University City Arts League is celebrating its 45th anniversary this Saturday, May 5 with cocktails, wine, live music, dinner, and silent and live auctions. There will be lots of bidding on rugs, vacations, restaurant dinners, ceramics and behind-the-scenes tours of the Union League and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by the silent auction, dinner and then the live auction starting its first bid at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $60 a person, or $110 for a couple – and that includes the bar.

The auction will be at USP’s Wilson Student Center, 42nd Street and Woodland Avenue. Lots of free parking is available. For more information, or to get tickets, go here or call the Arts League, 215 382 7811, or stop by at 4226 Spruce Street. Reservations can be made until Wednesday night (7 p.m.).

Here’s a sampling of events scheduled in the neighborhood this weekend. For more upcoming events, visit our Happenings page.

• The Woodlands is hosting a Science Scavenger Hunt this Sunday, April 29, as part of the Philadelphia Science week. The beehives will be opening every half hour, the archaeologist will have artifacts from the greenhouse site for kids to sift through, and the Academy of Natural Sciences will have dinosaur fossils (including fossilized dinosaur poop) at paleontologist Ferdinand Vanidiveer Hayden’s grave site. Also UC Green will be there with tree related activities, seed planting at the community garden, and last, but not least, the College of Physicians will have a Civil War Medical Kit and information on Satterlee Hospital at the grave site of Jacob Mendez DaCosta.

• Also on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. Crossroads Music presents Cobalt Blues Band performing “Pumped-Up” Chicago & Delta style blues. The concert is preceded by a free children’s program at 6 p.m. with Cobalt Blues’ singer Joe Becton (pictured), who will demonstrate African American musical styles from their origins to the present day. Both events will take place at the Calvary Church (48th & Baltimore). For more information and to purchase tickets ($5-15), go here.

• On Saturday, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Nursery School is hosting an adults-only cocktail reception at the LGBT Center at Penn (3930 Irving St). It is open to community members. Proceeds from this event will go to upgrade the school’s playground equipment and to improve classroom spaces. Tickets are $30 in advance and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Click on the flyer for more information.

Bartram’s Garden, home to America’s first great native botanist John Bartram and the largest public green space in Philadelphia, is celebrating spring with several exciting events and openings.

Next weekend, May 4-6, visitors of all ages are invited to enjoy a plant sale, hands-on gardening activities and guided tours of the historic site, including a new educational Green Room, native plant nursery and community farm. The Green Room will open in Bartram’s historic stable. Visitors will be able to borrow binoculars for bird watching and watercolors for painting. An educator will be on hand to answer questions and provide tours, and guest feedback will directly influence how the Green Room evolves.

The garden will be open to all on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entrance is free. Day passes, which include a guided house and garden tour, and access to seasonal activities in the Green Room, are $8 to $12 (free for members).

Also on hand Saturday and Sunday: spring planting tips, children’s activities and plant sale. Most of the plants were grown on site in a new nursery, located next to the Garden Shop. While in the garden, also make sure to check out a new orchard, with more than 40 heirloom fruit trees. The orchard is adjacent to Bartram’s new community garden. Last year, workers cleared shrubs and removed unused tennis courts and baseball fields from the southern end of the property to make way for a 1.5-acre community garden.

Finally, this summer a one-mile portion of the Schuylkill River Trail will be completed and connect to the 58th Street Greenway, the Cobbs Creek Parkway and eventually lead to Valley Forge and points beyond.

“This trail, which will wind through Bartram’s beautiful meadow and show off views of the Philadelphia skyline, will not only be a great addition to Bartram’s Garden but to the City of Philadelphia,” says interim director Stephanie Phillips. Stay tuned for information on bike-related events and workshops coming to the garden.

Bartram’s Garden is located at 54th St. & Lindbergh Blvd. For more information, visit: www.bartramsgarden.org. or call 215-729-5281.

“We’re going to need real magic to pull this show off, and we’ve got it!” says the Curio Theatre Company, of their latest production, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which opens this Friday, April 27. A revenge story featuring drunken clowns, political intrigue, a magical slave-driving wizard, and a father-daughter duo marooned on an island for twelve years, The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling comedies.

Director Dan Hodge, co-founder of the Philadelphia Artists Collective, makes his directing debut with this production. “Ultimately The Tempest is about choice,” says Hodge, “and Prospero’s command of dark arts affords him an impossibly wide array of options.  The balance hangs on revenge and forgiveness.  And that’s a current that runs through nearly every character in the play.”

Paul Kuhn, Curio’s Artistic Director, has designed a “magical playground” for the production, rumored to include a rolling ocean, a ship, and a tropical island. The fifteen characters will be played by seven actors. Joining long-time company member Brian McCann as Prospero are Steve Carpenter, Liam Castellan, Robert Daponte, Aetna Gallagher, Ken Opdenaker, Eric Scotolati and Isa St.Clair.

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Opening April 27. Curio Theatre, 4740 Baltimore Avenue. 215-525-1350.

The May Fair Committee invites West Philly-based artisans and crafts people to have a table at Spruce Hill Community Association‘s annual May Fair, which will be held this year on Saturday, May 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Clark Park (43rd & Chester). Tables for those who are selling are $35 for the day with SHCA providing the table, table covering and a chair. Additional tables are $15.

Groups and organizations seeking to do community outreach are also welcome. Tables for non-profits not selling goods are $25. E-mail ma.wa@verizon.net for a sign-up sheet or leave a phone message at 215-349-7825. The fair is the day before Mother’s Day and will again have a bounce tent and obstacle course for kids, as well as children’s games, music and much more.

This Sunday you could be part of something big and unforgettable. Clark Park is hosting the “Picnic for the Planet” – an Earth Day celebration and an attempt to set a Guinness record for the world’s largest picnic. Clark Park folks will be recording the number of participants and completing required paperwork. This is a nationwide record attempt – simultaneously, picnics like this one will be held in various locations in North America.

Sounds cool, right? So come to Clark Park from Noon until 4 p.m. (record attempt begins at 12:30). Don’t forget to bring your family, blanket and favorite picnic food and enjoy your day in the park. Elevation Burger will provide food for the first 100 participants.