The best Philly festivals this spring | Things to Do

The events calendar is heating up this week, even if the temperature remains mid. There’s so much to celebrate, from Earth Day to Record Store Day, to the unofficial canna-holiday, to Taylor Swift’s new album. My head’s on a swivel just trying to keep up.

This weekend, head to one of the many outdoor festivals, volunteer to plant trees for Earth Day, root for Philly’s own Sapphira Cristál in the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race (yes, I’m biased), and explore an environmental film festival.

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

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It’s the season for outdoor festivals, where there’s something for every Philadelphian — foodies, goat racers, music fans, greasy pole climbers, beer drinkers, artsy folks, circus lovers, and more. This packed weekend, catch World Circus Day Festival (4/20), Spring Fest at Bartram’s Garden (4/20), and Manayunk’s StrEAT Festival (4/21). Here’s your guide to the best spring fests in and around Philly.

🎥 What to watch: Bilal Motley grew up in Chester, where nearly everyone he knew suffered from asthma because they lived near the largest trash incinerator in the country, on the Chester waterfront. Motley directed Trash & Burn, a short documentary about the community’s fight against pollution that will screen on Friday at Cherry Street Pier; it’s one of the films featured in the Academy of Natural Science’s environment-themed film festival, Confluence: Earthly Films for Philadelphia.

🏛️ Set in stone: In 1777, a Black woman named Dinah outsmarted British soldiers and saved Stenton, a historic building that serves as a museum today in Germantown. This weekend is the unveiling of a new memorial celebrating Dinah’s service. Learn more about her story.

🏀 Courtside views: The Sixers are heading to the playoffs after beating the Miami Heat by just one point last night. Here’s everything you need to know about the Sixers-Knicks playoff schedule starting Saturday.

🎹 The loco-motion on Walnut Street: The jukebox musical Beautiful — The Carole King Musical is a fun romp through the hit-making composer’s life, putting a fresh spin on her sing-along-worthy classics. Pop music critic Dan DeLuca and I chatted about why it works in our joint review.

🌍 Earth Day: Monday is Earth Day and there are tons of activities and volunteer opportunities all across the Philadelphia area for all ages. Head to a Philadelphia Earth Day Block Party, explore nature at Awbury Arboretum, or spend the day planting trees and hiking trails as part of Naturepalooza. Find what Earth Day celebration is right for you.

💄 Behind the looks: Tomorrow is the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race where Philly’s own queen Sapphira Cristál will compete for the crown. She’s been one of the best and most victorious drag queens that the show has ever seen, thanks in big part to her local fashion support team. Meet the drag performers and designers of Cristál’s jaw-dropping looks.

🎶 Music deals: Record Store Day is Saturday, which means there are lots of specials happening around town (and no, it’s not all Taylor Swift-related). In honor of the day, check out our list of the best record stores in Philly.

📅 My calendar picks this week: printPHILLY! 2024, Maker Faire, and Be Black Be Beautiful Mural Tour

The ultra-rare 16th century play — not by Shakespeare — The Spanish Tragedy is considered one of the earliest revenge stories ever written. Thomas Kyd’s work is gory, violent, and completely bonkers, a centuries-long precursor to popular revenge plots in Game of Thrones or Kill Bill. A mix of graduate and undergraduate students at Villanova are staging the work, directed by English professor Alice Dailey and theater professor Chelsea Phillips, with content warnings that are off the wall, from “self-inflicted dismemberment (tongue)” to simply “a bloodbath.” The production is also part of a larger Villanova symposium dedicated to the play and the legacy of revenge tales. It’s ambitious and sounds like a bloody good time.

🍹 Our recs: Making happy hour plans? Or looking for a good spot for date night? We’ve got a list of the best rooftop bars in Philly.

🌷 For the ‘gram: Tulips are in bloom and there’s nothing quite like taking beautiful photos in a field of colorful flowers. Here’s where to see spring tulips near the city.

💐 Fresh cuts: If you’d rather bring flowers home to spruce up your space, we’ve got you covered. Pick your own lavender, dahlias, sunflowers, and more at these flower farms near Philly.

🪴 Touch grass: Calling all aspiring gardeners! Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty — explore our beginner’s guide to gardening with native plants.

🎺 Sounds of the city: Meet Mark Nicholson, the trumpet player you might’ve seen on the Art Museum steps, onstage, or on a South Philly street corner ahead of a Birds game.

Dan DeLuca breaks down some of the best shows coming to town this weekend:

🎤 Thursday: Dom Flemons won a Grammy back in 2011 for the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ album Genuine Negro Jig, and he’s been nominated for two more as a solo artist, for 2018′s Black Cowboys and last year’s Traveling Wildfire. The singer, scholar, and multi-instrumentalist playing City Winery Philadelphia on Thursday has trademarked the moniker “The American Songster” and made a fruitful career of bringing Black roots music history back to life.

🎤 Friday: The mega-pop news dwarfing anything that stands in its way: Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which comes out Friday. That’s the day before Record Store Day, and while Swift does not have an RSD exclusive, she is releasing various vinyl and CD versions of the album that contains bonus tracks “The Manuscript” and “The Bolter.” So expect Philly area shops — and Target, which has exclusive Tortured Poets editions — to be full up of Swifties on Friday.

🎤 Also Friday: Pop events happening Friday with somewhat less mainstream appeal than Swift include Michael Hurley, the Bucks Country-raised octogenarian songwriter whose most recent album, The Time of the Foxgloves, was released on the Philly label No Quarter. Simpatico Philly songwriter Shannen Moser opens for him at Johnny Brenda’s.

🎤 More Friday: Lucha Libre mask-wearing guitar band Los Straitjackets play World Cafe Live, with Creem Circus opening, and Replacements cofounder Tommy Stinson plays Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City. Jon Langford & Sally Timms, the dependably brilliant Chicago indie twosome who are members of the UK punk legendary band, the Mekons, will play at an undisclosed location in Manayunk. Details at tickettailor.com.

🎤 Saturday: If you can’t make that Langford-Timms gig, there’s another free one for Record Store Day at Main Street Music in Manayunk on Saturday. Philly power pop band Hurry — just back from a European tour — is on the bill, as are Tim House and Ivan Julian. In other Record Store Day news, participating stores like Siren Records in Doylestown, Common Beat in West Philly, and Repo Records on South Street will be selling limited-edition RSD vinyl.

Thankfully this didn’t happen but the thing that’s been on our minds all week on the Inquirer arts desk is Bad Bunny’s nearly rescheduled concert that hinged on the Sixers. It united basketball and music fans alike. Earlier this week, ticket holders were warned that, depending on the results of Wednesday’s game against the Miami Heat, the Sixers might need to play the Wells Fargo Center on Friday and bump Bad Bunny to Thursday. Basically the plans of some 20,000 fans were in the balance and all we could do was…care about basketball? It felt like a signature Philly sports city moment, demanding that everyone root for the hometown team so they could avoid canceling hotel reservations, etc. Thankfully they won — by just ONE point — so we can all proceed as usual, but it still caused a bit of chaos. I wish them well in the playoffs, just please leave me out of it. Will you be attending Bad Bunny? Let me know!

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This week I’ve been listening to Peso Pluma and truly cannot get “Ella Baila Sola” out of my head. What’s in your headphones? Drop me a rec.