By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
The Coatesville Invitational Vintage Grand Prix
It seems that autumn weather has arrived. This is a weekend in which summer events are gone from the schedule and harvest and Halloween activities have yet to arrive. There is still a full slate of attractive events representing a wide range of genres such as cars, food, pirates, ethnic, hot air balloons, arts and crafts, trains, scarecrows and lots more.
The Coatesville Invitational Vintage Grand Prix (www.coatesvillegrandprix.com) returns for its seventh year on September 16, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Spectators will get the unique chance to experience the roar of more than 70 rare vintage cars and motorcycles, dating from 1900-1977, winding through the streets of Coatesville. Drivers will compete in individually timed heats over a challenging 2.2-mile road course on the historic streets of Coatesville, complete with old-style straw bales.
The event draws thousands of spectators from the tri-state area and beyond, and attracts some of the most exclusive cars, including Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Auburn, and other rare vintage cars and motorcycles.
Trophies will be awarded in each of five divisions, and the coveted Brian Hoskins’ Trophy will be awarded to the top competitor who best exemplifies sportsmanship, skill, and safety on the course.
Back for a third year is a Friday Cruise-in event featuring vintage cars, trucks and special interest vehicles on September 15 from 6-8:30 p.m. The public is invited to cruise-in and park their hot rods, classic and restored cars on Lincoln Highway between 1st and 4th streets where spectators can get an up-close look.
Saturday is the main day. In addition to a full day of competition, spectators can enjoy music, vendors, and food trucks.
General admission is free.
The Chester County Restaurant Festival
The Chester County Restaurant Festival (Gay Street and downtown area, West Chester, https://westchesterpa.myrec.com/info) has been treating visitors to the borough with the opportunity to sample a wide variety of gourmet treats for more than 40 years.
This year, the free festival, which will be held on September 17 from noon-5:30 p.m. in downtown West Chester, is a party – a 44th birthday party.
Many of the area’s top restaurants — more than 50 altogether — will have booths where visitors can purchase samples of a mouth-watering array of culinary delights and gourmet food items. There will be more than 100 vendor booths featuring arts and crafts, three stage areas for live music and the “Beer and Wine Garden” where patrons can sit and relax with a pint of refreshing brew.
The Restaurant Festival will take place from noon-5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The layout is: Gay Street between Matlack and Darlington streets; Walnut Street between Market Street and Prescott Alley; High Street between Market and Chestnut streets; and Church Street between Market and Chestnut streets.
On September 16 and 17, the Chadds Ford Historical Society (Barn Visitors Center, 1736 Creek Road, Chadds Ford, http://www.chaddsfordhistory.org) will be hosting a battle reenactment allowing visitors to take a historical journey back to September 11, 1777, when the British army engaged Washington’s troops at Chads’ Ford.
The Battle of Brandywine
The Chadds Ford Historical Society will host a colonial-centric day and battle reenactment complete with a battlefield encampment, military drills, and mock skirmishes.
The Battle of Brandywine was the largest single-day battle of the American Revolution. On Sept. 11th, 1777, an estimated 30,000 American and soldiers with the Royal Army reconvened in Chads Ford which was a crossing along the Brandywine
River.
This event, which will run from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days, is designed to be part colonial festival and part “living history” since it will feature not only authentic 18th-century reenactors, but also colonial craft demonstrators and military encampment activities (1777 style).
Visitors can enjoy traditional festival food such as funnel cake and barbecued turkey legs from local food vendors, such as Fletcher’s Kitchen and Floga Bistro, as well as wine and beer from the Chadds Ford Winery, Kennett Brewing Company and Deer Creek Malt.
They also will be able to explore the grounds and see such tasks as beer making, candle making, tape weaving, chair caning, portrait painting, woodcarving, printing, blacksmithing, and cooking over an open fire.
Entertainment activities include the sounds of an 18th century dulcimer, colonial dancers, and live music by the Rockdale Boys.
Continental armies from the 1st Delaware, 2nd Pennsylvania, 6th Pennsylvania, and 1st Maryland regiments as well as those from the Kings army and loyalists to the crown of the 43rd Regiment of Foot, Von Wreden’s Jaegars, 1st New Jersey Volunteers, and the Queen’s Rangers will take part in skirmishes and firing demonstrations.
Guests can experience the sights and sounds of a booming cannon and musket fire. Skirmishes take place at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the open fields behind the historical society’s headquarters.
