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Bastille Day, Blobfest, and 14 more things to do in Philadelphia July 14 to 20

Bastille Day at Eastern State Penitentiary.
Bastille Day at Eastern State Penitentiary.Read more

FESTIVALS

Bastille Day at Eastern State Penitentiary

This Saturday, relive a revolution. Eastern State Penitentiary's playful annual celebration of Bastille Day features experimental cabaret group the Bearded Ladies; a drag impersonator of the french star Edith Piaf leading a show filled with singing, dancing, political commentary; and guest appearances by such public figures as Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Franklin. The festival reaches a frenetic finale with a reenactment of the storming of the Bastille and a shower of Tastykakes from the penitentiary walls. (As in, "Let them eat Tastykake.") — Thea Applebaum Licht

5:30 p.m. Saturday, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave. Free. 215-236-3300, easternstate.org.

Join fellow sci-fi buffs for the Colonial Theatre's yearly celebration of the 1958 film The Blob. Featuring a gooey and unstoppable alien life form of the same name, The Blob was filmed in part in the Colonial itself, and will be commemorated by a three-day festival including screenings of the movie and a reenactment of the classic "run-out" sequence filmed there. If you didn't snatch a ticket for the sold-out Run Out event, you can still wait outside the theater at around 9 p.m. to see film-goers spill out, fleeing The Blob. —T.A.L.

Run Out 7-9 p.m. Friday, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. Sold out. 610-917-1228, thecolonialtheatre.com.

Martha Graham Cracker’s Made in Philadelphia Festival

Conceived by "the world's tallest and hairiest drag queen" herself, Martha Graham Cracker's festival is a riff on Made in America. Instead of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, this two-day festival will be held at Johnny Brenda's and features Philly-born talent. The lineup, unique each night, is set to include Martha Graham Cracker's own cabaret and an all-female teenage Judas Priest tribute band, Judith Priest. — T.A.L.

9 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 21 and over. $15-$20. 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

FILM

» READ MORE: "Dawson City: Frozen Time"

In 1978, a worker ripping up the parking lot of a former skating rink in Canada's Dawson City found more than 500 canisters of film buried and mostly preserved in the Yukon permafrost. It seems that the Gold Rush town was the terminus for film distribution in the early 20th century and the cost of return was prohibitive, so they piled up and were forgotten, ending up as landfill. In his new film, documentarian Bill Morrison uses clips from the degraded but still watchable films — news reels (including the 1919 World Series ) and forgotten features with titles such as Giuseppe's Good Fortune, The Stolen Paradise, and Polly of the Circus — to examine the history of the town and the nature of film. — Michael Harrington

7 p.m. Friday, International House's Lightbox Film Center, 3701 Chestnut St., $10; $8 seniors and students, 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org

» READ MORE: “Berserk!”

The AIDS Law Project teams up with the Secret Cinema to present its 18th annual benefit summer movie party, and they have a doozy in this whacked-out 1967 British horror film, starring Joan Crawford in her penultimate motion-picture appearance (the last was Trog, also produced by B-movie king Herman Cohen). In this one, Crawford is the owner and ringmistress of  a small circus touring the English countryside while various performers are being murdered one by one. As if that's not enough, Crawford has to deal with her rebellious daughter (who shows up after being kicked out of school), a suspicious (but buff) high-wire walker, and a trouble-making (but pneumatic) magician's assistant (Diana Dors, always great). Refreshments will be served at the screening. — M.H.

6 p.m. Friday, the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., $25,  215-587-9377, aidslawpa.org

» READ MORE: "Tampopo"

Juzo Itami called his 1985 comedy a "ramen Western," but though there's a hero in a cowboy hat and a couple of fistfights, it's really centered on a universal theme: Everybody loves food. It's a simple tale, told in a convoluted manner, in which a truck driver sets out to help a widow make her decrepit noodle shop into the top shop — but first they need the perfect recipe. — M.H.

2 p.m. Sunday, Mount Laurel Library, 100 Walt Whitman Ave., Mount Laurel, free, 856-234-7319, http://www.mtlaurel.lib.nj.us/

STAGE

"The New and Improved Stages of Grief"

In her one-woman show, Mary Carpenter looks at coping with loss and the emotions it causes, with a surprising emphasis on what's funny. Really. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave. Ambler,  $21-$25. 215-654-0200, act2.org

"Hamlet"

Shakespeare's tale of the melancholy Danish prince given to spouting soliloquies while struggling with love, murder, and revenge is given a feverish site-specific production by REV Theatre Company amid the gravestones, tombs, and mausoleums of  Laurel Hill Cemetery. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Laurel Hill Cemetery, 3822 Ridge Ave., $25; reservations required, thelaurelhillcemetery.org

VROOM

"Doylestown at Dusk" car show 

The eighth annual gathering of awesome autos features more than 400 antique, classic, and custom vehicles, with awards for best detail and cleanliness, workmanship and unique design. In addition to the cool cars, there will be food, live bands, and more.  It all benefits Doylestown Rotary's programs and initiatives in the community. — M.H.

