Skip to content
Things To Do
Link copied to clipboard

Rothman Ice Rink opens, Roy Orbison Hologram tour, and other events in the Philadelphia region, Nov. 9-15

Rothman Ice Rink opening, Love Your Park Fall Service Day, Come Together Dance Festival, and other events in the Philadelphia region, Nov. 9-15.

The Rothman Ice Rink returns to the foot of City Hall for the winter season. Prepare to lace up those skates, as opening day is this Friday.
The Rothman Ice Rink returns to the foot of City Hall for the winter season. Prepare to lace up those skates, as opening day is this Friday.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

ICE SKATING

Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink Opening

Starting Friday, you can once again skate beneath the eyes of Billy Penn as Dilworth Park's Rothman Ice Rink reopens for its winter season. Inviting those of all ages to come out, seven days a week through Feb. 24, the skating spot creates a mini winter oasis right in the heart of Philadelphia. Also opening Nov. 9, the greenery-filled and holiday-inspired Wintergarden returns to Dilworth Park, too, as does the Rothman Cabin, serving up warming drinks like spiked hot cocoa to enjoy post-skate and garden stroll. — Grace Dickinson

Opens at noon Friday, Dilworth Park, 1 S. 15th St., $5 admission for adults, $3 for children 10 years and under, $10 for skate rentals, centercityphila.org

FESTIVAL

First Person Arts Festival

A celebration of storytelling, the annual First Person Arts Festival enters its second and final week on Sunday. As the two-week festival comes to a close, look forward to onstage events ranging in topic from online dating to race in America to the power of food to the U.S. Latinx experience. Each festival event features a different curator, and locations vary. Check the official First Person Arts website for a full calendar listing. — G.D.

Through Nov. 27, locations throughout Philadelphia, ticket price varies per event, my.firstpersonarts.org

Philly Zine Fest

The city's oldest zine festival will exhibit the imaginative, small-circulation publications created by artists from around Philadelphia. Come to meet creators, see new publications, and pick up some of your own. — Thea Applebaum Licht

Noon. to 6 p.m. Sunday, the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. phillyzinefest.com/Resources.

Diwali at Reading Terminal Market

Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights held worldwide every autumn, will come to Reading Terminal Market on Saturday. Stop in to watch dance performances, see Indian art, try authentic Indian food, and watch free cooking demonstrations. — T.A.L.

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch Streets. 215-922-2317, https://readingterminalmarket.org.

OUTDOORS

Love Your Park Fall Service Day

Enriching our lives, parks bring many benefits including helping to clean the air we breathe and acting to provide a natural setting in which to decompress. Give back to your neighborhood green space this Saturday by participating in the Love Your Park Fall Service Day, unfolding all across the region. Events range from trash and litter cleanups to weeding and gardening sessions to tree plantings. Check the official Love Your Park website to find which projects will unfold in an area near you. — G.D.

8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, parks throughout the region, free, loveyourpark.org

MUSICAL

Spitfire Grill

The upbeat American musical Spitfire Grill opens at Hammonton's Eagle Theater this Wednesday and is set to run through mid-December. The story follows former inmate Percy Talbott who finds herself helping to raffle off Wisconsin's small town Hannah's Spitfire Grill in a quest to follow her postprison dreams. — G.D.

Opens 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Eagle Theater, 208 Vine St., Hammonton, N.J., $29, eagletheatre.org

ART

Frank Hyder: The Janis Project

Head to the Michener Art Museum's sculpture garden this weekend, and you'll find over a dozen large-scale, colorful, inflatable sculptures taking over the space. Each, crafted by Philadelphia- and Miami-based artist Frank Hyder, takes the shape of a giant head made of nylon and paint. Hyder expresses that the compilation is meant to reference Moai of Easter Island, Olmec heads, and the ancient Roman god of new endeavors, while at the same time exhibit influences of street art and inflatable toys. — G.D.

Opens 10 a.m. Saturday, Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, free with museum admission, michenerartmuseum.org

DRINK

Manayunk Cocktail Week

Care for a cocktail? Head out to Manayunk this week for a libation-filled celebration at 16 different restaurants and bars scattered throughout the neighborhood. Each will offer its own signature Cocktail Week drinks, and many will host events, too, ranging from a pig-and-whiskey dinner (Bourbon Blue) to a rum-inspired Tiki speakeasy night (Somo) to an Irish coffee contest (Winnie's). Check Manayunk.com for the full schedule and list of participating locations. — G.D.

Nov. 12-18, 16 participating bars and restaurants throughout Manayunk, manayunk.com/events

DANCE

5th annual Come Together Dance Festival

Celebrating the diversity, creativity, and technical excellence of the city's dance community, the annual Come Together Dance Festival unites over 40 performers for five nights of lively entertainment. Expect each show to incorporate a range of dance styles, including hip-hop, tap, jazz, ballet, modern, Latin, and more. — G.D.

