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Things to do in Philly, Oct. 11-17: OutFest, Old City Fest, Ali Wong, and more

Plus: The Philadelphia Film Festival and the Mutter Museum's latest exhibit opens.

Outfest, the largest celebration of National Coming Out Day in the world, is expected to draw a large crowd to the Gayborhood this Sunday.
Outfest, the largest celebration of National Coming Out Day in the world, is expected to draw a large crowd to the Gayborhood this Sunday.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

It’s another musical weekend in Philadelphia, with two exports coming in for special shows: The first, New York City’s old-school hip-hop dance party, comes to the Moshulu on Friday; the second, Elisabeth Von Trapp, the lone remaining Trapp family singer, brings Philly’s Sound of Music connection full circle on Saturday at the Basilica.

Concerts aren’t your thing? Why not visit a nearby winery for Pennsylvania Wine Month? Or venture down to South Philly and try some tempoyak — a bright, creamy Malaysian chili paste made from the notoriously smelly durian fruit — at Sate Kampar.

Jenn Ladd (@jrladd, jladd@inquirer.com)

FESTIVAL

OutFest

Touted as America’s biggest National Coming Out Day event, this fest shuts down a dozen blocks of the Gayborhood every fall with drag shows, high-heel races, and bar crawls. The party is pay-as-you-go and lasts until 6 p.m. — Bethany Ao

Sunday, 13th and Locust Streets, free, 215-875-9288, phillygaypride.org

Old City Fest

This neighborhood bash invites you to shop from more than 100 vendors, enjoy bites from dozens of area restaurants, catch a fashion show featuring local boutiques, and more. A 45-minute circus show filled with aerial fabric, trapeze, juggling, and tightwire performances adds to the day of entertainment, as does live music kicking off on the festival stage at 1 p.m. — Grace Dickinson

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, N. 3rd St. (from Market to Race Streets) and Arch St. (from 2nd to 4th Streets), free, 215-592-7929, oldcitydistrict.org

FILM

Philadelphia Film Festival

The artistic team at the Philadelphia Film Society spent the year scouring the world’s best film festivals to curate this year’s lineup of more than 100 films. Attendees will also hear from directors and actors. — B.A.

Opens Thursday, Philadelphia Film Center, Ritz Five and Ritz East, $15, $8 for weekday matinees (before 5 p.m.), 267-239-2941, filmadelphia.org

MUSEUM

Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Philadelphia

This ambitious exhibition explores what is arguably the greatest cataclysm in Philadelphia’s history: The deadly flu epidemic of 1918-1919, which took more than 20,000 lives. View interactive displays, photographs, and documents. — Stephan Salisbury

Opens Thursday, Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 19 S. 22nd St., 215-560-8564, muttermuseum.org

RUN

1st Annual Poe Raid Relay Race and Party

Ravens will be passed from one cold hand to the next at this first annual Edgar Allan Poe relay race and party. Teams are encouraged to dress in Poe costume and will compete for the Tell-Tale Heart trophy, and afterward celebrate with fellow Poe fans enjoying food, booze, Quizzo, readings, and more at Liberty Lands Park. — G.D.

Noon to 4 p.m., race starts at 700 Fairmount Ave. and ends at Liberty Lands Park, free, explorenorthernliberties.org

COMEDY

Ali Wong

It’s been nearly 15 years since Ali Wong broke into stand-up, and since then, she’s starred in films like Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe and The Angry Birds Movie, TV shows like Inside Amy Schumer and Fresh Off the Boat, and in her own comedy specials Ali Wong: Baby Cobra and Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife. This fall, Wong brings her decidedly blue act to Philly, but cell phone addicts be warned: You’ll be locking your device in a Yondr pouch, as has become popular among shows for major comics in recent years. — Nick Vadala

7 p.m. Thursday, the Met Philadelphia, 858 N. Broad St., $69.50-$124.40, 1-800-745-3000, themetphilly.com

MUSIC

Friday Remix at Philadelphia Museum of Art

Local artists of all kinds take over the Philadelphia Museum of Art after dark this Friday. Catch multiple acts by the Almanac Dance Circus Theater, partake in a participatory performance of dance, music, and textiles, listen to a poetry reading, and enjoy performances by multiple musicians. The night ends with a dance party filled with soulful classics and funky jams. — G.D.