5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, downtown Doylestown (West State Street, Clinton Street and West Court Street). Free. doylestownrotary.org

MUSIC

Pokey LaFarge

Still in his early 30s, Pokey LaFarge made his name creating music built on an amalgam of styles — from early jazz to country blues and Western swing — that long predate him. On his new album, Manic Revelations, the musician from St. Louis continues to evolve. He adds some new touches (like Memphis soul) while overall inching toward a more modern sound. He remains steadfastly rootsy, but the vibrancy of the music and his deeply personal songwriting ensure he never sounds dated. — Nick Cristiano

With Kelsey Waldon. 8 p.m. Friday at World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets: $20. 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com/philadelphia.

The Spinto Band

Wilmington singing-songwriting guitarist Nick Krill formed the Spinto Band with a handful of high school student pals in 1996; started recording music compiled throughout his youth; and by 1998, was releasing nervous, fizzy art-pop albums on his own Spintronic label. Nice and Nicely Done (2005), however, was a different animal, as that Bar/None record — its first beyond Spinto's own label – took away the nerves, replaced it with a Ray Davies-ish wit, and presented the band with its first smash in "Oh, Mandy." The Spintos still make records — Krill works as a producer and recording engineer for Philly acts The Dove and The Wolf, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and The War On Drugs — but they don't play out too often, so consider this Boot & Saddle show a treat. — A.D. Amorosi

8 p.m. Friday, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St. $12-$15. 267-639-4528, bootandsaddlephilly.com

Lenape Chamber Ensemble

Superb area players come together to have fun and mine the depths of the chamber repertory. The opening bill of the ensemble's 31st season includes Mendelssohn's Op. 44/1 String Quartet, Chausson's Op. 30 Piano Quartet and the spiky, rhythmically throbbing "L'Histoire du Soldat" ("The Soldier's Tale") by Stravinsky. —Tom DiNardo

8 p.m. Saturday, Delaware Valley University, 700 E. Butler Pike, Doylestown. $18. 610-294-9361, lenapechamberensemble.org.

Reggae In The Park

While the fifth annual Reggae In The Park festival ranges from the safely reliable (headliner Ziggy Marley; veteran lovers rock vocalist Beres Hammond) to the controversial (Sizzla and Capleton, who have both been condemned for anti-gay rhetoric), let us here praise Culture, touring to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their classic debut Two Sevens Clash. The roots-reggae harmony record, with songs such as "Calling Rasta Far I," "Black Starliner Must Come," and the apocalyptic title track, is widely recognized as one of the greatest reggae albums of all time. Culture's current incarnation is led by Kenyatta Hill, son of the late Joseph Hill, and features original member Albert Walker. The all-day festival boasts two stages, DJ sets, and food and craft vendors. — Steve Klinge

1 p.m. Sunday, Mann Center for Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave. $39.50-$129.50. 800-745-3000, manncenter.org.

Esperanza Spalding and the Philadelphia Orchestra

The charismatic, fabulously talented vocalist and bassist solos and performs four of her own works. This free collaborative concert brings the Orchestra side-by-side with the New Young Orchestra, who together will play favorites by Copland, Falla and, of course, Stravinsky's Suite from "The Firebird." — T.D.

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets. Free; reserve tickets at 215-893-1999, philorch.org

Kendrick Lamar

Unquestionably the indoor hip-hop show of the summer. (Made In America, which brings Jay-Z, J. Cole, and many other rappers to town on Labor Day weekend, happens without a roof.) This will be Kendrick Lamar's biggest ever Philadelphia gig, after he did an undersized gig at the Trocadero on his 2015 To Pimp A Butterfly tour. With this year's  wide ranging and emphatic and all-caps DAMN., the Compton rapper continues the winning streak that began with 2012's hip-hop bildingsroman good kid, M.A.A.D. City, in which he first made a compelling argument that, this decade anyway, the "Who's the greatest rapper alive debate?" begins with him. With openers  D.R.A.M. and Travis Scott. — Dan DeLuca

7 p.m. Wednesday, Wells Fargo Center,  3601 S. Broad St. $59.50-$139.50. 215-336-3300. wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Philadelphia Orchestra

The annual Tchaikovsky spectacular, led by Stephane Deneve, includes "Nutcracker" selections, the sizzling "Francesca da Rimini" and Greenfield Student Competition winner Yljla Wang soloing in the familiar Piano Concerto No. 1. As pr tradition, the program will wrap with the "War of 1812" Overture and fireworks. — T.D.

8 p.m. Wednesday, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue. $20-$45. 800-745-3000, manncenter.org.