The firing demo will take place at 1:30 p.m. utilizing muskets and cannon. Attendees can observe reenactors load, prime, and fire these weapons and learn about the drilling, training and military techniques used at that time and speak with the reenactors following their drills.
Numerous youth activities including colonial dress-up, candle, marble, pin cushion, and sampler making, along with tin punching will be available. Each child will make his or her own treasure to take home and enjoy for the future. They will also have an opportunity to experiment with papermaking with staff from the Brandywine Battlefield Park and drill with the soldiers of the 1st Delaware.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children (ages 7-17).
The 46th Annual Greek Affair at St. Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church (35 North Malin Road, Broomall, 610-353-1592, www.st-luke.org) is running now through September 17 — 4-10 p.m. on Friday, 11a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday and noon-8 p.m. on Sunday.
The free festival focuses on food — tasty Greek main dishes such as moussaka (eggplant dish), shish-ka-bob (meat and vegetables on skewers) and placki (fish) and Greek dessert treats including baklava (phyllo, nuts and honey) and kataifi (shredded wheat and nuts).
Other activities at the free popular annual event are midway rides, vendors with crafts and Greek items, live music by Greek-American bands and folk dancing demonstrations. Additionally, the Taverna will be open from 9 p.m.-midnight on Friday and Saturday.
The Delaware Saengerbund’s Oktoberfest (Saengerbund festival grounds, 49 Salem Church Road, Newark, Delaware, www.delawaresaengerbund.org) is running from September 15-17.
The Delaware Saengerbund’s festival is a traditional Munich-style Oktoberfest featuring a wide array of tasty German food delicacies, including Bratwurst, Weisswuurst, soft pretzels, Rollmops (marinated herring served with rye bread), Kartoffelsalad (potato salad), sauerkraut as well as dessert items such as Torten and traditional plum cake.
On September 15, the opening parade will be held at 7 p.m. The lid-lifting event features the “Muenchner Kindl” (Munich Child — the symbol of the city of Munich) who is dressed in brown monk’s garb with golden stripes, similar to that of the Benedictine order (founders of the City of Munich).
The “Enzian Volkstanzgruppe”, the Bavarian dance group of the Delaware Saengerbund, will entertain throughout the three days of the festival.
When the EVTG is not dancing, German music will be performed. The Saengerbund’s Haus Band, the Enzian Musikanten, will open the festival each day with its performance.
There will also be concessions with an array of imported German gifts and souvenirs, as well as Oktoberfest souvenirs and Bavarian specialty clothes. Included in the admission price of $10 are unlimited free amusement rides.
Hours are 5-11 p.m. on Friday, noon-11 p.m. on Saturdays and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday.
On September 16, the Marcus Hook Preservation Society is presenting its 15th Annual Pirate Festival from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at 4 East Delaware Street in Marcus Hook (http://www.marcushookps.org/piratefestival.php).
The festival on Saturday includes a full pirate encampment with period tents, demonstrations and pirates showcasing their wares, firearms, cannons and beer making.
The park area will feature games, food, live pirate music, face painting, pony rides, petting zoo, crafters, beer garden and more. All funds raised during this event go towards the ongoing restoration project of the historic Plank House, aka “Blackbeard’s Mistress’ House.”
The Marcus Hook Preservation Society are the owners and caretakers of this one-of-a-kind plank log house.
There will also be a 15th anniversary concert from 5-7 p.m. featuring Big Package.
VetFest 2023 (400 Chesterfield Parkway, Malvern, vetfestpa.com) is scheduled for September 16 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
VetFest is back this September — bringing all your favorite Veteran owned and operated vendors together for one amazing afternoon.
The event features live music by musicians from Operation Encore, a non-profit collaboration of singer-songwriters and musicians from across the veteran and military communities.
And new this year — The Twilight Music Company, makes an appearance.
The event is free and open to the public.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library (5105 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, Delaware, 800-448-3883, www.winterthur.org) is presenting a special exhibition “Ann Lowe: American Couturier” now through January 7, 2024
In 1964, The Saturday Evening Post referred to fashion designer Ann Lowe as “Society’s Best-Kept Secret.” Although Lowe had been designing couture-quality gowns for America’s most prominent debutantes, heiresses, actresses, and society brides—including Jacqueline Kennedy, Olivia de Havilland, and Marjorie Merriweather Post—for decades, she remained virtually unknown to the wider public. Since then, too little recognition has been given to her influence on American fashion.
