Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

As if making an international name for itself in the 19^th and 20^th centuries with an underdog championship boxer movie character, dueling cheesesteak purveyors, the Mummers and, well, a cracked bell didn’t make Philadelphia quirky enough, it seems the 21^st century will continue to propagate that fun-loving mystique with strange and wonderful annual events held every month of the year. Here’s a look at the city’s quirky side:

January:

• Setting the standard for quirky events, the Mummers Parade kicks off every New Year with more than 15,000 men, women and children spending thousands of dollars on elaborate costumes and makeup to strut up Broad Street in a way that creates a fantastic spectacle. January 1, 2013. Broad Street from Washington Avenue to City Hall, phillymummers.com
• Rollerblading Bingo Verifying Divas (BVDs) costumed as leg-warmer and neon-brandishing versions of Richard Simmons preside over Gay Bingo, where drag queens and their friends—also dressed according to themes that vary each month—do up the five-letter game for charity. If a room full of rollerblading men playing Bingo in 1980s-style campy drag isn’t entertaining enough, the BVDs lead game-show contests, lip-synching and dancing. January 12, February 9, March 23, April 13, May 11, June 8, 2013. Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street, (215) 731-9255, aidsfundphilly.org

February:

• The perpetually sold-out SportsRadio 94 WIP’s Wing Bowl 21 pits amateur speed eaters against one another in a race to see who can gobble the most chicken wings in a set period of time. Every year, the competitors feast in front of a rowdy crowd of 25,000 spectators (many of whom arrive up to 12 hours in advance), judges, WIP radio hosts and “Wingettes” the Friday morning before the Super Bowl. February 1, 2013. Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad Street, (215) 592-0610, 610wip.com
• Every holiday is cause for celebration at Grey Lodge Pub, but it’s the more obscure ones that get the most attention at this beer bar. During the annual Groundhog Day Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast, the bar opens at 7:00 a.m. to cheer on Punxsutawney Phil as he makes his weather prognostication. Free hot breakfast, an ugly shirt contest and leis galore mean most patrons won’t mind either way when the world’s most famous groundhog determines whether there will be six more weeks of winter beers or if spring seasonal styles will come early. February 2, 2013. 6235 Frankford Avenue, (215) 856-3591, greylodge.com
• During Fifty Shades of Pompeii, curators from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum, to those in the know) guide visitors through the museum’s collection of salacious Roman paintings that depict steamy scenes from the ancient city’s nighttime underworld. To encourage post-tour mingling, the Young Friends of the Penn Museum hosts a cocktail reception after the program. February 12, 2013. 3260 South Street, (215) 898-4045, penn.museum/youngfriends

March:

• Some of Philadelphia’s most prominent radio DJs preside over the annual Running of the Micks, a pub crawl that transports several thousand green-beer drinkers around town on a bus to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. There’s green as far as the eye can see as participants dressed as merry leprechauns visit various Irish pubs and create a spectacle by running up and down the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. March 9, 2013. Starts at Finnigan’s Wake, 3^rd & Spring Garden Streets, (215) 574-9317, runningofthemicks.com
• On Easter Sunday evening, the Philly Zombie Crawl descends upon the bars of South Street. After lurking at the kick-off pre-game party (where they can get their faces made up), costumed zombies creep into half-a-dozen bars for drink specials and live entertainment, and then overtake the final venue for the after-party. Exact locations to be announced. March 31, 2013. phillyzombiecrawl.com

April:

• It’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 without the robots: Mega-Bad Movie Night brings together film geeks—and geeks in general—to laugh at some of the world’s worst movies. Held several times a year at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the adults-only movie night encourages audience members to talk, drink beer, throw popcorn and wander around the museum. April 4, June 27, October 24, 2013. 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 299-1000, ansp.org

May:

• The Fishtown Shad Fest, a daylong celebration devoted to a single breed of fish, proves that there really is a festival for every interest in Philadelphia. Designed as a fundraiser for the Friends of Penn Treaty Park, the fifth annual festival will once again swim along with shad tastings, a beer-soaked run, art vendors, children’s crafts and live music. May 3, 2013. Penn Treaty Park, 1199 N. Delaware Avenue, fishtownshadfest.net
• On the first Sunday in May, owners of real, live goats bring their cloven-hoofed friends to race each other in the parking lot at Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville. The winner gets a maibock named in his/her honor, and the losers get to partake in the concurrent German Bock Festival, which is believed to be the most extensive lineup of Bock beers poured at any American brewpub in one day. May 5, 2013. 519 Kimberton Road, Pikeland Village Square, Phoenixville, (610) 935-4540, slyfoxbeer.com
• At one point in the not-too-distant past, it may have been considered strange for a city to devote an entire 10 days to the celebration of craft beer. But now that Philly Beer Week has spawned countless imitators around the country, a mainstream crowd joins the brew-obsessed for the 100+ events, which include a beer-rep charity dunk tank party, an outdoor sumo wrestling tournament between brewers and the spectacle of the Hammer of Glory making its way to the ceremonial first keg tapping in intentionally silly vehicles. May 31-June 9, 2013. phillybeerweek.org
• Alien spaceships mounted on welded bikes, giant pink poodles hurdling through the air and Mummers riding hand-cranked pirate ships. It can only be the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, a competition that challenges crack physicists to invent the most outrageous and artistic yet functional human-powered vehicles they can dream up. Date to be announced. Norris Street between Trenton Avenue & York Street, (215) 427-0350, kinetickensington.org

June:

• What do you get when you cross tattooed temptresses with skates? The Philly Roller Girls, of course. Each June, Philly’s premier all-female league hosts the East Coast Derby Extravaganza, a roller derby competition to determine the “baddest broads” on wheels. June 28-30, 2013. The Sportsplex, 1331 Oreilly Drive, Feasterville, (215) 355-2582, phillyrollergirls.com
• By playing a concert in the middle of acres of gravestones, The Bailey Hounds musical group add their gothic music and macabre lyrics to the many offbeat events held at the magnificent and historic Laurel Hill Cemetery. Audience members can bring blankets, snacks and wine to provide themselves comfort as the group howls at the moon loud enough to, ahem, raise the dead. 3822 Ridge Avenue, (215) 228-8200, thelaurelhillcemetery.org

July:

• In July, cult film geeks flock to the historic Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, where many scenes in the movie The Blob were filmed. Blobfest includes a weekend-long street party with a costume contest, live reenactments from the movie and an amateur filmmaking contest. July 12-14, 2013. 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, (610) 917-1228, thecolonialtheatre.com
• Approximately 15 local breweries compete to see who can rid themselves most quickly of their entire supply of suds at Nodding Head Brewery and Restaurant’s annual Royal Stumble. Brewers costume themselves according to theme, which in past years has consisted of sumo wrestlers and superheroes. July 13, 2013. 1516 Sansom Street, 2^nd floor, (215) 569-9525, noddinghead.com
• Americans have fun stormin’ the castle at Eastern State Penitentiary on Bastille Day, when re-enactors and audience members playfully recreate the storming of the Bastille at the nation’s first “modern” prison. Philly’s Monty-Python-esque street party that celebrates this historic event includes Marie Antoinette throwing more than 2,000 Tastykakes to the crowd. July 14, 2013. 22^nd Street & Fairmont Avenue, (215) 236-5111, easternstate.org

August:

• Creepy crawlers of all shapes, sizes, colors and attitudes invade The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University for Bug Fest. Insect lovers can touch a furry tarantula or cheer for their favorite cockroaches during the roach race. Scientists are on hand to convince even the most disbelieving visitor that insects are important creatures, too. August 10-11, 2013. 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 299-1000, ansp.org

September:

