To wrap up Love Your Park week in Philadelphia, two West Philly parks will be holding celebrations this Friday and Saturday.

Cedar Park Neighbors are inviting neighborhood residents to have a Picnic in Cedar Park tonight (Friday, May 13) from 6 – 8 p.m. Please bring your blanket and a meal and enjoy the evening with your family, friends and neighbors. If you don’t feel like packing, pick up a dinner at one of great neighborhood businesses and head on over to the park.​​  Continue Reading

This week has been rainy and gloomy in Philadelphia, but sunny weather is in the forecast for Saturday (May 7), just in time for the Spruce Hill May Fair, the annual community celebration.

The fair will take place from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. at Clark Park (43rd and Chester) and will feature attractions for everyone. For children, the fair will once again have a petting zoo, pony rides, a bounce tent and a 40-foot obstacle course, all at family-friendly prices.

Book lovers will find one of the best assortments of $1 used books the fair has ever offered, and raffle players can shoot for an Apple watch offered by University Family Fun Center. Drawings will be held throughout the day for many gift certificates for dinner and services from local merchants, including Aksum, Renata’s Kitchen, Dock Street Brewery, Philly Homebrew Outlet, Dottie’s Donuts, City Food Tours, Pattaya Grill, VIX Emporium, Jinxed, Baltimore Pet Shoppe, Keswick Cycle, Studio 34 and many more!

Raffle tickets are just $1 a piece or 6 for $5 and will be available at the Fair, or you can stop by the Spruce Hill Center (257 S. 45th St) on Thursday, May 5 (6-9 p.m.). For the full list of the participating merchants, go here.  Continue Reading

This Sunday, hundreds of people are expected to participate in the 9th annual May Day March, Rally and Festival in West Philadelphia.

The event, which is organized by May Day USA Education Committee (Facebook page) and co-sponsored by PhilaPOSH and the Pennsylvania Labor History Society, will begin at 1 p.m. in front of the McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut Streets, where the participants will gather for the march. The march will proceed to Clark Park at 43rd and Baltimore, and the rally will start at 2 p.m., followed by a festival, featuring food, music and entertainment.

This year’s rally will focus on the fight for a $15/hour minimum wage and feature Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, Black Lives Matter author Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, District 1199C President Henry Nicholas, and City Councilwoman Helen Gym.

The May Day rally is an annual event to honor the history of May Day and the many workers who died in the struggle for the eight-hour day in the 1880s.

More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.

It’s hard to imagine West Philly’s Clark Park without Uhuru Flea Markets. After a six-month break the popular event is returning on Sunday, April 24 (postponed from Saturday, Apr 23 due to rain). The Uhuru Health Festival & Flea Market will kick off the 2016 Flea Market season, with the powerful theme of Black Health Matters. The festival will feature local health practitioners, fitness workshops, free health screenings, live entertainment, and two important keynote speakers: APEDF President Ona Zene Yeshitela, and John Thomas, Manager of the Tyron Lewis Community Gym.

The Uhuru Health Festival & Flea Market is an economic development project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF). As a national non-profit organization, APEDF is dedicated to raising resources and developing programming to overturn the grave disparities in health, education, and economic development within the African community. The Health Festival is only one part of the important work to carry out APEDF’s mission of developing self-determination for Africans and all oppressed peoples.

Little Marrakesh Bazaar will be there, too! (Facebook photo)

The festival will also feature free health resources and information from a large number of local health and wellness organizations, including Philadelphia FIGHT, Refugee Health Partners, music by Coco Sol & the Chillettes, and much more.

The festival will be held from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 43rd and Chester.

This year, Uhuru Flea Markets are scheduled for April 23 (Facebook page), May 21, June 18, Aug. 20, Sept. 24 (Book Fair), and Oct. 22. Visit uhuruhealthfest.blogspot.com for more information.

Philadelphia Science Festival at Clark Park (Photo via  www.philasciencefestival.org)

The annual Philadelphia Science Festival returns on April 22 – 30. A lot of cool and FREE events will be happening in West and Southwest Philadelphia, from Astronomy Night for families to a discussion of the brewing process and beer sampling for adults. Here are some of them (for more events, visit: www.philasciencefestival.org):

Saturday, April 23

Astronomy Night (rescheduled from Friday, Apr. 22)

7:30 – 10:30 p.m.

Join local astronomers for some stargazing and participate in other cool projects. Several locations will be hosting this event, so pick one: Drexel University’s Dornsife Center (3509 Spring Garden St.), The African Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas (6361 Lancaster Ave), CHOP Karabots Pediatric Care Center (4865 Market St.), Schuylkill Banks (Schuylkill Banks Trail at Walnut St.), USFWS John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum (8601 Lindbergh Blvd.).  Continue Reading

This Monday, three important community meetings are scheduled in West Philadelphia, and residents are encouraged to participate.

Cedar Park Neighbors Annual Meeting – 7 p.m – Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th and Baltimore). Read more about the meeting’s agenda here.

UPDATE: POSTPONED UNTIL MON, APR 25: Friends of Clark Park General Membership Meeting – 7 p.m. – University of the Sciences, Griffith Hall (Lecture Hall A), 43rd and Woodland (see map here). Bring your questions and concerns, and find out what’s happening in the park.

Powelton Village Civic Association Monthly Meeting – 7:30 p.m. – 3500 Baring Street. On the agenda are two Dornsife / Drexel lawyers talking about deed restrictions and ways to sell one’s house to a single family.