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What to do in Philly, June 21-27: Chester County Balloon Festival, Firefly, ‘Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!’, and more

Plus: Molestice, Beethoven's 9th, and Jason Isbell and Father John Misty.

Gaze up at over 20 hot air balloons taking flight twice per day in Toughkenamon during the Chester County Balloon Festival.
Gaze up at over 20 hot air balloons taking flight twice per day in Toughkenamon during the Chester County Balloon Festival.Read morePhoto courtesy Chester County Balloon Festival

It’s been a soggy week, but the weekend forecast promises sun. We suggest enjoying it with the drink of the summer — spiked seltzer. Reporter Bethany Ao rounded up 13 brands of hard seltzer and a panel of judges for a blind tasting to determine which are worth buying. Here’s how the fizz settled.

Let’s hope the good weather holds — not only for the sake of our basements and our streets, but also for events like Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me’s taping at the Mann Center next week, the Chester County Balloon Festival this weekend, and another edition of Molestice (the free music festival that shuts down the 100 block of Mole Street).

—Jenn Ladd (@jrladd, jladd@inquirer.com)

FESTIVAL

Chester County Balloon Festival

Head to bucolic Toughkenamon this weekend to gaze up at more than 20 hot-air balloons, launched twice a day, in time to catch the steady early-morning and pre-sunset winds. Festivalgoers can sign up for tethered and untethered balloon rides, helicopter or monster truck rides, and Harley-Davidson demos (i.e., riding a stationary motorcycle). The three-day schedule is booked with live music, beer garden fun, Saturday night fireworks, and a paragliding show, as well. — G.D.

4 to 9 p.m. Friday, 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday (first balloon launch between 5:30 and 7 a.m.), noon to 8:30 p.m. Sunday (first balloon launch between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m.), New Garden Flying Field, 1235 Newark Rd., Toughkenamon, $20, $10 for ages 7-12, free for ages 6 and under, 610-827-7208, ccballoonfest.com

Firefly Music Festival

Sure, you can book a hotel for Firefly, but that would be missing the point. Along with the long list of musical talent (including some well-worn acts like TLC, Death Cab, and Dashboard Confessional), camping is the Delaware festival’s highlight. RVs, tents, and glamps blanket the grounds of the Dover International Speedway. For those who don’t own a full REI inventory, you can buy a camping package from the festival, including air-conditioned tents stocked with comfy beds and luxury linens. Headliners include Panic! at the Disco, Travis Scott, and Post Malone. — Jenn Ladd

Friday through Sunday, 1131 N. Dupont Hwy., Dover, Del., $129 and up, 855-282-4898, fireflyfestival.com

CultureFest Summer Solstice Saturday

Flower crown-making, drum circles, and outdoor yoga are part of the Penn Museum’s daytime demo of world summer solstice celebrations. After that: soul music and a “healing bazaar.” — Lauren McCutcheon

10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Penn Museum, 3260 South St., $15, 215-898-4000, penn.museum

Paperback Poetry Festival

Poets, artists, and listeners converge at FDR Park this Sunday for an all-afternoon celebration of creative expression. Besides writers sharing their works, find a workshop for poets on branding and getting paid as well as a closing Q&A session with featured performers Shirmina Smith and David Pratt. — G.D.

Noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, FDR Park Boathouse, 1500 Pattison Ave., free, creativephl.org/pps

COMEDY

‘Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!’

All but the cheap (lawn) seats are sold out for the NPR news quiz show’s recording at the Mann Center on Thursday, June 27. The show has kept mum as to its celebrity guest is, but recent guests include Olivia Wilde and soccer star Kristine Lilly. And though you never know which comedians or writers will show up for the panel, we’ve got our fingers crossed for Paula Poundstone. Keep an eye on Wait Wait’s Facebook page next week for updates. — J.L.

