Weekend Happenings

In the spirit of spring and a renewal of posting, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be attending the Free Library Festival this weekend, April 17 and 18. (You should go too--tell your friends!)

Although the festival launched in 2007, and I'm usually a proponent of this sort of thing, I have yet to attend. According to the library's website, the event is "an annual 2-day celebration of books, music, people, and ideas." Hosted by Philadelphia's Central Library on the Parkway, the festival is a free public event that draws 25,000-35,000 booklovers from across the mid-Atlantic region. "Highlights include appearances by celebrity authors, engaging children’s programs, live music and other performances, plus a Street Fair & Literary Marketplace featuring numerous literary exhibitors—including publishers, booksellers, independent authors, and cultural organizations."

I'm not yet sure which events I'll be able to hit, but here are a few of my favorites:

• Robin Black | If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This
• Storybook Parade
• Heidi W. Durrow | The Girl Who Fell From the Sky: A Novel
• Chang-rae Lee | The Surrendered
• David Lipsky | Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace
• Second Annual First Person Inter-City StorySlam: Philly vs. Washington D.C.
  

And that's just a taste of what's going on Saturday. Many more on Sunday (including an event with Sapphire, the author of Push, the novel for which the movie Precious was based).

Other noteworthy going ons this weekend: I'm getting my first tattoo!

Julia Child's Birthday Party

Little Berlin is an artist-run collective and gallery space located on the edge of Kensington/ Fishtown. Founded in 2007, they became a collective organization in March 2009. (Full disclosure: my husband is a member of the collective.) Their main focus is curatorial projects and exhibitions, and they also host music events, performances and badminton tournaments.

This Saturday, August 15, they are hosting an event to celebrate what would have been Julia Child's 97th birthday. It's also a fundraiser to help sustain the space and the collective. Food & music are a $5 cover. An additional $10 gets you unlimited beer.

If you haven't been to one of Little Berlin's art openings, this will be a fun opportunity for you to check out the space. The current show is Bone Tails, and the work is pretty impressive. Little Berlin is located at 119 W. Montgomery Street. It's a short walk from the Berks Stop.

For more information on Julia Child's life, here's a recent Vanity Fair article written around the newly released movie Julie & Julia. (She was 6' 2" tall wearing size 12 flats--now that's a tall girl.)

Free Shakespeare

Since moving to Philadelphia in 2006, I've looked forward each summer to Shakespeare in Clark Park, free Shakespeare in an outdoor setting. Unfortunately, the weather has put a damper on this year's outdoor ambience--one of my favorite parts of the experience is being able to sit outside and picnic before and during the play. Tonight is the final performance of the season, and after having just checked their website, I see it's already been moved indoors due to the storms we had this morning and are likely to receive later tonight.

Still, whether performed inside or out, it's free local Shakespeare. I'll just have to save my bottle of wine and blanket until the free Rittenhouse Square "Concerts in the Park" series begins in a couple of weeks.

Odunde!

I'm all in favor of big parties for traditional holidays (Odunde is Yoruba for "happy new year"), and I'm looking forward to taking my boy around and letting him soak up some of the scene. At the same time ... I sure hope it's not noisy at bedtime. I'm a block away from the epicenter of the celebration, so here's to a family-friendly, neighborly hoopla. Let the festival begin!