May 31 – June 2: Heritage Electronics Concert | Philly Beer Week | Preservation Alliance & Chestnut Hill house tours | Philadelphia Orchard Project workshops | Seger Park Playground Festival | Manayunk Bike Race

Happy Friday Streeters! We’ve rounded up a few events to take your mind off the brutal heat this weekend. 

LISTEN Heritage Electronics Concert

Friday, May 31st, 7pm-11pm, Historical Society of Frankford, 1507 Orthodox St, Philadelphia. Data Garden, the group that made a name for itself making music with plans, will perform tonight as part of the Hidden City Festival. Data Garden, along with NO CARRIER, Dino Lionetti, DJ King Britt and others, will perform with early electronic instruments and help celebrate the Historical Society of Frankford

FEST Opening Tap: Kickoff to Philly Beer Week

Friday, May 31st, 6:30pm-11:30pm, Independence Mall – 6th & Market streets. The self-proclaimed largest beer celebration of its kind, Philly Beer Week kicks off Friday with a festival at Independence Mall. The traditional Hammer of Glory will return from its daylong relay through the streets, and Mayor Nutter will smash open the first official keg of the week. 

TOUR Preservation Alliance Walking Tours

Art Deco: Saturday, June 1st, 10am-12pm, Meet at Liberty Place entrance, 17th & Chestnut Sts. This tour explores the popular early 20th century architecture style, often synonymous with the Jazz Age. The tour includes the WCAU Building, now home to the Art Institute of Philadelphia. 

Little Streets of East Broad: Saturday, June 1st, 2pm-4pm, Meet at center of Kahn Park, 11th & Pine Sts. Walk the streets west of Washington Square and learn about the village-like setting in the heart of Center City. From the “hierarchy of streets,” with the small scale houses built for the aspiring middle class and worker housing on alleys, this tour will step backwards into the mid 19th century. 

TOUR 20th Century Chestnut Hill House Tour

Saturday, June 1st, 10am-4pm, Chestnut Hill Historical Society, 8039 Germantown Avenue Hosted by the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, this self-guided tour will include five houses designed by Stonorov, Montgomery & Bishop, Nolen/Runyan and Ueland. A separate guided tour of Kahn’s “Esherick House” and Venturi’s “Mother’s House” will also be offered at 11am and 2pm. Tickets for the self-guided tour are $15 for CHHS members, $30 for non-members

GREEN POP Pollinator Garden Workshop

Saturday, June 1st, 10am-12pm, Strawberry Mansion, 2450 Strawberry Mansion Drive, East Fairmount Park. The Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP) invites guests to participate in a planting with volunteers and community leaders this Saturday. Starting at 10 a.m., POP will mulch a new pollinator garden at Strawberry Mansion. At 11 a.m., the group will move over to the neighboring Woodford Mansion. There attendees will learn about designing and building gardens to attract pollinators and other insects. From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. POP will switch gears slightly and host the Woodford Strawberry Festival – a community celebration of the spring harvest.

PARK PARTY Seger Park Playground’s Spring Festival

Sunday, June 2nd, 11am – 3pm, 10th & Lombard Streets. Friends of Seger Park Playground will host its 6th annual Spring Festival fundraiser at the playground this Sunday afternoon. The celebration plans include moon bounces, tennis lessons for kids, live music and dance performances, a magician, a balloon twister, yoga, a silent auction, face painting and glitter tattoos, crafts, The Pocket Lady and more. The big draw, though, may just be the event’s impressive food truck lineup. All proceeds will benefit the Seger Sprayground Capital Campaign. [Keen Eyes may have noticed the photo above is of Seger Park Playground circa 2011.] Free to enter, $1 ticket per activity.

BIKE Philly Cycling Classic

Sunday, June 2nd, 8:30 a.m. Lyceum Ave between Manayunk Ave and Pechin Street. A long held institution, the Manayunk Bike Race faced an uncertain fate earlier this year, but it has been saved and reworked slightly. Now known as the Philly Cycling Classic, the 12-mile circuit has changed slightly but will still send riders through Manayunk, East Falls, Kelly Drive and Fairmount Park, ending at the Manayunk Wall. The winners of the men’s and women’s races will each win $30,000. 

Enjoy!