Hidden City Festival 2013 to Kick-off Block Party

The Hidden City Festival 2013 will kick-off this year with a block party at the Goldtex Building, located at 12th & Wood Streets on May 25 from 7-11 p.m. The evening features live music and a dance party under the Reading Viaduct, starring Hank & Cupcakes, City Rain, DJ Adrian Hardy, DJ Lina Luv, and the New Sound Brass Band. Gourmet eats from local food trucks and craft beer will be sold on site.

Join Hidden City in previewing this year's exciting lineup of Festival sites and artists, purchase your Festival passes, and learn more about Hidden City Philadelphia.

Tickets are $10 for advanced purchase and $15 at the door. All proceeds benefit the Hidden City Philadelphia Festival 2013. To purchase tickets visit hiddencityphila.ticketleap.com/kickoff or learn more about the Festival at festival.hiddencityphila.org.

Northeast Philly's Newest Farmers Market Opens Saturday, May 18

When some folks are unhappy about something in their neighborhood, they vent their frustration to neighbors and friends. Others brainstorm a solution and make something happen. Benjamin Bergman, of the Parkwood community (between Poquessing Creek and the Woodhaven Expressway), is of the latter sort. Irked by the severe lack of farmer’s markets in the entire Northeast area of Philadelphia, he decided to organize one himself, and that's how the seeds of the Parkwood Farmers Market were planted

"The far northeast is disproportionately represented in the farmer’s market scene. There's probably 40 markets going on in the city and most of them are within ten miles of each other in Center City, South and West Philly," he says. "The closest market to me is still eight miles away, and people just won’t travel that far. I really wanted to start a market close to where I live."

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Grid Alive Celebrates 50 Issues

More than 100 people showed up for Grid Alive on Friday, May 10, to celebrate Grid's 50th issue, enjoy great food and beverages, listen to fascinating conversation and great live music, and say hi to old friends and meet some new ones. 

Guests Judy Wicks, William Woys Weaver and Rob Fleming were entertaining and informative and musical guest Todd Henkin and company, while maybe not quite as informative, was absolutely entertaining. 

Sponsored by Clean Currents Energy, the event also featured wine and beer and a selection of great cheeses from Rolling Barrel Events. Also at the event was a representative of Solar States. Stay tuned for details on the next action-packed Grid Alive, scheduled for Thursday, July 11. 

Indeterminate Hikes

Have you ever felt like your smart phone is running your life? The little touch-screen task master tells you where you to be and when. It lets your boss track you down whether or not you want to be found. It speeds you up when all you want to do is slow down and enjoy nature, maybe even contemplate your place in the cosmos.

Now there’s an app for that. Artists Leila Christine Nadir and Carey Peppermint have created Indeterminate Hikes+. It redefines your relationship to your phone, and, yes, even to the world around you. “We’ve always been nature lovers, but we’re also digital artists, interested in mobile devices,” said Nadir. “Phones help keep us busy, directed. Is that necessary? Or is it just the way we use them? We wanted to reinvent our phones in ways that might be infused with more environmental mediation, awareness.”

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Country Fair Day at Saul High School, Sat., May 11!

Sometimes spending a day in the country is all a city-dweller needs to recharge.  This Saturday, May 11, W.B. Saul High School for Agricultural Sciences is inviting Philadelphians to do just that. Saul’s annual Country Fair Day will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the high school’s 150-acre campus at 7100 Henry Avenue in Roxborough.  The school’s biggest annual fundraising event will feature demonstrations, games, a plant sale, food trucks, a silent auction, a “horsey baby shower,” and cow plop bingo.  (We’ll leave that last one to your imagination.)  Money raised through the event supports the school’s hand-on approach to teaching students about agriculture, animal sciences, horticulture, and natural resource management.

Weavers Way’s Henry Got Crops! CSA, a community supported agriculture partnership between Weavers Way and Saul High School, will also be on hand with information about their CSA.  You can sign up to support the on-site farm by becoming a CSA shareholder, and they will be offering an orientation for new members.  The Henry Got Crops! CSA differs from some CSAs in that all vegetables are grown on-site, and they don’t purchase vegetables from other farms.  Additionally, Weavers Way Community Program’s farm educator teaches Saul students about small-scale, sustainable agriculture and distribution through the CSA.

For a full listing of Country Fair Day events, visit W.B. Saul High School’s website.  To learn more about Weavers Way’s Henry Got Crops! CSA or to become a shareholder, visit Weavers Way’s website.