Little Baby’s Ice Cream is already developing a flair for the dramatic. The artisan ice cream maker announced last-minute that it will open its anticipated Cedar Park location at 4903 Catharine St. at 2 p.m. tomorrow in what will be a busy Saturday in the neighborhood.

Here’s who will be at Little Baby’s:

Play on Philly Youth Orchestra
Sky Sisters Face Painting
Urban Nutrition Initiative’s
Rebel Granola Bars
Yumtown USA Food Truck
Art in the Age Spirits
Philly Roller Girls

The shop will be open until 11 p.m. tomorrow and “every day thereafter,” according to an e-mail.

While you’re on the 4900 block of Catharine, you might want to cross Baltimore Avenue to The Marvelous! for National Record Store Day. The day includes special music releases and, sometimes, live performances at record shops around the country. Here’s what The Marvelous is bringing in for the day (all on vinyl):

Scientist “Scientific Dub” 3×10″ on color vinyl
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, “Animal X” 7″
Rough Guide to Psychedelic Brazil
Aloha, “Here Comes Everyone”
Tame Impala debut EP
Cut Copy, “Bright Like Neon Love”
Can’s “Ege Bamyasi” played by Stephen Malkmus & Friends
Rough Guide to African Disco
Nick Drake comp
Brian Eno / Nicolas Jaar / Grizzly Bear
Grateful Dead, “Rare Cuts & Oddities 1966”
Trashmen, “Mean Woman Blues b/w Big Boss Man 7”
Notorious B.I.G., “Ready to Die” ltd. ed. white vinyl

This, of course, is in addition to the Go West! Craft Fest (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and the Uhuru Flea Market (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at Clark Park.

On June 21, Philly will join over 500 cities world-wide as a landscape for live music—and West Philly needs to get in on the action.

Dubbed “Make Music Philly,” the free multicultural festival is the city’s inaugural entrance into Make Music Day, a global carnival of melodies that started in France in 1982 and came to the states as National Music Day in 2006. Make Music Philly, which will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., will be an experiment in do-it-yourself ingenuity, with artists and venues city-wide taking the helm in planning casual gigs and formal concerts.

Musicians of all calibers, ages, and genres, and venues of all types are invited to participate. So whether you’re an amateur ukulele player, local post-psych outfit, established folk singer-songwriter, or high school drumline, Make Music Philly has a space for you. And anywhere in West Philly can serve as a stage—from the Clark Park Dog Bowl and the basement of the Calvary to street corners, sidewalks, and your best friend’s backyard.

To be considered an official MMP event, all venues, artists, and volunteers must register for free through the official website. Participants can either register already-curated events or use MMP’s matchmaking software to connect with other venues and artists to organize performances.

WXPN is MMP’s lead organizer in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, and METRO Philly is the official print partner.

For more information, visit makemusicphilly.org or check out MMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

– Annamarya Scaccia
 

One of the most popular events in the ‘hood, the Go West! Craft Fest, is returning this weekend with a large group of talented folks who will be showcasing beautiful, handmade gifts and wares. We hear that this will be the biggest and best Go West! yet with over 100 Philly region’s finest artists and craftspeople participating. The festival will take place at the beautiful historic Woodlands mansion and cemetery (40th & Woodland) on Saturday, Apr. 20, 11 a.m. -5 p.m. (rain date: Sunday, Apr. 21).

If you’re looking for a unique gift check out Go West! where you can find jewelry, art prints & originals, paper goods, clothing, bath & body products, candles, home wares, children’s items and more (see the full vendor list here).

The festival will also feature great performers, like the well-known Tinycircus by Tangle Movement Arts, presenting artful acrobatics, music by Cassendre Xavier and Sour Mash and songs and entertainment for children by Jay Sand of All Around This World, Ann from the Green Tambourine, juggling throughout the day and free face painting (for the full line-up of entertainers go here).

For your palate there will be various food options provided by local eateries, including the debut of Taco Angeleno, West Philly’s new mobile taqueria serving LA-style Mexican cuisine.

Tinycircus performing at Go West! Craft Fest.

Love is awfully complicated and blissfully chaotic. It’s also ever-evolving, morphing into unrecognizable shapes without forewarning. In essence, love is a free-for-all.

