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South Street Spring Festival, Bold Women & Beer Festival, The Derby at Woodford Mansion, and more events around Philadelphia, May 3-9

South Street Spring Festival, Bold Women & Beer Festival, The Derby at Woodford Mansion, and more events around Philadelphia, May 3-9

The annual South Street Spring Festival returns, bringing live music, food vendors, and entertainment galore to South Street this Saturday.
The annual South Street Spring Festival returns, bringing live music, food vendors, and entertainment galore to South Street this Saturday.Read moreHughE Dillon / File Photograph

FESTIVAL

South Street Spring Festival

A giant block party takes over South Street this Saturday with dozens of live bands, a maypole dance, a beer garden outside of Brauhaus Schmitz, and food vendors galore. Festivalgoers can watch the bold and brave take on the Philly Taco Eating Contest, featuring a Jim’s Cheesesteak wrapped inside a Lorenzo’s slice of pizza, and look out for free comic giveaways for National Comic Book Day. — Grace Dickinson

11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, South Street from Front Street to Eighth Street. Free. southstreet.com

OUTDOORS

Jane’s Walk

Celebrate the legacy of writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs while exploring Philadelphia by foot during the annual, worldwide Jane’s Walk weekend. Volunteers will lead more than 30 walks in neighborhoods throughout the city that are designed to foster community and conversation by observing the communities within which we live. Events include a golden-hour photo walk in Callowhill, a foraging stroll in the heart of Washington Square, and a city streets walk exploring the history and development of Brewerytown. — G.D.

May 3-5, locations throughout the city. Free. janeswalkphl.org

Philly Girls Jump Season Jump Off

Grab a rope and a good pair of shoes and come by the first event of Philly Girls Jump’s season. Double Dutch enthusiasts of all ages are welcome — there’s no better way to take advantage of the warm weather than by jumping rope outdoors! — Thea Applebaum Licht

2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Awbury Park, 6101 Ardleigh St. facebook.com/PhillyGirlsJump.

FAMILY

WildwoodStock Festival

Bring the whole family out for three days of live music and amusement ride entertainment during Morey’s Piers WildwoodStock Festival. Eight different bands will take to the stage throughout the weekend, four of which will perform right in front of the Ferris wheel. Plenty of boardwalk eats will be available, too, including free samples of Dippin’ Dots exclusive Sea Salt Caramel Piertzel flavor. — G.D.

May 3-5, Morey’s Piers, 3501 Boardwalk, Wildwood, N.J. $19.95 and up. moreyspiers.com

FOOD

Mexican Cultural Week Dinner at Philadelphia Magic Gardens

Get ready to chow down on grasshopper croquettes and other Aztec specialties. As part of the city’s Mexican Cultural Week, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is hosting a special three-course meal inside its mosaic paradise Friday night. El Rey executive chef Dioncio Jimenez will serve up traditional dishes eaten by the Aztecs prior to colonization, including huitlacoche with squash blossoms, escamoles with epazote on tlayuditas, michmole soup with fish and ants’ crust, and more. — G.D.

6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South St. $100. mexicanculturalcenter.org

Port Richmond Pierogi Fest

Warm potato dumplings take center stage at this spring fest, when a massive selection of pierogi vendors, local artists and craftspeople, and live music take over Campbell Square. You can get a taste of all things pierogi that the city has to offer, and even stop by the demonstration tent to learn the skill of pierogi rolling. — T.A.L.

Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Campbell Square, Belgrade St. and East Allegheny Ave. facebook.com/CampbellSquare/

DERBY WATCH PARTY

The Derby at Woodford Mansion

Celebrate the Kentucky Derby with a Philly twist this Saturday at Woodford Mansion. In addition to a live watch party, find cocktails from local distillery Manatawny Still Works, craft beer from King of Prussia’s Workhorse Brewing Co., mint iced tea, and a spread of Southern fare at the Fairmount Park historic site. Guests are encouraged to dress in their Derby best. Those who go all out will be highly encouraged to enter the hat contest. Live music, mansion tours, and kid-oriented activities are also scheduled. — G.D.

5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, 2300 N. 33rd St. $35. eventbrite.com/e/the-derby-at-woodford-tickets-58949972956

DRINK

Bold Women & Beer Festival at Love City

Cheers to the powerful women behind some of our favorite sudsy brews at Love City’s first female-centered beer festival this Saturday. Participants can look forward to samples from more than 30 women-led breweries, food trucks eats, and live music from four female-fronted bands. — G.D.

