This weekend, Philadelphia comes alive with First Friday festivities, Day of the Dead parties, dinners (and margaritas!), a special pay-what-you-wish promotion at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Scrapplefest at Reading Terminal Market. (Photo by J. Fusco for GPTMC)
Tonight, First Friday brings Philadelphians discounted (or free!) admission to some of the city’s most impressive museums, as well as Art in the Age cocktails and new products at a launch party, exhibition openings at well-loved galleries, performances and much more in tons of neighborhoods around the city — from Mt. Airy to Fishtown. Raise a glass to the citywide bash and get out there and have some free (or majorly discounted) fun.
Tomorrow, Reading Terminal Market celebrates scrapple, a fried Pennsylvania original made from pork, spices and cornmeal, introduced by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries at its annual Scrapplefest. All day long, fill up on the fried treat and learn tips and tricks from seasoned chefs.
This weekend also marks the super-festive Day of the Dead holiday. Museums, bars and restaurants are all filling the city with fiestas to celebrate the traditional Mexican holiday. Think special menus, family-friendly crafts, lectures, drink specials and dance parties.
Our top picks for this weekend, below.
Friday, November 1
Top Pick: Our First Friday Picks — Also check out First Friday in Fishtown, Old City, Northern Liberties, Manayunk, Mt. Airy, Kennett Square
Top Pick: First Friday at The National Constitution Center
Top Pick: The Awesome Fest’s Drive-In Movie Series Presents The Car and Christine
Top Pick: Peak Weekend for Autumn’s Colors at Longwood Gardens (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Top Pick: Art After 5 Presents Roaring ’20s Dance Party
Top Pick: First Friday at the Barnes Foundation
From Philadelphia To Monaco: Grace Kelly Beyond The Icon at the Michener Art Museum (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Art in the Age Philadelphia Textile Collection Launch
FlixFling Presents a Free Screening of Battle For the Planet of the Apes at the Piazza
Day of the Dead DJ Party at Distrito
KAWS at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Souled Out With Argo & Lexx at The Trestle Inn
Once at the Academy of Music (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Léger: Modern Art And The Metropolis at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Black Bodies in Propaganda: The Art of the War Poster at the Penn Museum (Fri, Sat, Sun)
The Joe Bonham Project at Drexel University (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Historic Germantown Presents Anthony Benezet Symposium (Fri, Sat)
New Middle East Cinema’s Film Festival (Fri, Sat)
Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary (Fri, Sat)
Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Saturday, November 2
Top Pick: Scrapplefest at Reading Terminal Market
Top Pick: Day of the Dead Celebrations Around the City (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Top Pick: Gershman Y’s Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (Sat, Sun)
Top Pick: Peddler’s Village Apple Festival (Sat, Sun)
Top Pick: Lobster Month at Route 6 (Fri, Sat, Sun) — Now Extended!
Top Pick: Opera in the City: Svadba–Wedding (Sat, Sun)
The Coffee and Tea Festival (Sat, Sun)
Sugarloaf Crafts Festival (Fri, Sat, Sun)
The Mütter Museum’s Annual Day of the Dead Festival
PHAIR Open-Air Market — Closing Day!
Wild Flowers: Paintings and Drawings by Peter Paone at the Woodmere Art Museum (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Fire and Spice Weekends at Chaddsford Winery (Sat, Sun)
Finding Infinity at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Fitler Square Farmers’ Market
Our Guide to Hiking and Biking in the Philadelphia Region
More picks, below.
Day of the Dead Celebration at the Penn Museum
First Saturday Brunch at Johnny Brenda’s
Capture The Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs at the National Constitution Center (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Two-Day Paper Mache Workshop with Joel Garcia at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (Sat, Sun)
Creating and Maintaining Terrariums Workshop at Greensgrow Farms
Universal Warrior: Fantasy Hair Competition at Voyeur
Clark Park Farmers’ Market
CandyCoated Wonderland at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Seafarin Saturday at the Independence Seaport Museum
The Unflinching Eye: Works of the Tiberino Family Circle at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Sunday, November 3
Top Pick: Pay-What-You-Wish at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Top Pick: Free First Sunday at the Barnes Foundation
Top Pick: Clover Market in Ardmore
Top Pick: From kegs and eggs to chocolate-filled treats – Our Neighborhood-based Guide to Brunch
Top Pick: Pumpkinland at Linvilla Orchards (Fri, Sat, Sun) — Closing Day!
Top Pick: A Guide to New and Coming Soon Shopping in Philadelphia
November’s here! Stock up on farm fresh goods for fall pies — Our Fall Guide to Farmers’ Markets
Sunday Sessions at The Cambridge Featuring the Chelsea Reed Duo
The Surrealists: Works from the Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art — Opening Day!
Dinosaurs Unearthed At The Academy Of Natural Sciences (Fri, Sat, Sun)
You Made It Out Alive Brunch at Distrito — $5 Bloody Mary’s and Sangria
Crossroads Music Series Featuring West Philadelphia Orchestra
Pirate Adventure Day at the Brandywine River Museum
Day of the Dead Specials at El Rey
Through the Looking Lens and Drawing Room at the American Philosophical Society Museum (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Through the Lens at Mushmina Boutique
Headhouse Farmers’ Market
Crooked Cronies: Philadelphia’s Profiteering Politicians of the Past at Laurel Hill Cemetery
The Way of Chopsticks at The Philadelphia Art Alliance (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Sukkah City at the Gershman Y
Traditions of India at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Central Branch
The Malcolm X Steles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Fri, Sat, Sun)