm, with activities for the entire family including gardening demonstrations, live music, plant giveaways, and the opportunity to explore the gardens and to picnic, rain or shine, 3120 Barley Mill Road, Hockessin, DE. Pictured: Lilac Allee, designed in 1936 by Thomas Sears of Philadelphia, featuring twenty-five cultivars of French hybrid lilacs, at their colorful and fragrant peak in early May. Photo courtesy of Mt. Cuba Center.

    Music

    Philadelphia Orchestra’s “The Rite of Spring”

    In time for Earth Day, the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Cristian Măcelaru (pictured), the Orchestra’s Conductor in Residence, performs Stravinsky’s influential and popular The Rite of Spring, Thursday, April 21, 8pm, Friday, April 22, 2pm, and Saturday, April 23, 8pm. The piece was first performed in the United States by the Fabulous Philadelphians in 1930 under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. Also on the program is Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony and Variaciones concertantes by Ginastera, Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad Street, Philadelphia. Photo by David Swanson.

    Exit Zero Jazz Festival

    Exit Zero Jazz Festival brings the New Orleans street party to the beach in Cape May, April 22-24 with more than 30 sets of jazz, blues, New Orleans jazz, and R&B. Performers include legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny (pictured), Grammy-winning bassist Ron Carter, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer Grand Baton, Joey Alexander, John Scofield Joe Lovano Quartet, Lee Fields & the Expressions, and René Marie, at various venues in Cape May, New Jersey. Photo courtesy of Exit Zero Jazz Festival.

    Tower of Power

    Tower of Power brings their funky soul sound to the Philly region on Friday, April 22, 8pm, at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, 315 White Horse Pike, Collingswood, NJ and Saturday, April 23, 8pm with Average White Band at the Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA. Photo by Steve Trager Photography.

     

    Some Kind of Jam

    Some Kind of Jam 11 returns to Schuylkill Haven, PA, April 22-24, a music and camping festival featuring Jam, Funk, Folk, Bluegrass, Americana, Rock & Roll, Blues, World, Reggae, and more. 31 musical acts on four stages – outdoor and indoor – include the New Mastersounds, RAQ, Jason Ricci & the Bad Kind, Mike Dillon Band, Banditos, Aqueous, The Big Dirty, Shokazoba, Gang of Thieves, Black Masala, On the Spot Trio, Yosemight, Desmond Jones. Expect food and craft vendors, workshops, and scheduled activities for adults and children. The 60 acre rustic fairground offers plenty of camping space, permanent restrooms and showers, nature trails, trout fishing waters, and electricity access for RVs. Presented by Jibberjazz Productions. Photo by Karl McWherter.

    Onstage

    1812 Productions’ “I Will Not Go Gently”

    Don’t miss I Will Not Go Gently, 1812 Productions’ world premiere musical comedy about a fictional 1980s rock icon – Sierra Mist – who went from the top of the charts to the “where are they now” category, April 21 through May 15. Written and performed by Jennifer Childs (Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder of 1812 Productions), who partnered with Barrymore Award-winning sound designer and composer Christopher Colucci to create a soundtrack for the show, available for purchase with liner notes, lyrics, and personal notes on each track. Directed by Harriet Power at Plays and Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street, Philadelphia. Photo by John Flak.

    Curio Theatre Company’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan”

    Curio Theatre Company transports you to the remote Irish town of Inishmaan where a Hollywood film is being made about country life. Young “cripple” Billy strives to break away from poverty and his difficult life by trying to get a role in the film in Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, April 21 through May 21. Directed by Joshua Browns with a cast including Trice Baldwin, Aetna Gallagher, Paul Kuhn, Colleen Hughes, Robert Cutler, Andrew Carroll, Steve Carpenter, Peggy Smith, and Peter Danelski, Calvary Center for Culture and Community, 4740 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia. Photo by Rebecca Gudelunas.

    “My Name is Asher Lev” at George Street Playhouse

    Onstage at George Street Playhouse is My Name is Asher Lev, the Barrymore Award-winning production about a Hasidic Jewish artist in New York City who must be a painter despite his faith and the will of his family. The play was adapted from the best-selling novel by Chaim Potok by Aaron Posner, the co-founder, former artistic director and current resident director of the Arden Theatre Company, where the show had its world premiere in 2009. George Street Playhouse Director of Education and Outreach, Jim Jack, makes his GSP mainstage directorial debut with a cast of stage and screen veterans including Bob Ari, Lena Kaminsky, and Miles G. Jackson as Asher Lev through May 1, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. Photo courtesy of George Street Playhouse.

    Dance

    Action is Primary

    Philadelphia-based performer, choreographer and director Meg Foley challenges you to do a dance and document it with, Action is Primary, an exhibition of improvisational research and performance. Foley, along with her three collaborating performers, have documented daily improvised “3:15dances” since October and after six months of shared daily improvisational practice, present an exhibition featuring both a schedule of live performances and a gallery installation of documents, photos, and video of Foley’s daily dances, through April 23 at Icebox Projects Space (Crane Arts Building), 1400 N. American Street, Philadelphia. Every day at 3:15pm – wherever you are – do a dance and document what you experience. #315dances. Photo by Meg Foley.

     

    Look for #SassySays – recommended by Sassy as “dog friendly!”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Each week, the Entertainment Guide spotlights interesting local arts offerings happening now, including music, dance, theater, museums, special exhibitions and other arts events from across the region.

    To submit an event to be considered, email Robin Bloom at artscalendar@whyy.org.

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