North Philly Buzz

A weekly look around North Philly.

Issue 1 - Two school buses on a Manayunk corner and a free 1865 science museum

Hey, neighbor. Welcome to the first North Philly Buzz. Every Tuesday I'll send you one email about life around here, from Fishtown and Port Richmond up to Olney, and over to Germantown, Chestnut Hill and Manayunk. This first one runs from Halloween weekend through Sunday, Nov 8, so grab a coffee and save it.

What's in this one

1

Hot picks · East Kensington's Fall Festival takes over Philadelphia Brewing Co on Halloween, and a haunted big band plays Nostalgia that night. RENT opens in East Falls the next weekend.

2

Field guide · How to walk Forbidden Drive down to Valley Green while the leaves are still up.

3

The scrap · A visiting comedian roasts Frankford Ave, and two school buses lose a fight with a Manayunk corner.

4

What's building · Harrison Plaza's first new building goes to design review, plus the two city questions on your Nov 3 ballot.

5

Makers · A horror art night on Ontario Street, then a weekend of fiber art and dried flowers in Roxborough.

6

Deep cut · The Wagner Free Institute of Science, a free museum at 17th and Montgomery since 1865.

7

Season · The Scarecrow Walk's last days at Morris Arboretum, and the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.

Hot picks

This weekend's best bets around here.

Halloween falls on a Saturday, so East Kensington gets a whole afternoon of it before the haunted big band takes over Fishtown that night. If you're more of a musical person, RENT opens in East Falls the following Friday.

East Kensington Fall Festival flyer: Cornucopia of Fun, costumed cartoon kids, a pumpkin, and the EKNA and Philadelphia Brewing Co logos

Flyer: EKNA

East Kensington · Sat Oct 31 · from noon · free

The EKNA Fall Festival at Philadelphia Brewing Co

The East Kensington Neighbors Association throws its Fall Festival at Philadelphia Brewing Co, 2440 Frankford Ave. Vendors and crafts run from noon to 2. At 2 a costume bike ride with the Philly Bike Coalition leaves the brewery for Pops Park and loops back. The costume contest is at 3, with categories for kids and pets plus one for bikes, and a kid dance party starts at 4. It's free, and the flyer says proceeds benefit EKNA. If you want to stack your day, the Pops Dog Park costume party runs 1 to 3, and Emerald Street Community Farm opens its free haunted house from 5 to 8. I'm bringing the dog and leaving the bike at home. EKNA

Nostalgia Fishtown's flyer for The Plant King with Jake Kaplan's Haunted Big Band

Flyer: Nostalgia Fishtown

Fishtown · Sat Oct 31 · doors 7:30pm, show 8:30pm · $20

The Plant King with Jake Kaplan's Haunted Big Band at Nostalgia

Nostalgia Fishtown, at 14 E Jefferson St, hosts "The Plant King," a performance piece for composer and big band where the ensemble performs a ritual to summon an old earth god. The venue says the group has 18 people, and that this is the piece's fifth annual run. Doors are at 7:30 and the show starts at 8:30. General admission is $20, student tickets are $15 at the door only, and it's BYOB. Pack something seasonal and get there early for a spot near the horns. Nostalgia

Old Academy Players' poster for RENT

Poster: Old Academy Players

East Falls · Fri Nov 6 - Sun Nov 8 (runs through Nov 22) · Fri and Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm

RENT opens at Old Academy Players

Old Academy Players open RENT, their 555th production, at 3544 Indian Queen Lane. Annie Hnatko directs Jonathan Larson's rock musical about young artists in New York's East Village trying to pay the bills in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2, on Nov 6-8, 13-15 and 20-22. Tickets and group and student rates are on the theater's site. Opening weekend is the one I'd grab, before word of mouth fills the house. Old Academy Players

Field guide

One useful guide to living around here.

Forbidden Drive along Wissahickon Creek in fall, hatch

Forbidden Drive, Wissahickon Valley Park (Northwestern Ave in Chestnut Hill down to Valley Green, and on to the Ridge Ave trailhead)

Forbidden Drive in fall - a walk down the Wissahickon to Valley Green

Late October is when I finally get myself back to the Wissahickon. Forbidden Drive is about five miles of flat gravel along Wissahickon Creek, from Northwestern Avenue in Chestnut Hill down toward Ridge Avenue, and it's gentle enough for a stroller.