6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, $28 ($22 for members), 215-763-8100, philamuseum.org

Eric Church

For over a decade, country tough guy Eric Church has positioned himself as an outlaw, reaching back to “The World Needs A Drink,” the 2005 single he wrote for Terri Clark, to his 2018 album, Desperate Man, whose title track was written with Texas songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard. This year, the North Carolina native’s Double Down tour is occupying a city for back-to-back three-hour shows (with different set lists) on weekend nights. The party starts early on Friday, with no opening act. — D.D.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., $25-$149. 215-336-3600. wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Marcus Roberts & the Modern Jazz Generation

Jazzman Marcus Roberts made his name in the 1980s as a piano prodigy, one of the upstart Young Lions who celebrated the music’s pre-fusion past with an emphasis, in Roberts’ case, on stride and ragtime piano. Sightless since the age of 5, he studied at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, where Ray Charles was educated, and joined Wynton Marsalis’ band while still in his early 20s. In a 2014 60 Minutes profile, Marsalis called him “a monster musician.” That same year, Roberts released his first album with the Modern Jazz Generation, the multigenerational group he’ll perform with at the Perelman Theater, kicking off the Jazz at the Kimmel Center season. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Friday, Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., $30-$47. 215-790-5800. kimmelcenter.org

Bedouine

Bedouine’s Azniv Korkejian was born in Syria and lived in Saudi Arabia until she was 10, when her family moved to America. The touchstones for the lovely Bird Songs of a Killjoy, the second Bedouine album, are primarily from the early ’70s folk tradition: the delicately orchestrated folk of Vashti Bunyan, the deliberate poetry of Leonard Cohen, the gentle melodies of Laurel Canyon singers. But there are also echoes of contemporary cross-continental artists such as Bebel Gilberto and Keren Ann. Although the album is light and airy, the sensibility in the bruised love songs is tough-minded and resilient. Korkejian, who is now based in Los Angeles, brings her band to the intimate upstairs room of World Café Live Saturday night. — Steve Klinge

9 p.m. Saturday, Lounge at World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., $15. 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com

Charles Tolliver 4tet

Following an apprenticeship with saxophonist Jackie McLean and his cofounding of the venturesome label Strata-East in 1970, trumpeter Charles Tolliver seemed primed to be one of the leaders of the jazz vanguard heading into the ’80s and beyond. Then he dropped off the radar for more than two decades, until a triumphant reemergence in the new millennium with a strikingly original big band. On Friday, Tolliver will be honored with the Mid Atlantic Art Foundation’s Living Legacy Jazz Award prior to pianist Marcus Roberts’ show at the Kimmel, then he’ll take the stage at the Clef Club on Saturday with a stellar band featuring pianist Victor Gould and the legendary rhythm section of Buster Williams and Lenny White. — Shaun Brady

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad St., $35. 215-893-9912 clefclubofjazz.org

Greta Van Fleet

Michigan-born brothers Josh (vocalist), Jake (guitarist) and Sam Kiszka (bassist), with Danny Wagner (drummer), have been dropping music since 2017’s EP Black Smoke Rising (their debut album, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, came out last year) and have made a reputation for themselves that includes thunder god drumming, thick orchestral guitar riffs, and high, sensual vocal lines. Combine all that, with a rough-around-the-edges love of the blues, and you’ve got potent hard rock reminiscent of Led Zeppelin at their best, without aping or copycatting. Here’s one case where the elders could learn a thing or two from the new guys. — A.D. Amorosi

8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, the Met Philadelphia, 858 N. Broad St., $39-$199 (Tuesday sold out), themetphilly.com