This year’s free Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival offers a family-friendly Jazz showcase featuring the “Hometown Sound of Philadelphia Jazz.” Philadelphia Tenor saxophonists Bootsie Barnes and Sam Reed will headline the 2019 Festival on Saturday, July 20. The event takes place starting at noon in Penn Presbyterian Medical Center’s Saunders Park Greene, 39th and Powelton Avenue.

Hosted by People’s Emergency Center (PEC) and PEC Community Development Corporation (PECCDC), this marks the 13th year that this annual event has taken place, which has grown from a few hundred attendees to 4,000.

The Producer’s Guild of Philadelphia has curated an exceptional lineup of jazz musicians performing on the Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival stage. In addition to Barnes and Reed, this year’s lineup includes jazz performers Jamal Jones & the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland Jazz Orchestra, Glenn Bryan & Friends, Geraldine Oliver, Chris Oatts, and Jonathan Michel. The Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble will also be back by popular demand.  Continue Reading

University City Dining Days, the popular annual dining promotion, will be held from Thursday, July 18 through Sunday, July 28.

This year, over 30 restaurants will offer three-course menus for either $15, $25, or $35, including first-time participants like Mediterranean-influenced restaurant The Common, Argentine empanada shop Jezabel’s Cafe, and upscale sandwich joint KQ Burger. For the first time, many restaurants will also be offering lunch options for 2019 Dining Days.

Make your reservation directly at a restaurant of your choice. The menus and contact info of participating restaurants can be found here.

Some of the recipients of the 2019 Gary Bronson Memorial Scholarship during Friday’s presentation. (Photo by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local).

Cedar Park Neighbors’ Scholarship Committee has announced 13 young people who will receive the 2019 Gary Bronson Memorial Scholarship. The presentation took place on Friday, July 12, during Cedar Park Jazz intermission at 50th and Baltimore.

The scholarship provides both mentorship and financial support to students. This year, Cedar Park Neighbors is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the awards. The scholarship was established in 1989 and renamed as the Gary Bronson Memorial Scholarship in 2015 in honor of neighborhood visionary and scholarship founder. The funds for the scholarship are raised by neighbors and neighborhood businesses at an annual scholarship fundraising event and through additional donations. Continue Reading

Mariposa Food Co-op will be closed on Wednesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 18 for a “store reset” which includes installation of new shelving units and thorough cleaning. The store will also close early (at 7 p.m.) on Tuesday, July 16.

“Along with getting new shelves and the deep cleaning, we’ll also be updating our product selection to bring on lots of new items, revamping pricing, switching up placement and much more!” reads an announcement on the Mariposa website.  Continue Reading

West Philly neighborhood greening non-profit, UC Green, is hosting two events at Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore) this week.

On Friday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., children ages 6-14 and their parents/caregivers are invited to the park for a Field Day filled with various activities centered around trees and healthy greening. Attendees will also receive giveaways, such as biodegradable toothbrushes. Children can make leaf IDs for different plants, create arts and craft projects, join a scavenger hunt or compete in a relay race. The Field Day aims to provides education on tree culture and environmentalism in a fun and active way.  Continue Reading

Bartram’s Garden has a chance to get awarded $200,000 after it was selected as a finalist for the Philadelphia Foundation’s Key to Community grant. The historic garden and arboretum located at 5400 Lindbergh Blvd. in Southwest Philadelphia is competing in the Community & Civic Engagement Category with their project titled “Reclaiming Local History and Championing an Inclusive Future in Southwest Philly.”

The grant will be used to directly support the neighborhood residents within the following initiatives:  Continue Reading