Branford Marsalis Jazz Quartet (from left: Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass), Branford Marsalis (saxophone), and Justin Faulkner (drums)).

Internationally acclaimed jazz musicians will be guests at the 2nd annual Community Unity Music Festival at Clark Park (43rd and Chester). Saxophone legend Branford Marsalis and his band, The Branford Marsalis Jazz Quartet, will again headline the festival, which will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. This year’s festival, which promotes nonviolence and unity in the Philadelphia community, is called “A Day to Remember.” In addition to live music performances, the festival program includes inspirational speeches from city and state dignitaries, food, games and other activities for kids.

The festival is organized with the help of Justin Faulkner, the drummer of the Marsalis Quartet, who grew up in West Philadelphia. One of the main goals of the festival is to show young community members that “creativity enriches the soul” (the festival’s motto is “Put down the guns and pick up an instrument”). To help local artistic youth, the festival organizers created “The Each One Teach One” coalition, which gives scholarships to five deserving students for private music lessons with one of the festival’s partners, the Clef Club for Jazz and the Performing Arts.

For more information about the Community Unity Music Festival and people behind it, click here.

Photo courtesy Scribe Video Center

This month, Scribe Video Center is bringing back its Street Movies! program, with free outdoor film screenings and live performances taking place across Philadelphia neighborhoods. The program features independent films from around the world that spark discussions of issues relevant to the community. Each screening is hosted by a community organization and is followed by a moderated discussion. Two screenings will be held in West Philly this weekend, both at 7:45 p.m. – at Clark Park on Friday and at Malcolm X Park on Saturday. Details are below (for more info, visit scribe.org/news/streetmovies).

• Friday, Aug 7, 7:45 p.m.

The Bowl @ Clark Park (45th Street and Kingsessing Avenue)
Host: Jubilee School
Event Emcee: 900AM WURD’s Stephanie Renée
Opening live performance: the Jubilites of Jubilee School

The program includes the following film screenings:

Tengo Talento: Jennyselt Galata of Yoruba Andabo & Sailen (Afro Cuban Folklore)
dir. Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Jennyselt is a dancer of Afro Cuban Folklore, with great prestige within Cuba and internationally and currently dances with the group Yoruba Andabo. She seeks her successor to keep the legacy of Afro-Cuban culture, dance and religion alive. Who will she choose to keep the legacy alive? (Cuba, 2014, 10:21 min, Spanish w/English Subtitles)  Continue Reading

Indego has installed a bike share station in Clark Park – at the southwest corner of 43rd and Chester. The station has capacity for 19 bikes. As a reminder, Indego, Philly’s first bike share program, was launched on April 23 across the city. Twelve docking stations are now open west of the Schuylkill (see map).

Click to enlarge.

The Thursday Farmers’ Market returned to Clark Park on June 4, bringing a bunch of great local vendors and new programs, including cooking demonstrations. This Thursday (June 11), The Food Trust, the nonprofit that manages the Clark Park Farmers’ Market, will introduce another new program for local residents – Thursday Market Tours. The tours are a great opportunity to learn more about the market, its vendors and programs and also allow for local residents to participate in a discussion about healthy eating, wellness, and how that ties with local community development.

Clark Park Thursday Farmers’ Market tours are absolutely free and open to the public, but individuals and groups are asked to sign up beforehand.

The tours will take place every Thursday, from June 11 and August 27, at 4 and 6 p.m., but only if at least five people sign up for them. If you are interested to take part in one of these tours, please click here to sign up and select a date and time when you want to participate.

If you have questions, feel free to email The Food Trust’s Community Outreach Associate Kalie Wertz at: kwertz@thefoodtrust.org

Clark Park Thursday Farmers’ Market will re-open at 43rd and Baltimore next week, on June 4, and here’s this year’s vendor lineup:

– Homestead Garden (vegetables and fruit from Ephrata PA)
– Quaff Meadows (vegetables and fruit from Christiana PA)
– Frecon Farms (fruit, baked goods, and hard cider from Boyertown PA)
– Fifth of a Farm Creations (locally sourced preserves and jams produced in Philly)
– Naturally Sweet Baked Goods (vegan, locally sourced sweets and desserts produced in Philly)
– Southwest Child Rebel Gardeners (locally made energy bars)

In addition to the vendors, there will be cooking demos about once an hour. They will be held every week through August.

Also a reminder that on June 4 Tangle Movements Arts will present their new, free aerial show, Intersections, in the park near the market, starting at 6 p.m. Some of the performers will be disguised as market shoppers!

Clark Park Thursday Farmers’ Market is open every Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. and runs through the end of November. Check out the Food Trust’s website for more information.

UPDATE (5/27/2015): Due to rain in the forecast for this Thursday, the show has been postponed until next Thursday, June 4. 

Tangle Movement Arts, a West Philly-based acrobatics company known to many by their Tiny Circus performances at Go West! Craft Fest at The Woodlands and other venues, is bringing an all-new, free and family-friendly show, Intersections, to Clark Park this Thursday on Thursday, June 4.

Intersections celebrates the broad communities that gather in the park and the dynamics of daily life. The acrobats will be disguised as normal visitors to the Clark Park Farmers Market, from vegetable shoppers to playground-visiting children to commuters on their way home. The show also celebrates the chance meetings that happen in our public spaces.

Tangle Movement Arts is a circus arts company with an interdisciplinary focus; its work integrates traditional circus like aerial acrobatics with dance, theater, and live music, with an emphasis on queer and female experiences. Tangle has been thrilling audiences with dynamic circus-theater since its inception in 2011.

Intersections premieres at the park near 43rd and Baltimore on Thursday, May 28 June 4 at 6 p.m. The show is part of the City of Philadelphia’s Performances in Public Spaces program, managed by the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy.

(Photos courtesy of Tangle Movement Arts)