Ann Lowe’s recently emerging visibility as a designer stands in contrast to much of her career and the countless unrecognized Black dressmakers and designers who have contributed to American fashion for generations, including her own grandmother and mother. She blazed a path for others to follow and her legacy is still felt in fashion culture.
This is the largest exhibition of Ann Lowe’s work to date, featuring 40 iconic gowns, many that have never been on public display, and it will illuminate her evolution as a designer from the 1920s to the 1960s. The exhibition will also feature the work of contemporary couturiers and fashion designers whose current design practices, perspectives, and career paths reflect the trajectory of American fashion emanating from Lowe’s foundation. These include B Michael, Tracy Reese, Amsale Aberra, and Bishme Cromartie. Elizabeth Way, associate curator at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, is guest curator of the exhibition.
Born in Clayton, Alabama, into a family of African American dressmakers, Ann Lowe (ca. 1898–1981) learned the skill of dressmaking from her mother and grandmother. She developed not only expert technical skills by the time she was a teenager but also her distinctive style—feminine, elegant, and often incorporating her signature hand-made floral elements. Her extraordinary career took her through the Jim Crow South, from Montgomery, Alabama, to Tampa, Florida, and in 1928 to New York City. Lowe’s work made her an asset to wealthy society women around the country, yet she also experienced the tumultuous hardships of the fashion business and segregated America in a period of dramatic change.
Ann Lowe’s workplaces her among America’s significant fashion designers, and her life illustrates a legacy of Black women’s knowledge and skills that began as enslaved labor. Lowe modernized this legacy and expanded it to international visibility, positioning herself as a creative designer, a fashion insider, and a vital contributor to American culture.
Admission to Winterthur is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and students and $8 for children.
Whether you’re a faerie, pirate, gnome, princess, super hero, troll or kid, you are invited to enjoy games, stories, enchanted crafts, costume parades, and children’s museum tours at the Faerie Festival at Rockwood Museum and Park (4651 Washington Street Extension, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-395-5652, http://www.nccde.org/737/Faerie-Fest).
The event, which will be held on September 17 from noon-4 p.m., also features food trucks, merchants selling festive wares, and visits from special guests such as the Fairy Queen and other magical surprise guests!
Free activities include face painting, bubbles, bounce house, art on the rocks, story time, museum tours for children, costume parades, crafts, and performances by the First State Ballet Theatre, Drama Kids Delaware, Delaware Children’s Theater, Wilmington Drama League and music legends Pieces of A Dream.
Each September, “Pumpkinland” returns to Linvilla Orchards (137 West Knowlton Road, Media, 610-876-7116, www.linvilla.com). “Pumpkinland,” which runs through November 5, features fairy tale characters from nursery rhymes along with a huge scarecrow and a really tall storybook.
Other activities include train rides, a straw bale maze, hayrides, pick-your-own apples and pony rides.
There will also be “Harvest Hayrides” and “Autumn Moon Hayrides” starting later in September along with “Straw Bale Maze,” “Train Rides,” “Corn Maze” and “Pony Rides.”
Pumpkinland is open from mid-September through early November and takes center stage at Linvilla Orchards. Larger-than-life figures and scarecrows illustrate the legends and lore of the harvest season, featuring local history and some of the many stories of pumpkins and apples.
See our piles of pumpkins in all colors, shapes and sizes – more than 100 tons on display.
Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Ronks (150 Cherry Hill Road, Ronks, 717-687-6843, www.cherrycrestfarm.com) is hosting a “Hometown Heroes Festival” on September 16.
The event is all about celebrating these heroes who selflessly serve our communities by keeping us safe.
Visitors are invited to come out and show them support. A portion of ticket sales for this day will be donated to local volunteer Fire Departments.
The festivities will kick off at noon with a candy drop followed by Touch-a-Truck and Meet & Greet Event with local EMS, Fire Departments, and Police until 6 p.m.
A heroes’ parade will take place at 6:30 p.m. followed by a patriotic fireworks show at 8:30 p.m.
The farm is open from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Festival activities are included with farm admission, which starts at $21.95.
One of the most popular annual events at the Hagley Museum and Library (Route 141, Wilmington, 302-658-2400, www.hagley.org) is the Hagley Car Show.
