ArtYard’s Valentine for the future, PhillyCAM hits a milestone, and CultureFest! Africa this weekend

PhillyCAM continues to be a staple for the Philly community this weekend with a huge milestone. Joel Ross brings ‘Good Vibes’ to the area, and ArtYard is hosting a Valentine’s Day-themed poetry reading that isn’t entirely human—I’m not even kidding.

Black History Month festivities continue with CultureFest!, a special artisanal boutique shouting out emerging artists, and a local film festival.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

PhillyCAM 100th Episode

PhillyCAM’s People Power Lunch Hour is primed to air its 100th episode on World Radio Day, February 13 at 6:30pm. The weekly show that highlights and amplifies the voices of local organizers working to address the problems that affect local communities is opening its doors to celebrate this milestone for free to the public. Secure your spot online.

Joel Ross Good Vibes at Delaware Art Museum

On Thursday, February 13 at 8pm, the Joel Ross Good Vibes jazz quintet takes the stage as part of the museum’s Performance Series. The quintet is led by Joel Ross, the Chicago native making noise with plenty of accolades and performing alongside jazz icons including Herbie Hancock. Grab tickets for the prodigy online.

Everything is Wonderful

Philadelphia Theatre Company opens the Philly premiere of Everything is Wonderful by Chelsea Marcantel. The play, a drama about forgiveness, consent, and broken family set in Amish Country, arrives on stage on February 14, running through March 8, at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre.

CultureFest! Africa

Artvolution and the Penn Museum team up for a day featuring contemporary and traditional practices across Africa and the diaspora with CultureFest! on Saturday, February 15. Live performances, interactive drumming and dancing workshops, Adinkra symbol painting, jewelry-making and more fill out a packed lineup, which you can check out right here.

Black History Month in NoLibs

Trunc, an artisanal boutique on 929 North 2nd Street, is hosting emerging Black artists every Saturday in February, with complimentary food and wine. The afternoon showcases kick off at 12pm on February 15, 22, and 29.

A bug’s (slow) life

The new Survival of the Slowest exhibit opens this weekend at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. If bugs and animals are your thing (like me), then this exhibit is for you. Live presentations, close-up encounters, and more crawl their way into the academy on Saturday, February 15 through Monday, February 17. Check out more about it.

A Valentine for the Future

What happens when you mix poetry and a humanoid robot on Valentine’s Day weekend? Find out on Saturday, February 15 at 7:30pm as ArtYard (62 A Trenton Avenue, Frenchtown, NJ) hosts a poetry event with poet Sasha Stiles, Bruce Duncan of the Terasem Movement Foundation, and yes—a humanoid robot named BINA48. The reading and conversation promises to show what machine learning can teach us humans (assuming you’re a human reading this) about creativity and cognition. Following the reading, the audience will have the chance to ask questions to the poet and BINA48.

A Very Black Film Festival

A mini film festival, complete with snacks and drinks, is happening at the Marsten House, 2301 North 9th Street, Suite 408, on Saturday, February 15 at 7:30pm. Hosted by the #MCM Production Crew, you can see the full roster of films and grab tickets online.

Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury on sitar

Fire Museum presents Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury at the Rotunda on Tuesday, February 18 at 8pm for a night of Indian classical music. Indrajit, a disciple of sitar maestro Pandit Subroto Roy-Chowdhury and former instructor at UPenn, will be accompanied on tabla by Mir Naqibul Islam. The event is free to the public.