Valentine’s Day is almost here, and many of our readers will be looking for something to do with their special someones. Check our round up of some of local happenings and events this weekend, for kids and adults alike, and please don’t forget that we have some great restaurants and bars in our area (many of them will be having Valentine’s Day specials and treats tomorrow).

We’ll start with a few reminders.

A Valentine’s Day Dance Party/Fundraiser will be held at 8 Limbs Academy (4542 Baltimore Ave, 2nd floor) on Saturday, beginning at 9 p.m. and featuring 90’s dance jams, ice cream, doughnuts, minigolf, and 8 Limbs t-shirts for sale. Atom and His Package, Everything Sux and The Ramonas will perform. Suggested donation is $5-$15. For more information visit: www.8limbsacademy.com.

If you have any Curio Theatre preview show tickets, here’s a great chance to use them. Othello officially opens at the popular neighborhood theater next Friday, but preview shows are presented this week and early next week. There are preview shows this Friday and Saturday, at 8 p.m. For more information and to buy tickets, go here. And please get there on time – there is no late seating for this production. 

And here’s what else is happening this weekend.

On Saturday, at 2 p.m., families are invited to special Family Matinee programming at International House Philadelphia (37th and Chestnut): “It Came From Outer Space.” Steven Spielberg’s classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) will be screened at this event, admission to which is only $5. More information is available here.

Also on Saturday, at 2 p.m., a Valentine’s Day celebration, Hearts and Crafts, will be held at Lucien E. Blackwell Regional Library’s Children’s Department (52nd and Sansom).

Baltimore Pet Shoppe (4532 Baltimore Ave) is hosting a Bake Sale and Kong Toy Drive on Saturday from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. to benefit the Pennsylvania SPCA. It’s the Show Your Love Bake Sale. People can buy a Kong or baked good to help adoptable dogs. Please visit Baltimore Pet Shoppe’s Facebook page for more information.

Not everyone will be spending Valentine’s Day with their loved ones. Books Through Bars invites neighbors to help them “spread a different kind of love” by sending packages to all the incarcerated people waiting for books. The Books Through Bars’ Valentine’s Day Pack-A-Thon event will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the A-Space (4722 Baltimore Ave). If you have brown paper bags you would like to donate before the event, please drop them off at the A-Space. Check our Events page for more details or email: info@booksthroughbars.org. (Note: This is an 18+ event).

Comics lovers are invited this Sunday to a Comics Creation Workshop with Dre Grigoropol. The workshop will be held on Sunday, Feb. 15 from 3 to 6 p.m. at The Soapbox, a West Philly based independent publishing center, located near 51st and Baltimore (741 S. 51st St). If you have ever dreamed of being a comic book artist and writer, this workshop is for you. The class will help you develop skills in brainstorming, drawing, writing, and collage making. The instructor, Andrea “Dre” Grigoropol, is a comics and cartoon art specialist, illustrator and blogger. To participate in the workshop ($25, or $20 for members), please RSVP by emailing phillysoapbox@gmail.com. For more info, visit this page.

For more upcoming events, visit our Events page.