The historic site, which is located in Delaware just a few miles south of Kennett Square, will host its 2022 Car Show on September 17 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Visitors to the show will be able to browse the site and check out more than 500 antique and restored cars that date from the early 1900s-1980s.
This year’s theme, “A Drive Down Memory Lane—Celebrating Bygone Brands” looks at Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Studebakers, and many other cars that have gone by the wayside.
The show features vehicle parade, motoring music, and a food court.
Tickets for the Car Show are $10 for adults and $5 for children (ages 6-14). Admission is free for Hagley members and children five and under. The event will be held rain or shine.
The 31sth Annual Radnor Fall Festival (www.radnorfallfestival.com) is scheduled for September 17.
The event will be held from noon-4 p.m. on North Wayne Avenue and West Avenue in the center of Wayne between Lancaster Avenue and the Wayne train station.
It will feature participation by local merchants, service providers and restaurants. Activities include street performances by local bands, dancers from local dances studios, amusement booths, face painting and carnival rides.
This weekend, the Philadelphia Honey Festival (https://phillyhoneyfest.com/) will feature two days of free, bee-related activities at three locations in Philadelphia – September 16 at Wyck Historic House/Garden/Farm (6026 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia) and September 17 at Bartram’s Gardens (5400 Lindbergh Boulevard, Philadelphia).
The mission of the Philadelphia Honey Festival is to raise awareness about the importance of honeybees to our environment, our food supply and our economy, and to promote urban beekeeping and gardening.
The Philadelphia Honey Festival began in 2010 to accompany the placement of an historic marker honoring Philadelphia-born Lorenzo L. Langstroth. Well-known to beekeepers, Langstroth invented the first movable frame hive design based on the principle of “bee space.”
You can see the marker at 106 South Front Street in Philadelphia, his birthplace.
Visitors to the festival will be able to learn about the importance of bees in our ecosystem through honey extraction demonstrations, hive talks and other programming designed to explore at the hard-working insect that supports our food supply.
The 12th Annual Lancaster Balloon Festival (Bird-in-Hand Events Field, Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand, https://lancasterballoonfest.com/) will be held now through September 17.
It will feature a variety of activities in the air and on the ground including balloon fly-ins, tethered balloon rides, and balloon glows.
Friday’s schedule features Mass Balloon Ascension, a reptile show, live music, a juggler and a Balloon Glow.
Featured events on Saturday will be Tethered Hot Air Balloon Rides, live music, Corn Maze, a juggler, Mass Hot Air Balloon Ascension, Balloon Glow and Music Show.
Activities on Sunday will be Hot Air Balloon Rides, Mass Hot Air Balloon Ascension, a juggler, Corn Maze and live music.
Tickets for the festival are $20 for adults and $10 for children (ages 5-17) on Friday and Sunday and $30 for adults and $15 for children on Saturday.
The Kitchen Kettle Village’s “Tailgating Festival” is scheduled for September 15 and 16 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. each day at Kitchen Kettle Village (3529 Old Philadelphia Pike, Intercourse, 800-732-3538, http://www.kitchenkettle.com).
Visitors are invited to celebrate the autumn tailgating and harvest season with a two-day food festival full of food, music, sports and fun.
Every year Kitchen Kettle Village pays tribute to tailgating season with a two-day food festival filled with delicious and fun events.
There are plenty of activities for young and old, families and couples alike. This year, visitors can see Lancaster County Non-Profit themed scarecrows throughout the village and vote for your favorite. Savor a tasty sample of homemade tailgate foods at one of our grills or restaurants. Tap your toes to a Dixieland Band or other live music.
Special activities include “Whoopie Pie Filling Contest,” sampling locally made apple cider from Kauffman’s Fruit Farm, touring a scarecrow display and watching a “Tailgate Parade” through the Village.
Another popular event just outside the Philadelphia Metro area is the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire (Mount Hope Estate and Winery grounds, Route 72, Cornwall, www.parenfaire.com).
This year’s 44th annual staging of the event, which bills itself as “the most wondrous event in all the Knowne World”, is running now through October 29. The festive annual event features authentic Elizabethan food and drink, traditional crafts from the guildsmen of yore and old-time games of skill — and a cast of hundreds of colorfully costumed re-enactors.
Every summer, the Faire, which takes place at Mount Hope Estate and Winery’s authentic 35-acre recreation of a 16th-century village in Olde England, features a new story from a different year of England’s past. This year’s Faire will take you back in time to the year 1558.