There are no cars on it because of a 1921 protest. When park leaders floated opening the road to cars, hundreds of riders and carriage drivers paraded down it, and the plan died. Walk downstream past the 1855 Thomas Mill Covered Bridge and turn around at the Valley Green Inn.

The full guide has parking and bus tips, plus the Friends of the Wissahickon hikes going on this week and next.

Read the field guide

The scrap

The best stuff you missed in the area's social media world.

A comedian from out of town came to hate on Fishtown and mostly just agreed with us. Plus two school buses against one Manayunk corner, and a video game orchestra at Porchfest.

A creator touring Fishtown with the on-screen caption Hating on: Fishtown

Fishtown · Instagram

"Today I am hating on Fishtown, Philadelphia"

A visiting professional hater toured Fishtown and concluded it has, in fact, finished up-and-coming. Instagram

via @adamjayrotstein

A singer with an acoustic guitar playing under the El in Fishtown, crowd behind

Fishtown · under the El · TikTok

"POV: Screaming Teenage Dirtbag with Wheatus live under the El"

Wheatus played Teenage Dirtbag under the El in Fishtown, and the crowd took the falsetto personally. TikTok

via @phillypublicist

A yellow school bus turning a tight cobbled corner in Manayunk, a neighbor standing by its front

Manayunk · X

"Hats off to the pair of Philly school bus drivers trying to get around this impossible street corner in Manayunk"

Two school buses met one Manayunk corner, and a neighbor stepped in as air traffic control. X

via @NakanoDenise

An orchestra with a conductor and cellos set up on a lawn under trees at RoxYunk Porchfest

Roxborough / Manayunk · RoxYunk Porchfest · Reddit

"The Greater Philadelphia Gamer Symphony Orchestra at RoxYunk Porchfest"

A video game orchestra played RoxYunk Porchfest, conductor and cellos included, and somehow nobody pressed pause. r/philadelphia

via u/BearFromPhilly

What's building

What's going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.

Harrison Plaza's first new building gets its design review next week, so here's what's planned. And since every Philadelphia voter gets the same two charter questions on Nov 3, I've laid those out too.

Rendering of the planned four-story senior apartment building at 10th and Thompson

Rendering: Thriven Design / Mission First Housing Group

Lower North Philly (10th & Thompson) · Wed Nov 4 · 1pm · in person and on Zoom

Harrison Plaza's first new building goes to Civic Design Review

Mission First Housing Group's plan for 1300-50 N 10th St is scheduled for the city's Civic Design Review committee on Wednesday, Nov 4, at 1pm, at 1515 Arch St, Room 18-029, with a Zoom option. It's 50 affordable apartments for seniors in a four-story building with a roof deck and a community room. It would replace ten existing PHA townhomes and flats at 10th and Thompson, and the plan has no parking. The packet calls it the first phase of redeveloping the whole Harrison Plaza public housing site. Civic Design Review is advisory, so nothing gets approved at this meeting. The Zoning Board hearing is scheduled for Jan 13, 2027. If you want a comment read into the record, email cdr@phila.gov before noon on Tuesday, Nov 3. Civic Design Review

The City Hall tower, a rolled charter document and a wooden box on a table, hatch

Citywide · Tue Nov 3 · on your Nov 3 ballot

Two city charter questions on your Nov 3 ballot

Every Philadelphia voter gets the same two questions about the Home Rule Charter, which works like the city's constitution. Question 1 asks whether to change the city's contracting rules so it can give bid preferences and set-asides to small businesses and expand them for local businesses, with a piece about bond requirements on some construction projects. The Committee of Seventy and PhillyVoice both say it would let the city award contracts between $75,000 and $500,000 to small and local businesses even when their bid isn't the lowest. The question itself doesn't set aside any new money. Question 2 asks whether to write Creative Philadelphia, the arts and culture office headed by the Chief Cultural Officer, into the Charter. The city says the office already exists, and Seventy says it runs today under a mayor's executive order. There's no dollar amount on that one. A yes on either question amends the Charter, and a no leaves it as it is. Read the official text before you go. Official ballot questions · Committee of Seventy

Makers

Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.

