Photo: Cuddle Magic
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (PMG) is excited to demonstrate its South Street pride with ART/GAGE: Celebrate Philly Creativity, PMG’s 5th annual summer festival featuring music, dance, fire arts, and hands-on activities, noon-10:00p.m. on Saturday, July 28, 2012.
ART/GAGE embodies PMG’s spirit of civic and cultural engagement by bringing a citywide selection of creative talent to the neighborhood for the organization’s largest one-day event. Throughout the afternoon, this colorful block of South Street will house vendors, performers, participating community groups, and a diverse audience – an exciting environment for a street fair.
Over 40 art vendors, food vendors, and nonprofit organizations will line the 1000 block in front of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, offering unique crafts, delicious foods, facepainting, and fun, interactive activities. Featured local organizations include PAWS, The Clay Studio, Neighborhood Bikeworks, InLiquid, and the Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative. Street fair attendees will enjoy a range of performances, which include energetic funk band, Swift Technique; hilarious musical foodies, The Really Cooks; and traditional dances by Bhutanese refugees. Local actor/director Greg DeCandia will serve as daytime ART/GAGE host. PMG’s galleries will also be open throughout the day, featuring artworks from Bhutanese, Nepalese and Iraqi refugees in Envisioning Home: Perspectives from Philadelphia Refugees, an exhibition of biographical photographs. PMG’s galleries and sculpture labyrinth will be open to the public for general admission fees until 4:00 PM ($5 for adults, $2 for children 6-12, and free for children under 6).
During the later hours, ART/GAGE will transition from the street into the glittering passageways of PMG. Night time performances include Cuddle Magic, Catnaps and beautiful fire dances. The latter portion of ART/GAGE will be hosted by Weekly Review’s Toby Lou, and will have complimentary beverages donated by Spodee, Fergie’s Pub, and Narragansett Beer Company. Entrance during the evening (4:30 – 10:00PM) is $12 for admission, $15 with complementary drinks, and includes access to PMG’s galleries.
Attended by well over 2000 people, last year’s community festival was hosted on the 1000 block of South Street and within PMG’s expansive sculpture grounds.
Event Details
Location: 1000 Block of South Street
Street Fair Admission: FREE
Daytime Performances
12:15p.m.: Hot Bijouxx – a lively swing, hot jazz, gypsy band playing music from the 1920′s and 1930′s (hotbijouxx.com)
1:00p.m.: Tonantzin Coatlicue – a group of teenage girls and young women relocated from Mexico perform traditional concheros dances celebrating Aztec culture
2:00p.m.: Swift Technique – an energetic seven-piece jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock band persuading listeners of all ages to dance (swifttechnique.com)
2:50p.m.: Traditional Bhutanese Dancers – a talented group that will demonstrate the intricate dances of Bhutan culture
3:45p.m.: The Really Cooks – a half-human, half-cartoon band that mix late period British ’60s pop with a quirky American show-tune aesthetic, crafting fun, energetic pop tunes (thereallycooks.com)
*Alaya Richman will be performing family-friendly drag throughout the day!
Little Baby’s Ice Cream
20+ ARTS VENDORS will showcase hand-crafted jewelry, clothing, paintings, prints, furniture, drawings, ceramics, stationary, books, instruments and so much more! Take a walk through the ART/GAGE street festival (on the 1000 block of South Street) to meet Philly’s notable local artists and craftspeople.
14+ ORGANIZATIONS will sell products, host activities, and present their services, products, and communities – including, The Village of Arts and Humanities, Y-Not Radio, Mr. and Mrs. Magoo’s Traveling Trash Puppet Circus, InLiquid, The Cultural Arts Center PDDC, Oasis Arts and Education, PAWS, The Clay Studio, Neighborhood Bikeworks, Refugee Mental Health Collaborative, hiladelphia Weekly, Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac, Hidden City, and Philly Food Forests.
FOOD VENDORS will be selling delicious edibles for all types of eaters – including Lucky Old Soul’s, ButterCream, Dapper Dog, and Little Babies Ice Cream.
Evening Performances
Location: Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South Street
Event Admission: $12 to enter, $15 with complementary drinks provided by Fergie’s Pub, Spodee and Narragansett Beer Company; Bring Your Own Blankets and Beverages
5:00p.m.: Circadian Rhythms – is a five-person musical group that incorporates a multitude of genres including swing, indie, pop, and minimalism (circadianrhythms.bandcamp.com)
6:00p.m.: Cuddle Magic – performs complex, avant-pop music. They draw formal and rhythmic inspiration from North Indian, West African, Balkan, and Appalachian music to create fresh folk music (cuddle-magic.com)
7:00p.m.: Catnaps – is an indie-pop quartet drawing inspiration from life to create original love songs with charming lyrics and catchy melodies (catnaps.bandcamp.com)
8:00p.m.: Scratched and Dented – is a group whose talents stretch to a wide range of sounds, resulting in energetic and engaging performances (soundcloud.com/dragunsound)
8:45p.m.: The 20somethings – is a collective comprised of rising independent vocal artists, songwriters, and musicians. Inspired by the mantra “Get Free”, the 20Somethings bring a distinctive and infectious energy to the music scene (facebook.com/the20somethings)
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