More than 70 shows are scheduled throughout each day on the Faire’s numerous stages.
Without a doubt, the most popular attraction is the Jousting Arena. Visitors to the Faire flock to Bosworth Field whenever it’s time for the Ultimate Joust. Peasants lead cheers for their favorite knights while musicians pound out a heart-thumping beat. The Master of the List announces the combatants and soon an encounter of royal proportions ensues.
The Faire offers a wide variety of activities for visitors, including listening to bagpipe music, checking out handsome Lords in their colorful silks, watching a jester’s acrobatics, learning how to juggle, being the recipient of a gypsy woman’s flirtations and watching the march of Beefeater Guards.
Guildsmen’s Way is the area that features a large variety of merchants and artisans, including jewelers, candle makers, potters, herbalists, leather smiths, clothiers, and pewter makers — all offering for sale and demonstrating their ancient wares.
And there are more than 20 Royal Kitchens located around the faire with menus featuring a wide variety of food and beverage.
Single-day tickets are available at the gate for $32.95. For children (age 5-11) single-day tickets are available at the gate and online for $16.95.
The Strasburg Railroad (Route 741, Strasburg, 717-687-7522, www.strasburgrailroad.com) is always one of the most popular spots around when it hosts “Day Out With Thomas.”
There is a mutual love affair between kids and Thomas the Tank Engine and it’s especially evident when Thomas gets up-close and personal with his fans during his visits to the Strasburg Railroad.
Every year, the steam locomotive named Thomas makes several visits to Lancaster County where he entertains enthusiastic children and their parents. The locomotive, which has its own PBS television series, will return to Strasburg for “Day Out With Thomas” now through September 18.
For more than 50 years, Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have been favorites of preschoolers and their parents. Based on “The Railway Series” (classic stories authored by a father who loved trains and wanted a shared experience with his son), “Thomas & Friends” has evolved into a rite of passage that inspires imagination.
Fans will be able to get personal with Thomas the Tank Engine, a full-sized operating steam locomotive who will be talking for the first time ever. And they will also be able to ride a train pulled by Thomas and meet the locomotive’s buddy Percy.
Tickets for “Day Out With Thomas,” which are $28, include the train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as a variety of Thomas & Friends themed entertainment such as storytelling, video viewing, temporary tattoos of Island of Sodor friends and an Imagination Station.
All tickets must be pre-purchased online.
Morris Arboretum (100 East Northwestern Avenue, Philadelphia, www.morrisarboretum.org) will also have an event featuring Thomas the Tank Engine.
“Magic Railway Weekend” will be held on September 16 and 17.
Everyone’s beloved cartoon train can always be found chugging along in his own section of our Garden Railway, but a few weekends a year he and his friends run free on all the tracks. This weekend visitors can experience the magic.
The special activity is included with garden admission — Adults: $20; Seniors (65+ years): $18; Youth (3-17 years): $10.
The West Chester Railroad (www.wcrailroad.com) is running the final ride of its “Summer Picnic Specials” on September 17 at noon.
Passengers can enjoy a 90-minute round trip train ride from West Chester to Glen Mills and return on a warm summer afternoon. Riders are invited to pack a lunch to have during excursion’s stop at the Glen Mills train station picnic grove.
Tickets are $22 for adults, $15 for children (2-12) and free for children (under two).
The Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show, one of the city’s top craft fairs, is scheduled for this weekend. Now through September 17, the Fine Arts Show will have with top-caliber vendors lining the streets all around Rittenhouse Square (18th and Walnut streets, Philadelphia, http://www.rittenhousesquareart.com/).]
Founded by artists in 1928, and run by a board of artists today, the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show is the oldest outdoor art show in the country. Steeped in rich history and tradition, there is absolutely no other show like it.
Twice a year, professional artists from across the nation — and occasionally from other countries — convene in the scenic park in Center City to share their art with Philadelphia right here in Rittenhouse Square.
The Fine Arts Show, which is free and open to the public, will focus on hand-crafted jewelry, contemporary furniture, functional and decorative pottery, designer clothing, fine porcelain, blown glass, limited edition photography, sculpture, paintings, watercolors, oils, graphite and pastels.
Fair hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free. Street and garage parking is readily available.