7:30 p.m., Thursday, Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave., $25-$140, 1-800-982-2787, manncenter.org

DANCE

‘Crystal’

World-class ice skaters and acrobats take to the rink at Wells Fargo Center for Crystal, Cirque du Soleil’s first-ever show on ice. The performance features visual projections and popular music, along with skaters performing flips, spins, and aerial strap routines. — G.D.

Various times, Friday through Sunday, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., $64-$135, 215-336-3600, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

MUSIC

Molestice

A 35-year tradition, this annual summer solstice block party returns to the 100 block of Mole Street, an adorable alley just north of the Parkway that’s lined with 19th-century homes. Come Saturday, it will be filled end-to-end with people there for the live music, food trucks, and craft beer. This year’s lineup includes &More (Chill Moody and Donn T’s act), garage-psych-rocker Ali Awan, and roots rock collective Bronze Radio Return. In between dancing, look forward to frozen treats from Moon Dawg Sundaes, tacos from Burrito Tijuana, Hawaiian-style street food from Poi Dog, and more. — G.D.

Noon to 8 p.m., Saturday, 100 block of N. Mole St., free, molestice.com

Jason Isbell / Father John Misty / Jade Bird

Although Father John Misty — the stage persona of Josh Tillman — traffics in irony and absurdity and Jason Isbell in earnest insights, both men write character-driven, emotionally complex songs. Isbell, who’s touring with his band the 400 Unit, favors compact tunes sometimes stretched with dazzling guitar solos; he’s a Southern rocker well-versed in traditional country. Tillman’s tunes sprawl: He’s leading a 10-piece band that can add soulful colors to his joyfully verbose songs. Both artists are between albums for this coheadlining tour. Tillman will go on after Isbell at Saturday’s sold-out show at the Met. The charming Jade Bird, a Brit with a penchant for Americana, will open. — Steve Klinge

7:30 p.m., Saturday, the Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., sold out, 215-309-0112, themetphilly.com

Faye Webster

Straddling seductive R&B and sultry country, with a side of internet rap, Atlanta Millionaire’s Club is the third album from 21-year-old Faye Webster. It’s a remarkable amalgamation, with songs such as “Room Temperature” and “Kingston” guided by both pedal steel guitars and soulful rhythm sections. Webster’s intimate voice, often tinged with regret, is at the center — although Atlanta rapper Father jumps in on “Flowers” — and she sounds wiser than her years, as do the sophisticated, genre-bending arrangements. Catch her at Johnny Brenda’s on Sunday. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m., Sunday, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., $12, 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com

Beethoven’s 9th

“What’s so special about Beethoven’s 9th” asks a frequently Googled phrase. While one only needs to listen to know, its exceptionality is also born out by facts. Beethoven’s Ninth was the one of the first choral symphonies, in which choir meets symphony, as it does in its final movement, the inimitable Ode to Joy. Setting Friedrich Schiller’s poem to music was something the composer had been tinkering with for more than a decade. When the symphony was first performed, in Vienna in May of 1824, he was so deaf he could not hear the thunderous applause; a member of the chorus turned him around to face the audience, who gave multiple standing ovations. You’ll have a chance to cheer Beethoven on in spirit — and appreciate its special qualities firsthand — on Monday evening at the Mann Center, when Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra perform the piece at the TD Pavilion at the Mann. — J.L.

8 p.m., Monday, the Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave., $20-$60, 215-546-7900, manncenter.org

Daddy Long Legs

The title of the new album is Lowdown Ways, and that hints at the overarching musical approach of Daddy Long Legs. The New York trio delivers greasy slabs of stomping, rock-charged blues, à la the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, with occasional acoustic textures and echoes of country, gospel, and even zydeco to let it all breathe. The raw primitivism can come across as mannered at times, but the band — here produced by J.D. McPherson bassist Jimmy Sutton — presents its colorful original songs with plenty of conviction and its own panache. With the Tough S-s. — Nick Cristiano

8 p.m., Monday, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Ave., $13, 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com