Photo courtesy of University City District.

The summer’s second and last Dollar Stroll is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 18 along Baltimore Avenue between 43rd and 51st Streets from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. As always, dozens of area businesses will be offering $1 items, from all kinds of food, ice cream and beers to special memberships and tickets. In addition to $1 food and drinks, the September Dollar Stroll will feature live entertainment including jugglers, fire artists and music from Y-Not Radio at the 46th Street Triangle.

Check out the list below of participating businesses and organizations and their offers.

Green Line Cafe
4239 Baltimore Avenue
Hebrew National hot dogs & carrot dogs

Friends of Clark Park
43rd and Baltimore Avenue
Clark Park Frisbees & keychains

Milk & Honey Market
4435 Baltimore Avenue
Bassets ice cream bars  Continue Reading

UPDATE (9/13/2014): Due to rain forecasted on Saturday, Go West! Craft Fest has been postponed until Sunday, Sept 14.

This Saturday, Sept. 13 Sunday, Sept 14, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., VIX Emporium presents the Fall edition of the popular Go West! Craft Fest, bringing over 100 local craftspeople and artisans to the beautiful Woodlands. The vendors will be offering some of the best handmade stuff, including cards and stationery, ceramics, hand-knit items, clothing, jewelry, body and hair products, toys, and more (see the full list of the vendors and their products here).

As always, the fest also features live music, children’s activities, and food from local restaurants and food trucks (don’t forget to bring your picnic blanket). Food will be served by Aksum, Taco Angeleno, the Satellite Cafe and Black Orchid Vegetarian, and dessert by Lil’ Pop Shop and Weckerly’s Ice Cream. Free children’s craft activities will be provided by the University City Arts League and the Philly Free School.

(Updated) And here’s the music lineup that includes performances and entertainment for kids and adults alike:

12 p.m.: The Green Tambourine – children’s musical instruction
1 p.m.: Julian Root (with Liana Moskowitz and Ian Sigler) – traditional roots/bluegrass/Americana
2 p.m.: Silverton – uncompromisingly positive folk rock
3 p.m.: All Around This World – international children’s music with Jay Sand
4 p.m.: Shakey Lyman – blues legend

Brian Eckinrode will be performing random acts of juggling throughout the day.

The Craft Fest guests are also invited to take a guided tour of the Woodlands grounds that begins at the Woodlands table (near the main entrance) at 12 and 2 p.m. Also at the Woodlands table, volunteers will be collecting books for All Hallow’s Read, a children’s “book hunt” that will take place at the Woodlands on October 26. Donate any children’s books with a fall or Halloween theme, and kids can hunt for free books at the October event.

A couple of important notes: No vehicles will be admitted to the grounds from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. during the event. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 14. The organizers will announce Saturday morning if they plan to reschedule the event (we’ll post an update, too, in this case).

Pieter Mostert’s Vessel.

University City Arts League, a community non-profit organization that has been serving the community for 45 years, is presenting a two-person ceramics show, “West Philly Ceramics: Ken Beidler and Pieter Mostert.” The opening reception is tonight, 6-8 p.m., at 4226 Spruce Street.

Beidler’s forms combine wheel and hand-built elements. He is a largely self-taught artist, according to the UCAL press release, who has been influenced by the original Arts and Crafts movement, urban life and his life experience in Indonesia. He has a studio at the Cedar Works and teaches at UCAL. Mostert is South African who spen the last five years in Philadelphia. He makes sculptural vessels using a combination of coiling, pinching and paddling.

The works by Beidler and Mostert will be on display at the UCAL gallery until September 26. For more information about classes offered at UCAL, visit: www.ucartsleague.org/classes.

(Photos courtesy of UCAL)

Ken Beidler’s Baskets.

Hey, have you heard the buzz? The fifth annual Philadelphia Honey Festival is this weekend and the national historic landmark Bartram’s Garden (54th and Lindbergh) is one of the venues. Bartram’s is excited to host the event again and invites everyone to celebrate bees and honey with them on Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Lots of fun and educational activities are planned: “Pollinator Defense Kitchen” with special guest artists from Mural Arts, “So You Want to be a Beekeeper?” presentation, Langstroth-style open hive demonstration, Be-A-Bee children’s parade and other kids’ activities. Also, there will be a plant sale and marketplace with local vendors, farm tour and farmers’ market. Kayak rentals will be offered by Hidden River Outfitters. Admission is free. More information and schedule is available here.

Photo courtesy of Bartram’s Garden.

Coinciding with Honey Festival, Bartram’s will also host a Bitters Cocktail Party on Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Guests are invited to enjoy the Garden in all its late summer splendor and handcrafted Bartram’s Bitters cocktails created by celebrity bartender Katie Loeb. The bitters are a Philadelphia Distilling Company creation based on a historic Bartram family recipe and Katie Loeb is Philly’s own Cocktail Queen and “farm-to-bar” pioneer. Delicious pairings of local cheeses, fruit and honey will be provided by Fair Food. Local band Noggin Hill will perform bluegrass favorites. Tickets are $25 ($20 for Bartram’s Garden members; $30 at the door) and can be purchased here.

FYI, Bartram’s Garden has limited parking and the organizers recommend traveling to both of these events by bike or public transportation (#36 Trolley).

Seriously, you need to bee there. OK, sorry, we’ll see ourselves out.

A group of millennials who hope to wield their privilege and social capital for the “redistribution of land, wealth and power” in Philadelphia and nationwide are holding an organizing meeting in West Philly on Monday, Sept. 8.

The newly formed Philly chapter of Resource Generation, a nationwide non-profit whose mission is to organize young people “with wealth and class privilege in the U.S. to become transformative leaders working toward the equitable redistribution of wealth, land and power,” according to the organization’s website.

The idea is “to convince our elected leaders to tax rich people more, creating and participating in a cross-class giving circle, and giving young, wealthy/class privileged people tools to use their positions to help redistribute land, wealth and power,” said organizer Julia Stone in an e-mail.

Locally the group is pushing for the end of tax breaks to help fund schools. “Tax us rich folks more to fund schools,” a flyer reads.

The meeting, which will include light refreshments at 6:30 p.m. and a presentation at 7 p.m., will be held at location that will be passed along to those who RSVP at RGPhillychapter@gmail.com.

BalletX. (Photo via FringeArts.com)

Each year, the Fringe Festival brings socially-set performances and presentations by innovative artists to various city’s neighborhoods and venues. This year, the festival, presented by Fringe Arts, will take place Sept. 5 – 22 and will feature music, dance, theater, spoken word and circus performances, and visual art installations (some of them free).

Check out below the guide of the Fringe Festival events in West Philadelphia. West Philly venues for the festival include The Rotunda, The Porch at 30th Street Station, University of Pennsylvania, St. Francis de Sales Parish and more. You can also pick up the print version of the guide at the Green Line Cafe at 45th and Locust.

By the way, West Philly based circus-theater company Tangle Movement Arts will present their newest full-length show, Loop, at the festival. Loop premieres on Thursday, Sept 18 at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept 19 at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Sept 20 at 3 and 8 p.m. at Philadelphia Soundstage (1600 N. 5th St.). Tickets ($15-20) are now available via www.tangle-arts.com.  Continue Reading