The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center (100 Station Avenue, Oaks, 484-754-EXPO, http://www.phillyexpocenter.com) is hosting two attractive events this weekend – the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza and the International Gem & Jewelry Show.
The Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, which is running now through September 17, is the largest and most prominent quilting arts event in the Northeast all under one roof. The quilt competition features wonderful entries from throughout the nation. Entries to the competition include traditional and innovative quilts.
On exhibit at the Extravaganza will be more than 600 quilts and garments presented in gallery style. There will also be more than 200 vendor booths with items including completed quilts and garments as well as the supplies and equipment used in making them.
The Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza will also offer a wide array of lectures and workshops presented by some of the top professionals in the field of quilting and the textile arts.
Show hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $17. Children under the age 16 are admitted free.
The Expo Center is hosting the “International Gem & Jewelry Show” now through September 17.
The “International Gem & Jewelry Show” features an amazing exhibition of gems, minerals and jewelry. Dealers will be displaying and selling every type of gemstone, as well as one-of-a-kind jewelry creations, estate jewelry, special celebrity exhibits and accessories.
The show will have more than 150 dealer booths where show attendees can select items from a wide range of categories, including beads, rings, settings, watches, necklaces, diamonds, opals, earrings, silver, gold, crystals and pearls.
Admission to the public show is $6 for adults while children (ages 9-16) are free with a paid adult ticket. The show’s policy states that children ages eight and under are not permitted to attend the show.
This weekend, it’s time once again for the Annual Scarecrow Festival at Peddler’s Village (Routes 202 and 263, Lahaska, 215-794-4000, www.peddlersvillage.com). The festival, which is celebrating its 44th anniversary this year, will run now through October 29.
It is the perfect time to visit and take in the bright, brilliant hues of fall and admire the more than 100 spectacular scarecrows on display. These larger-than-life, colorful, creative scarecrows will line the red brick paths throughout the village’s 42 picturesque acres.
Visitors can vote for their favorites in seven categories: Traditional 1960s Style, Quite the Character, Once Upon a Time, Fright Night, Funny Bones and Kids Only! Ballots can be cast through the Peddler’s Village Mobile app.
Peddler’s Village’s Scarecrow Making Workshops on the Street Road Green have been a family favorite for decades. The workshop fee of $35 (maximum group of 4 people) includes step-by-step instructions and building materials.
Participants can choose from a variety of clothing decorations and use plenty of straw to construct their very own life-size scarecrow to take home.
“Elmwood Park Zoo” (1661 Harding Boulevard, Norristown, www.elmwoodparkzoo.org) has a special event scheduled for September 16.
Expressive Path’s annual “Art in the Park, Arts & Music Festival” will be held Saturday rom 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Guests can enjoy live music, vendors, food, drinks for guests 21+ at our beer garden and more.
Shop till you drop at stations featuring local talented artists and boutiques. This event is free to attend with zoo admission.
The Zoo is also presenting several of its ultra-popular “Dog Days” over the next week.
The Zoo’s “Dog Days” event will be held on September 15, 17, 20 and 22 from noon-4 p.m. each day.
All guests visiting the zoo with a furry friend must complete an online waiver and submit required documents before visiting the zoo. You must upload a copy of your most recent veterinary visit, including proof of vaccine and heartworm test here. All items will be required for you to attend “Dog Days.”
Pricing is $10.95 per dog with each additional dog at $9.95. Regular zoo admission is required for all humans.
The Philadelphia Zoo (3400 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, www.philadelphiazoo.org) is hosting OktoBearfest on September 16 from 7-10 p.m.Guests are invited to visit the Zoo for a night of unlimited samples of more than 100 seasonal fall brews and ciders, delicious local food trucks, music, and amazing animals at America’s first zoo.
This adults-only event is limited to those 21 or older with valid identification. OktoBEARfest serves as a fundraiser and supports Philadelphia Zoo in its mission to create joyful discovery and inspire action for animals and habitats.
Participants will be able to sample more than 100 different beers and ciders from breweries, including: Paulaner, Sam Adams, Big Oyster Brewery, Evil Genius, and more. Food is available for purchase from the region’s top food trucks, including: BYZ. Empire, The Fabulous Fig, Deke’s BBQ, and more. NEW for this year: the Zoo’s Peacock Pavilion will be transformed into a Bavarian beer tent presented by Samuel Adams Beer with authentic Oktoberfest beers on tap and a stein-holding contest.