Nov. 14-18, Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., $23-$35, koreshdance.org

FAMILY

Franklin Square Holiday Festival Opening Night

Franklin Square's Holiday Festival kicks off on Thursday (to run through Dec. 31). Come out for the opening night and enjoy the first sights of the season, including the 75,000-light-filled Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show. Onsite food vendors SquareBurger and Ben's Sweets & Treats will offer an array of seasonal foods, while a winter beer garden invites you to enjoy a drink in the festive setting. — G.D.

4:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Franklin Square, 6th and Race Streets, free, historicphiladelphia.org

MUSIC

Kamasi Washington

Los Angeles saxophone player, composer and bandleader Kamasi Washington has managed the difficult trick of crossing over from jazz to pop stardom of a sort. And he's done without watering down or smoothing out his music in the least. Quite the opposite. Washington's latest opus, Heaven and Earth, is a two-hour musical travelogue that combines hard bop, psychedelia, strings, blaxploitation, martial arts movie soundtrack tropes, and whatever else works in a majestic mix that looks alternately outward at the world at large and inward toward Washington's personal spiritual journey. Last November, he put on a transfixing show at Union Transfer. This time, he's going bigger, at the former Electric Factory. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Friday at the Franklin Music Hall, 7th and Willow Sts. $36.50-$40. 215-627-1332. bowerypresents.com.    

Roy Orbison Hologram Tour

It's the shape of CGI things to come. The estates of beloved but inconveniently dead pop stars have been threatening to take digital recreations on the road ever since the Tupac hologram showed up at Coachella in 2012. And now it's happening: "In Dreams: Roy Orbison, The Hologram Tour" will bring the otherworldly voiced  "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "Crying" singer-guitarist, who died in 1988, back to technologically assisted life this weekend, when the one-time Traveling Wilbury journeys to the Parx Casino in Bensalem, where the Philly Pops will back him up. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Friday at Xcite Center at Parx Casino, 2999 Street Rd., Bensalem. $30-$50. 888-588-7279. parxcasino.com

F-ed Up

Between the unprintable (at least in a family newspaper) name and the gruff, roaring vocals of Damian Abraham, Toronto's F-ed Up have not been very user-friendly, at least to those not versed in hardcore punk. But with riff-happy songs full of high-velocity energy, shout-along choruses and inventive twists, F-ed Up's new double-album Dose Your Dreams is immediately accessible. It dips into motorik repetition, new wave pop, and zippy punk as it sprawls, joyfully, through an obscure narrative arc. "I Don't Want to Live In This World Anymore," Abraham growls and several other vocalists sing, adding the band's favorite expletive. But the world's a better place to live in with F-ed Up's ambitious and fun Dose Your Dreams. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Friday at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. $20. 215-821-7575, r5productions.com.

Richard Thompson / Shawn Colvin

Is there a person on the planet more adept at making a solo guitar sound like an entire band is onstage than Richard Thompson? (Sorry, Ed Sheeran is not the answer.) In September the British songwriting great (who now lives in Montclair, N.J.) played a magical Free at Noon mini-set in support of his characteristically dark and brooding new album 13 Rivers that was a reminder of his brilliance (and also how funny he is). In Glenside, the former Fairport Convention singer will likely have some time alone on the stage, but he also has a band: It's a Richard Thompson Electric Trio show. Shawn Colvin, back in town after playing a benefit show with Emmylou Harris in Collingswood last month, is the opener.   — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Saturday at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave. at 8 p.m. Saturday. $45-$69.  215-572-7650. keswicktheatre.com.

The Tallest Man on Earth

The Tallest Man on Earth's most recent album of looming folk, Dark Bird is Home, is raw and earthy, yet starry-eyed and full-blooded with the silvery tone of synths, pedal steel, and French horns enveloping each dreamy song like a shroud. — A.D. Amorosi

7 p.m. Saturday, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., $30, utphilly.com

Low

Cool show of the weekend: Duluth, Minn., trio Low, who consist of the husband-and-wife team of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, plus bass player Steve Garrington, and who are often ID'd as the prototypical "slowcore" band. For a quarter century, they've followed their instincts to move between rock and country and gospel and electronic music, earning fans like Robert Plant, who recorded two Low songs on his Band of Joy album. The trio's new Double Negative marks their second time working with producer B.J. Borton, who helps take Low into a bold experimental direction that's abrasive and beautiful. Recommended to fans of Radiohead and Nick Cave. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Saturday at Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St. $20-$22. 215-627-1332. undergroundarts.org.

Marcus King Band

Part Southern rocker, part soul man — he's only 22, but with the depth of his expressiveness as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Marcus King exudes a gravity that belies his youth. On his third and best album, Carolina Confessions, the South Carolina native again fronts a sextet that includes keyboards and horns and deftly incorporates elements of rock, R&B, and country. If the songs explore the fallout of fractured relationships with an unsparing eye, the music offers plenty of transcendence. — Nick Cristiano

With Ida Mae, at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St. Tickets: $25. 215-922-1011.