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Weekend event picks: Cheesesteak Festival, Halloween fun & more

Weekends are when we can truly be our best selves. Might as well show off your charming and endearing personality while digging into a cheesesteak or checking out a not-yet-released film. Here’s what you have to look forward to this weekend.

    by Allie Volpe
    Published 

Weekends are when we can truly be our best selves. Might as well show off your charming and endearing personality while digging into a cheesesteak or checking out a not-yet-released film. Here's what you have to look forward to this weekend.

Over 100 films will be screened during this year's Philadelphia Film Festival, kicking off on Thursday, Oct. 22 with a screening of Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa and a Prohibition-inspired after-party. To help you hone in on the must-see flicks of the fest — that aren't out in theaters yet — check out our picks.

Master and novice rowers take to the Schuylkill for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, a two-day competition beginning at 8 a.m. both Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25. Watch the 2.5-mile race from along Kelly Drive by Boathouse Row (though it's suggested that the best viewing spot would be by the Three Angels statue). The festival tent will be the go-to for vendors, food and awards ceremonies.

Halloween comes early to Manayunk on Saturday, Oct. 24. A jam-packed day of haunting entertainment begins at 8 a.m. with a flea market and continues when little ones start trick-or-treating down Main St. at 11 a.m. Other highlights include pumpkin carving, movie night, and other activities at Venice Island (7 Lock St.), and a dog parade and costume contest at noon as well as a kids' parade and costume contest at 1 p.m. — both start at Canal View Park (4430 Main St.).

It's hard to believe we never had an official cheesesteak festival until now. But Saturday, Oct. 24, the city will change as the Philadelphia Cheesesteak Festival kicks off at 11 a.m. Featuring over 40 vendors — like Pat's, Genos, Steve's Prince of Steaks, Tony Luke's, Nick's Roast Beef and more — the festival will allow hungry patrons to sample, grab a beer, play carnival games, check out the World's Largest Cheesesteak, or compete in the cheesesteak-eating competition. Pace yourselves: The fest at Lincoln Financial Field (1 Lincoln Financial Field Way) runs until 5 p.m.

Though "spooky" is in the name, the Fall Fest and Spooky Saturday on East Passyunk is far from horrifying. Beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, kids can come dressed up in their costumes for a contest at The Singing Fountain (East Passyunk Avenue and Tasker Street), decorate pumpkins, and trick-or-treat (starting at 1 p.m.). Also set for the day is a craft show and delicious eats from local vendors.

Take in the tastes and sights of Italy during Wildwood's Olde Time Italian Festival. There'll be no shortage of authentic fare, an Italian market, crafts, games, cultural performances and a few contests — grape stomping and spaghetti eating. The affair takes place in the shore town's Fox Park (Ocean Avenue between Burk and Montgomery Avenues) on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.

The multi-day Oktoberfest celebration at Dilworth Park (15th and Market Streets) culminates with two days of music, beer and games on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25. Tunes start at noon both days with highlights like Brianna Cash (5:30 p.m. Saturday), Dave P. (noon Sunday) and Work Drugs (4:30 p.m. Sunday). Grab a brew from Rosa Blanca Café's beer garden and you'll be set.

Celebrating Main Line Art Center's (746 Panmure Road, Haverford) "Panorama: Image-Based Art in the 21st Century" initiative comes an evening festival on Saturday, Oct. 24. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. check out fire spinners, projected artwork, exhibitions, and art activities, and grab a bite to eat at the indoor-outdoor festival.

Picks from the Inquirer's Michael Harrington

Presented by the brand-new-but-already-invaluable Impermanent Society of Philadelphia, the NowHere Festival of Free Improvisation in Sound & Movement finishes up a weeklong series of workshops, classes, and panel discussions with an impressive array of performances. Highlights include:

  1. Massachusetts vocalist Andrea Pensado, who uses electronics to create "often abrasive sounds," in an "irrational use of the voice."

  2. The Maine noise-poetry artist who bills himself as ID M Theft Able, and creates performances using "found objects, electronics, and whatever else is available."

  3. New York percussionist Michael Evans, whose work with dancer and choreographer Susan Hefner "embraces the collision of sound and theatrics."

  4. Easton, Pa., saxophonist Jack Wright, a free-jazz icon.

  5. Innovative Baltimore pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, who mixes classical, jazz, and world beat into country swing.

  6. Violinist LaDonna Smith, a new music pioneer from Alabama.

  7. Local artists include the intriguing flutist Bonnie Kane, challenging saxophonists Keir Neuringer and Bhob Rainey, filmmaker and sound artist Catherine Pancake, and standout dancers Leah Stein and Asimina Chremos.

All events are at Mascher Space Coop (155 Cecil B. Moore Ave.) starting at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25.

The baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare is joined by luminous soprano Julianne Baird for an all-Bach program at two locations: Friday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill (8855 Germantown Ave.), and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at the American Philosophical Society (427 Chestnut St.).

Had enough Harry Potter? No! There's never enough. But time — that can be a test. No worries, in "Potted Potter," Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner squeeze all seven novels into little more than an hour (and get in a game of Quidditch, besides). The show goes on at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater (Broad and Spruce Streets) at 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25.

In a genre that's over-the-top as a matter of course, Verdi's dizzy epic Aida stands supreme. The Teatro Alla Scala di Milano production of the tale of a tragic African princess screens at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25.

For more Things to Do, check out our calendar for the most up-to-date happenings.