OktoBEARfest will also include live performances by local DJs and Philly’s famous Oktoberfest Polka band, Polkadelphia.
Tickets are $75 — $35 for non-drinkers.
Hope Lodge (553 South Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, 215-343-0965, http://www.ushistory.org/hope/) will be presenting a “Guided Mansion Tours” on August 28.
Hope Lodge was built between 1743 and 1748 by Samuel Morris, a prosperous Quaker entrepreneur. Morris acted as a farmer, shipowner, miller, iron master, shop owner, and owner of the mill now known as Mather Mill. Hope Lodge is an excellent example of early Georgian architecture, and it is possible that Edmund Woolley, architect of Independence Hall, offered advice in building. Samuel Morris owned the estate until his death in 1770.
The site opens at 12:30 p.m. with self-guided tours starting at 1 and 2:30 p.m. The closes at 4 p.m.
Tour admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors (age 65+) and for youth ages 6-17, and free for children under 5.
Schuylkill Banks Riverboat Tour (www.schuylkillbanks.org/events/riverboat-tours-1) presents “Secrets of the Schuylkill” now through October.
The boat ride is a one-hour family-friendly tour of Philly’s second biggest river featuring sights such as Bartram’s Garden and Fairmount Water Works.
Riders can discover the Hidden River on a fun and educational riverboat tour while seeing spectacular views of Philadelphia.
They can also learn about the past, present, and future of the tidal Schuylkill River and its impact on Philadelphia on a one-hour Secrets of the Schuylkill tour which costs $25 for adults and $15 for children (age 12 and under).
Tours depart from the Walnut Street Dock, under the Walnut Street Bridge, east bank of the Schuylkill River.
Wonderspaces at the Fashion District (27 North 11th Street, Philadelphia, philadelphia.wonderspaces.com) is an experiential, interactive arts venue.
Building on the success of annual pop-up shows in San Diego, and its first permanent location in Scottsdale, Arizona, Wonderspaces opened a 24,000 square foot gallery space in Philly a year ago.
Wonderspaces features 14 art installations that all play with the idea of perspective. The artwork ranges from award-winning virtual reality short film about a dinner party-turned-alien abduction, to a room where visitors digitally paint the walls with the movement of their bodies.
New artworks rotate in every few months, creating an ever-evolving, year-round show.
Tickets are for entry at a specific date and time. Visitors are welcome to stay as long as they please during operating hours. The average time spent experiencing the show is 90 minutes.
A few installations contain flashing lights, images, and patterns that may trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. All visitors must sign a waiver prior to being admitted into the space. Adult supervision is required for visitors under 16.
Grim Philly’s “Dark Philly History Tour” (www.grimphilly.com) will be held every evening throughout the summer.
Participants can walk with tour guides from the grounds of America’s first White House, Congress, and Liberty Bell to homes and sites of Hamilton, Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and more than 10 other Founding-Fathers. The surprising dirt of espionage, murder, sexual license and blackmail highlight the secrets of 1776 with a ghost story or two along the way. This tour is highly researched. And your guide is a historian.
Tickets are $35.
Ghost Tour of Philadelphia (215-413-1997, www.ghosttour.com), Ghost Tour of Lancaster (717-687-6687, www.ghosttour.com) and Ghost Tour of Strasburg (717-687-6687, www.ghosttour.com) operate throughout the winter and offer an eerily entertaining evening of true ghost stories and real haunted houses.
The Ghost Tour of Philadelphia, which is based on the book, “Ghost Stories of Philadelphia, PA.,” is a candlelight walking tour along the back streets and secret gardens of Independence Park, Society Hill, and Old City, where ghostly spirits, haunted houses, and eerie graveyards abound.
Participants can discover the ghost lore of America’s most historic and most haunted city with stories from the founding of William Penn’s colony to present-day hauntings.
The activity is open year-round – weekends, December-February; every night, March-November. Tickets are $24.
The Ghost Tour of Lancaster and the Ghost Tour of Strasburg are based on the book, “Ghost Stories of Lancaster, PA.”
Participants in the Ghost Tour of Lancaster explore the long-forgotten mysteries of one of America’s oldest cities, with haunting tales of otherworldly vigils, fatal curses, and star-crossed lovers. The tour provides the opportunity to experience 300 years of haunted history from the Red Rose City’s thorny past. Tickets are $20.
