UPDATE: University City Garden Club will hold their annual plant sale on Sunday, May 14, 12-4 p.m. at the gates of the Woodlands Cemetery (40th & Woodland Ave.). Many herb, vegetable and flower choices will be available for sale.

We’re sad to report that the 59th annual Spruce Hill May Fair scheduled for Saturday, May 13 has been canceled due to bad weather in the forecast (a lot of rain and wind).

“This was an extremely difficult decision for us, as May Fair is our flagship annual event and our only fundraiser,” Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) president Eric Santoro wrote in an email. “The entire SHCA Board regrets that we are unable to host this wonderful annual tradition in 2017!”

But here’s some good news: some activities will still take place indoors. The annual $1 book sale will continue. Residents are invited to an Open House at the Spruce Hill Community Association Center at 257 S. 45th Street this Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.. Hundreds of new and used books of all genres will be available for $1 or less; food and beverages will be served; raffle tickets will be sold; and there may even be some live music. Everyone is welcome to come by!  Continue Reading

The University City District (UCD) has announced that they will bring back several popular events this summer, including Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, University City Dining Days, and the 40th Street Summer Series. Here’s the UCD sponsored event schedule for Summer 2017 with some more details.

The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, presented in association with the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA), will be held twice this year – on Thursday, June 15 and Thursday, Sept. 7, both from 5:30-8:30 p.m. As always, neighborhood businesses will present $1 bargains and samples, now between 43rd and 52nd Streets. Stay tuned for more information about each upcoming Dollar Stroll.

University City Dining Days will be held from July 13 through July 23. Now in its 13th year, Dining Days is the “3 courses, 3 prices” promotion at many of the area’s most popular dining destinations. Over 30 restaurants will participate in the event this year, including first-timers CO-OP, Dim Sum House, and Clarkville. A kick-off party for the event will take place at The Porch at 30th on Thursday, July 13. Visit the Dining Days website for updates on restaurants, events, and surprises.  Continue Reading

Take a break from spring cleaning and your other weekend duties this Saturday, April 29, and get over to The Woodlands for the Go West! Craft Fest, the bi-annual music/food/artisan wares celebration.

Go West! runs from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday and the rain date is the following day.

All-female aerial troupe, tinycircus, will again perform at Go West! Craft Fest. (Photos West Philly Local)

More than 100 artisan vendors will take part this spring, including seven food vendors like West Philly favorites Taco Angeleno and Kung Fu Hoagies. 

This family-friendly event also includes live music, kids activities and a performance by the always entertaining and inspiring tinycircus from Tangle Movement Arts.

Here’s the lineup:  Continue Reading

Aetna Gallagher is Madame Bovary (Photo by Rebecca Gudelunas)

West Philly’s Curio Theatre Company‘s final performance of the season, a laugh-filled retelling of Gustav Flaubert’s classic novel Madame Bovary, premieres this Friday (April 28).

Yes, that’s right – laugh-filled. Entitled The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, the play is the North America debut of an adaption of Flaubert’s work by Peepolykus, a UK based touring company.

As you may know, Madame Bovary tells the story of a 19th century marriage in the north of France. The story’s got intrigue, passion and adultery. What it didn’t have is whimsy – until now. The work retells the tragic story of Emma Bovary in a way that may remind theatergoers of Curio’s hilarious adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 2013. Peepolykus also wrote that play.  Continue Reading

In the current political climate and the rise of the alt-right movement, Islamophobia is growing more widespread. A number of public education efforts have surfaced, but there’s one particular effort that aims to nip Islamophobia in the bud while children are still in school. Meet Melanie Bartlett, a parent who heads the education committee at the West Philly Coalition Against Islamophobia (Facebook page). Bartlett is spearheading the “Kids Books That Fight Islamophobia” campaign, which has one simple mission: to get more books featuring Muslim kids into elementary school class libraries. Currently, the campaign is seeking out funding through their GoFundMe page and has already raised over $3,600 of its $5,000 goal.

Bartlett was driven by creating a better world for her daughter, who is being raised Muslim.  Continue Reading

The Artist Pitch and Participate event was held on March 30 at the United Bank building (Photos courtesy of LoLa 38).

Ten local artists have been selected to help produce a series of public art installations on Lancaster Avenue.

LoLa 38, a Creative Placemaking project based in West Philadelphia, invited over 20 local artists and artist collaboratives to pitch their ideas for two public art projects in Powelton Village – at the former United Bank building (3750 Lancaster Ave) and the construction fence on the site of the former University City High School.

Ellen Tiberino (left) and audience member.

In brief presentations, each of them no more than five minutes, held on March 30 artists were asked to answer one of the following questions: How does progress feel? Which walls are invisible? Is there a good rate of change? The audience–a crowd of over 30 community members–judged and placed their votes based on the following criteria: excellence, community connection, curiosity, capacity, and wild card.

Ellen Tiberino, Brian “BCASSO” Bazemore, Melanie Booth, Gabrielle Patterson, Lucy Pistilli will be working on the construction fence of the former University City High School.

Tiberino, who comes from the renowned Philadelphia family of artists, is an artist with deep connections to the neighborhood. She shared her memories of a flowered walkway near University City High School during her presentation. You may recall Bazemore’s work, inspired by Black Lives Matter, from his contribution to the Neighborhood Time Exchange in Fall 2015; Pistilli also contributed her own artwork to the same installation. Patterson is a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and freelance animator.  Continue Reading