University City Dining Days, a popular annual event helping drive traffic to local restaurants during slow summer months, will return on Thursday, July 16 and you can make your reservations now. This event is a great chance for those who like to eat out, but can’t always afford it, or want to check out some new restaurants in the area. As always, the event is based on the concept “3 course, 3 prices” – a pre-fixe three-course dinner special for $15, $25 or $35.

Thirty three restaurants, including craft beer bars, cozy BYOB’s, celebrity chef and ethnic restaurants, are participating in this year’s Dining Days. Six restaurants are participating in the event for the first time: 48th Street Grille, Hai Street Kitchen & Company, St. Declan’s Well, Wahoo’s Tacos and More, William Street Common, and Zavino University City.

See the full list of participating restaurants, menus and prices at www.ucdiningdays.com. Please note that prices are for dinner only and do not include tax, gratuity or alcohol. Reservations should be made directly through the participating restaurant.

The event runs through July 26.

Tonight’s 40th Street Summer Series performance by BalletX and drum group Kyo Daiko has been postponed because of the rainy weather, University City District (UCD) has announced. UCD is working with The Rotunda and the artists to attempt to reschedule the event. We’ll let you know if there is a new date.

Jazz vocalist Barbara Walker will perform at Malcolm X. Park on July 9. (Photo from thebarbarawalkerstory.com)

Recently we let you know about the Cedar Park Summer Jazz series happening every Friday night, and here’s information on the annual West Philadelphia Jazz Heritage Series held at Malcolm X. Park (52nd and Pine). Concerts are set for every other Thursday from May 28 to Sept. 17, starting at 7 p.m. (weather permitting). This summer, the popular concert series returns for its 15th season! All concerts are free and open to the public.

Here’s the concert schedule and line up of performers.

June 25 – The Budesa Brothers
July 9 – The Barbara Walker Story (vocalist)
July 23 – Shirley Lites (vocalist)
Aug. 6 – Geo. Barron (tenor sax), Janet Barron (vocalist)
Aug. 20 – Lawrence Jones (tenor sax)
Sept. 3 – Michelle Beckham
Sept. 17 – The Nate Murray Band

A great neighborhood event, the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, returns on Thursday, June 25 with $1 bargains, live music and entertainment. Over 30 neighborhood businesses will be on hand, selling everything for a buck – food and drinks, gift certificates and theater tickets, art prints, plant starts and more – along Baltimore Avenue, between 43rd and 51st streets. The event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The map of business locations and their offers is below. Expect long lines by Desi Village (samosas & mango lassis!), Milk & Honey (ice cream!), Dock Street (beer!), Mariposa Food Co-op (banana whips!) and some other locations. Take your kid to Redcap’s Corner to pick up some $1 Pokemon cards and mini figures. And make sure to stop by and say hello to newcomers, such as Café Renata who will be serving delicious iced coffee, 8 Limbs Academy who will be offering short kickboxing lessons, and Spirited Tattooing who will be selling stickers and art prints.  Continue Reading

Warrington Community Garden (photo from ngtrust.org).

June 20th is the second annual Community Gardens Day in Philadelphia. The celebration is sponsored by the Neighborhood Gardens Trust (NGT), an organization that helps preserve community gardens. Thanks to NGT’s work, Community Gardens Day was recently officially recognized by the city.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, 45 community gardens throughout the city will host free activities, such as tours, demos, work days, family activities, and other special programs. This is a great chance to visit your neighborhood garden, show your support and participate in activities (click here to find a community garden near you).

A celebration will also be happening tomorrow at Warrington Garden at 4731 Warrington Ave. Guests are welcome to explore this green oasis and take part in the following activities: tours of the garden, scavenger hunt for children, photo display from the garden’s archives, herb identification, medicinal plant walkthrough (at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.), and an art project organized by the University City Arts League (from 1 to 3 p.m.). Light refreshments will be served.

The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program will unveil a new mural in Southwest Philly on Saturday that honors the commitment of incarcerated fathers to their children.

The mural, entitled Fathers and Children Together (FACT), will be installed at 55th and Woodland on Saturday (the day before Fathers’ Day) at 11 a.m.. The public is invited and light refreshments will be served.

The mural is the result of collaboration between the Mural Arts Program, the United Community Action Network at SCI Graterford, the maximum security state prison outside of Philadelphia, and the Fathers and Children Together (FACT) program. The FACT program helps incarcerated fathers reconnect with children in the hopes that they can become positive role models and encourage their kids to choose education over incarceration. During FACT session inside Graterford, kids are able to interact one-on-one with their fathers.

About a third of the mural, which is painted on parachute cloth, was painted inside Graterford. Christy Bottie, who has led art workshops in the FACT program, is working on the rest of the mural with lead muralist Ernel Martinez.

Drawings created together by fathers and their children during FACT sessions make up the border of the mural.