The Ghost Tour of Strasburg is a candlelight walking tour of the quaint and historic town of Strasburg in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Visitors will experience an entertaining evening with a costumed tour guide spinning tales of haunted mansions, eerie graveyards, and spirits that roam the night … in a town lost in time. Tickets are $20.
For “Count’s Halloween Spooktacular at Sesame Place” (100 Sesame Place, Langhorne, 215-752-7070, www.sesameplace.com), which runs from September 16-November 5, the popular amusement park has been converted into a Halloween-themed safe venue for kids with trick or treating, pumpkin decorating, hayrides and a hay maze.
Guests will enjoy trick-or-treating around the park, Halloween-themed shows, participating in our interactive Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt, and unique photo opportunities with everyone’s favorite furry friends dressed up in costume on their Halloween-themed floats!
Featured attractions, which will continue until November 6, are “Neighborhood Street Party Halloween Parade,” “Halloween Light Show,” and “The Not-Too-Spooky Howl-O-ween Radio Show.”
Admission to the park starts at $44.99.
Treetop Quest Philly (51 Chamounix Drive, Philadelphia, www.treetopquest.com) is an aerial adventure park that will challenge you physically and mentally as you maneuver from tree to tree through obstacles and zip-lines. Once you’re equipped, they will teach you how to operate your equipment and you’ll be able to swing through each course as many times as you want for 2.5 hours.
Each participant is outfitted with a harness and gloves. Each course has a continuous belay system — a lifeline that is impossible to detach without a staff member. The activity is self-guided, and the staff is ready to assist when needed.
Gloves are required for our activity. During this time, we encourage participants to bring their own gloves to use while up in the trees, gardening gloves are perfect for this activity.
Ticket prices are $55, adults; $48, ages 12-17; $38, ages 7-11.
“TreeTrails Adventures Trevose” (301 West Bristol Pike, Trevose, treetrails.com/trevose-pa) is an adventure park full of fun challenges for outdoor adventurers of all ages.
Participants can experience the rush of TreeTrails Adventures as they swing through the trees of the new adventure park. They will be able to discover the excitement of climbing and zip lining above the forest floor with family, friends, co-workers, or teammates.
The park, which is based at Phoenix Sport Club in Bucks County, offers two ways to experience climbing – TreeTrails Adventure Park and KidTrails Park. Young explorers can enjoy miniaturized courses in the adjacent KidTrails Park.
General Park Admission prices are: Main Park Adult Tickets (Ages 12+), $59; Main Park Youth Tickets (Ages 7–11), $51; KidTrails Tickets (Ages 4–7), $12.
Wilmington and Western Railroad (Greenbank Station, 2201 Newport-Gap Pike, Wilmington, Delaware, www.wwrr.com) is running its “Yorklyn Limited” on September 17 at 12:30 p.m.
Riders can take a leisurely 1.5-hour round-trip ride up the Red Clay Valley to the Mt. Cuba Picnic Grove, where they can de-train to enjoy a half-hour layover along the banks of the Red Clay Creek to have a picnic or simply admire the natural surroundings.
For those who don’t want to get off the train at Mt. Cuba, they can remain onboard and travel further up the line through the communities of Ashland and Yorklyn. On the return trip, there will be a brief stop at Mt. Cuba to pick up the picnic passengers.
The “Yorklyn Limited” excursion is the re-branded name of the “Mt. Cuba Meteor” excursion.
These trips are powered by one of Wilmington and Western Railroad’s historic first-generation diesel locomotives.
Tickets are $18 for adults, $17 for seniors and $16 for children (ages 2-12).
The New Hope Railroad (32 Bridge Street, New Hope, www.newhoperailroad.com) is running its “Grapevine Express,” which features “Wine & Cheese Tasting” on September 16 and 17 at 5 p.m. each night.
Riders are invited to take part in a romantic “Wine and Cheese Excursion” and enjoy fine gourmet cheese, artisan crackers, meats, fruit, and our featured local wines. Additional Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic beverages are also available onboard.
Wine and cheese will be served to passengers as they travel along the same railroad line passengers did when it was built in 1891 connecting New Hope with Philadelphia. The journey travels through the beautiful hills and valleys of Bucks County, along once vital waterways and streams and across numerous trestle bridges.
The excursions will take place aboard one of the railroads lavishly appointed early 1900’s first-class parlor cars.
Tickets are $106 (ages 21 and older only).