1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Love City Brewing Company, 1023 Hamilton St. $45 ($10 per designated driver). boldwomenandbeer.com

DANCE

Pennsylvania Ballet “DGV,” a world premiere, and “Glass Pieces”

The Pennsylvania Ballet closes its season with Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV: Danse à Grand Vitesse (which the company first danced in 2015), a Jorma Elo world premiere, and the company premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces. — Ellen Dunkel

May 9-12, Academy of Music, 240 South Broad St. $35-$154. paballet.org

FILM

‘Cinema Paradiso’ at South Street Cinema

See the Oscar-winning Italian movie Cinema Paradiso at the South Street Cinema, a small, pop-up venue offering a unique selection of movies for reasonable prices. This drama is a love letter to film and filmmakers, and follows its young protagonist as he forges a friendship with his local movie projectionist and a deep relationship with moviemaking. — T.A.L.

7 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, South Street Cinema, 327 South St. $5. facebook.com/southstreetcinema.

MUSIC

Valerie June

On “Got Soul” from 2017’s excellent The Order of Time, Valerie June sings, in jaunty drawl, “I could sing you a country tune / and carry the name Sweet Valerie June / But I got soul.” While that song joyfully celebrates Stax-style Memphis soul, its rejection of country and other genres is a bit disingenuous: June skillfully blurs genres. Pushin’ Against a Stone from 2013 led off with “Workin’ Woman Blues,” and when she trades her guitar for a banjo or a ukulele, she proves she can indeed sing a country tune, soulfully. She recently released a moody cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” and she’s been previewing new songs on this between-albums tour, which brings her to Ardmore on Friday. Parker Gispert, of Georgia’s the Whigs, opens. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Friday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore. $25-$35. 610-649-8389, ardmoremusic.com.

Eli “Paperboy” Reed

He may seem like an unlikely soul man, but the Jewish kid from New England has most assuredly grown into an authentic one. On his new 99-Cent Dreams, Eli “Paperboy” Reed again shows he’s no mere revivalist, as the album’s 12 original songs hold up against the standards of the genre. And while he leans this time toward the sweet side of soul, Reed occasionally flashes the bite that reflects his apprenticeships in the blues and gospel. — Nick Cristiano

With Brandi and the Alexanders. 8:30 p.m. Friday Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St. $15. 267-639-4528.

Kandi Burruss’ ‘Welcome to the Dungeon’ with Tamar Braxton and Trina

This Atlanta-bred reality television personality was once in the biggest R&B act of the 1990s, Xscape, whose hits such as “Just Kickin’ It,” “Understanding,” and “Who Can I Run To,” helped put the Southern state on the hip-pop map. Along with cowriting credits with-and-for Mariah Carey, Pink, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys, Burruss wrote “No Scrubs” for TLC with her partner in Xscape, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle (T.I.’s wife), the costar of several reality shows with her family. So, yes, you may know Kandi more now from her long-standing appearance on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta. Burruss, however, has a rich, full musical life of past hop-pop hits and stewing, soulful recent solo albums to show for it — the musical reason behind this tour. Visually, expect her new tour’s showcase, “Welcome to the Dungeon,” to feature heavy doses of burlesque and stripping, female and male. Tamar Braxton and Trina — two other women in hip-hop with reality-show ties — will open the show. — A.D. Amorosi

9 p.m. Saturday, Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St. $65-$102. bowerypresents.com/greater-philly/shows/franklin-music-hall

Stephen Malkmus

From his Slanted and Enchanted days leading 1990s indie darlings Pavement to the years this century when he’s been backed by the Jicks, Stephen Markmus has always been an artist with a singular vision he’s generally put across with the aid of a rock band. But now, with his new album Groove Denied, Malkmus is up to something different. Playing all instruments himself, it’s a semi-electronic effort that frees the songwriter up to experiment. But not too wildly: Groove Denied, which follows Sparkle Hard, last year’s top flight effort with the Jicks, is still a song-based record, rather than some sort of Metal Machine Music style radical departure. It’ll be interesting to see how he pulls it off onstage, all by his lonesome. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Saturday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore. Sold out. 610-649-8389. ardmoremusic.com.