• Thousands of artists converge on Philly at the end of the summer for the wild and innovative art party known as Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. For two weeks, dancers, actors, playwrights, musicians, visual artists, videographers and puppeteers roam the city’s streets and fill its performance halls. At night, festival-goers head to the Festival Bar for music, drink specials and visual media installations. September 6-21, 2013. (215) 413-9006, livearts-fringe.org
• Celebrate all things mushroom with 100,000 fans of the fungus at the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, the mushroom-growing capital of the nation. A weekend of chef events, culinary demos, tastings, symposia, crafts and an eating contest all revolve around, what else, mushrooms. September 7-8, 2013. (610) 925-3373, mushroomfestival.org
• Each year, hundreds of cyclists shed their clothes—or at least most of them—for the Naked Bike Ride, a clothing-optional jaunt through city streets designed to call attention to the triple issues of conscious fuel consumption, positive body image and cycling advocacy. Date to be announced. phillynakebikeride.org

October:

• The Institute Bar hosts the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, an all-day family-friendly affair where approximately 60 different pumpkin beers entertain the grown-ups as their kids paint pumpkins and trot around the neighborhood on a horse-drawn hayride. Throughout the festivities, they can fortify themselves with a brunch consisting entirely of items cooked with the orange gourd. October 5, 2013. 549 N. 12^th Street, (267) 318-7772, institutebar.com
• On Talk Like a Pirate Day, which actually spans an entire weekend this year, otherwise respectable citizens and their offspring can get away repeating “Aargh” and calling people “blitherin’ bilge rats.” Blackbeard types earn their pirate stripes at the Independence Seaport Museum’s Pirate’s Lair, where trainees draw treasure maps, play pirate games and try to outsmart a parrot. October 11-13, 2013. 211 S. Columbus Boulevard, (215) 413-8655, phillyseaport.org
• In October, there’s no better place on the planet for a Harry Potter fan than the Harry Potter Weekend in Chestnut Hill. It’s a spectacle, to say the least. Costumed characters, movie screenings, classes, ceremonies and equestrian events take over the usually quaint and quiet neighborhood. Restaurants and shops along Germantown Avenue transform themselves into recreations from the books, and a Knight Bus trolley provides transport for mortals participating in the butter beer pub crawl, The Hunt for the Horcrux scavenger hunt and the quidditch tournament. October 19, 2013. chc.edu

November:

• Hair dressers from around the region slide on their legwarmers and double up on hairspray to raise money for breast cancer, pediatric cancer and HIV/AIDS research during the annual Stray Cat Strut: A Tribute to the 80’s hair competition. All night, salons compete to cut up the craziest creations, while spectators soak up music, live performances and drink specials. November 3, 2013. Voyeur Night Club, 1221 St. James Street, (800) 344-8169, hopecuts.org
• It’s all about me at the First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art, the only event of its kind in the world. The multidisciplinary festival features performance art, experiential tours, visual art exhibitions, concerts, film screenings and more—all devoted to the art of self-discovery and memoir. Past festival artists include comedienne Janeane Garofalo, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson and poet Sonia Sanchez. Dates to be announced. (267) 402-2055, firstpersonarts.org

December:

• In honor of the holidays, some 7,000 tipsy Santas sprint through a pre-determined city neighborhood. No, it’s not the sequel to Bad Santa—it’s The Running of the Santas, the annual bar romp (which began in Philadelphia) that sends Santa suit-clad 20-somethings bumbling down the street in an attempt to reach the next pub before the other 6,999 Santas do. December 7, 2013. runningofthesantas.com
• Superstitious types can drink their trepidation away at Friday the Firkenteenth, an all-day cask ale event held at Grey Lodge Pub every Friday the you-know-what. This year, bartenders will tap 30 firkins beginning at noon because, as any amateur exorcist knows, it’s never too early to ward off the demons. December 13, 2013. 6235 Frankford Avenue, (215) 825-5357, greylodge.com

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.
 

Contact(s):

• Donna Schorr, (215) 599-0782
• Cara Schneider, (215) 599-0789