It’s this complexity that’s at the heart of MAYA (view trailer below), Dan Papa’s first independent feature film project. Shot entirely in black and white, MAYA explores love’s profound transformation through time, and the ways people bend and react to that variance. It will premiere Sunday at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.).

“This is the sort of movie you are supposed to feel, and not necessarily understand everything. There is definitely some mystery there,” the 27-year-old writer-director wrote in an email. “Love is a universal subject all viewers can relate to. Maybe the movie will help people pay more attention to the world underneath, the fact that we are all the same at the core.”

In its own right, MAYA, which was shot on a $7,000 budget, is a quintessential Philly project. Papa used the city’s “layers of history, and the empty spaces” to serve as MAYA’s primary backdrop, with interior shots based in Cedar Park (it was also shot on a beach in Cape May.) West Philly’s “unique flavor” is also offered through local actor and Curio Theatre company member Harry Slack’s supporting role.

“Having lived in Philly almost 10 years, I feel a deep connection to certain areas,” wrote Papa, who, while currently living in the Poconos, still considers West Philly home. “It shows that living in the city is not always about brick and concrete.”

But MAYA’s mysticism transcends the screen—according to Papa, local actors Amy Frear and Dan McGlaughin, who play leads Maya and Leo respectively, started dating after filming. “I think we captured some real chemistry,” he wrote.

The screening will follow an improv performance based on the movie score featuring musicians from West Philly’s Flat Mary Road. Dock Street Brewery will provide free draft beers.

Here are the details:

Sunday, April 14, 7 p.m.
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
Tickets: $8 (http://maya.brownpapertickets.com/)

– Annamarya Scaccia

Maya – Trailer # 2 from Dan Papa on Vimeo.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is a “gentrifier” these days – or whether that word or concept still has any meaning. Film director Kelly Anderson, a self-proclaimed “gentrifier” from Brooklyn will talk about her journey and her neighborhood after a screening of her documentary My Brooklyn (see trailer below) at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.) on Tuesday.

Drawn to Brooklyn in 1988 by cheap rent and a “Bohemian culture,” Anderson watched through the nineties and particularly into the early part of the 21st century as luxury housing and chain stores changed the neighborhood forever. Starting to sound familiar? The changes spark conversations about “authenticity,” who controls the future of the neighborhood and cause Anderson to examine her own role in the changes to the neighborhood.

The film’s themes are relevant to many parts of West Philly.

The film focuses on the future of Fulton Mall, a popular African American and Caribbean shopping Center, that officials are considering razing. “The film’s ultimate questions become how to heal the deep racial wounds embedded in our urban development patterns, and how citizens can become active in restoring democracy to a broken planning process,” according to its website. The film is co-sponsored by the Scribe Video Center.

Here are the details:

Tuesday, April 9, 7 p.m.
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe and IHP members

Here is a trailer:

Here’s another great event for the whole family happening this weekend in the neighborhood. The University City Arts League (4226 Spruce St) invites friends and neighbors to their 4th annual Chili Bowl event that will be held on Sunday, Apr. 7, from 1 – 5 p.m.

As always, the UCAL staff will fill up bowls made in their pottery studio with different versions of delicious warm chili, veggie and meat, provided by nine local restaurants: Atiya Ola, Distrito, Gold Standard Café, Green Line Café, Guacamole Mex Grill, Harvest, Honest Tom’s, Milk and Honey, and Powelton Pizza. Once again, Greg Salisbury, head of SOOP catering, will be creating meat and vegan chili and Yards Brewing will be supplying beverages.

The annual Chili Bowl event raises funds for the University City Arts League’s Pottery Studio. (Photo courtesy UCAL).

Sounds great, right? All you have to do is to buy a beautiful hand-crafted chili bowl and you can eat all the free chili you want. And if you bring your kids, they all will eat free when their parents purchase a bowl! After you try all the chili you can vote for the best chili-maker in the neighborhood.

“This is a really fun event,” says Noreen Shanfelter, Arts League executive director. “It’s great for the whole family. We’ll have music and face painting for the children to enjoy.”

This event benefits the UCAL Pottery Studio. It will help cover the expenses of a new, third kiln that was recently added to increase capacity at the studio and new lighting.

Pottery is the most popular of all courses at the Arts League and is available for children, aged 5 to 12 after school Monday to Friday, and for adults on the weekends and on several weeknights.

For more information contact the Arts League at 215 382 7811 or visit www.ucartsleague.org.