A horror art night kicks off Halloween weekend on Ontario Street, and the following weekend the Northwest gets a wreath class at Weavers Way Farm and a gallery full of fiber art in Roxborough.

Two dark gowns on dress forms in a gothic hall with candles and bats, hatch illustration

Illustration by Buzz Artist

North Philly (W Ontario St) · Fri Oct 30 · 8pm-11:59pm · 21+

Glitch: Fear Fest 5

215fashionmag throws Fear Fest 5 at 172 W Ontario St, billed as a horror and art experience, from 8 until just before midnight. It's 21 and up. Tickets are on Eventbrite, with no refunds. Treat it as the dress rehearsal for whatever you're wearing Saturday. Eventbrite

A dried-flower wreath on a workbench with hanging dried bundles and shears, hatch illustration

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Roxborough · Fri Nov 6 · 3-5pm · $35

Dried wreath workshop at Weavers Way Farm

Weavers Way's farm at 7095 Henry Ave runs a dried-flower wreath class, and you leave with your own 9-inch wreath. Tickets are $35 a person and you buy them at the Farm Market register, so stop by ahead of time. It's an easy way to have the front door done before Thanksgiving. Weavers Way

A wooden floor loom with a basket of yarn and a spinning wheel, hatch illustration

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Roxborough · Sun Nov 8 · 1-4pm · free

FiberFest opens at the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center

The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers covers the gallery walls at the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center, 419 Green Lane (rear), with fiber art for its November show. Opening day runs 1 to 4, and it's free and open to the public. Go for the weaving and stay to ask somebody how long one of those pieces took. MRAC

Deep cut

One local history leftover worth knowing.

The Wagner Free Institute of Science's 1865 street front, hatch

Wagner Free Institute of Science · 1700 W Montgomery Ave, North Central (between 17th and Bouvier, a few blocks west of Temple)

The Wagner Free Institute of Science - a free science museum at 17th and Montgomery since 1865

A merchant named William Wagner started giving free science lectures at his house in the 1800s, using his own specimens. By 1865 he had a building for them at 17th and Montgomery, and it's still there teaching for free.

Upstairs, the museum cases still stand in roughly the order the naturalist Joseph Leidy set them in around 1890, so a walk around the hall moves you from simple life to complex. In 1892 the building also opened the city's first public library branch.

The full story has a myth check on the "buried in the building" line and the details for the Saturday, Nov 7 open house, noon to 4.

Read the deep cut

Season

What's in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.

You have until Sunday to see the scarecrows at Morris Arboretum. And the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market keeps its 9am Saturday start for one more month before winter hours.

Visitors walking a path past scarecrows and pumpkins at Morris Arboretum in a past year

A past year. Photo: Morris Arboretum

Chestnut Hill · through Sun Nov 1 · with admission

The Scarecrow Walk's last weekend at Morris Arboretum

The Morris Arboretum's 19th annual Scarecrow Walk wraps up Sunday at 100 E Northwestern Ave. This year's theme is "From 1776 to the Future: Celebrating the 70s Across Time," so every scarecrow is dressed for a decade ending in 70, from the 1770s on into the future. The voting closed Oct 18, but the scarecrows stay up through Nov 1. It's included with garden admission, which is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors 65 and up, $12 for ages 3 to 17 and free for kids 2 and under. I'm going to find the 1970s ones first. Morris Arboretum

Market tents with produce baskets beside the trolley tracks on a cobbled street, hatch illustration

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Chestnut Hill · Saturdays · 9am-noon

The Chestnut Hill Farmers Market

Every Saturday the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market sets up where Germantown Avenue meets Mermaid Lane, in front of the Mermaid Inn, with local farms, bakers and food makers. It runs 9 to noon through November. Starting in December the hours change to 10 to noon, so the early-morning apple run has about a month left. Bring your own bag and get there before the good bread is gone. Chestnut Hill

See you up the way.

North Philly Buzz · written from around here · Tuesday mornings

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