Labor Day Weekend is what many people call “The Last Weekend of Summer.” Most kids end up going back to school after Labor Day, so this is their last hoorah. Labor Day celebrates and recognizes the work and contributions of laborers in the United States. If you are not down the shore or up at the mountains, and you are just hanging local, there are plenty of things to keep you occupied on this extended weekend. I, Pierre Robert, have a rundown of an extensive list of things happening in and around the Philadelphia area this Labor Day Weekend. Everything from concerts to go to (Aerosmith at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday), movies to see (The Strays, rated R), events (small and large) to partake in, and always what is going on here at WMMR.

Some things are fairly standard (like the Summer Twilight Tours at Eastern State), some are totally bizarre (like Camp Punksylvania), and to be honest, for some of this stuff, I don’t have a clue as to what they are (like The Big Bounce America). Hopefully, this guide, some of what is going on in a fine village near you, will help keep you busy this extended weekend. Who knows, maybe you’ll even catch me at one or two of these events this weekend (please stop and say “hi” if you do).

*With whatever you decide to do, make sure to bring MMR with you this Labor Day Weekend to keep up with the Back To School A to Z*

On Sale Now:

Bruce Springsteen Rescheduled Shows @ Citizens Bank Park 8/21 & 8/23 2024. Tickets for 8/16 are honored on 8/21, and Tickets for 8/18 are honored on 8/23. Some tickets are available to purchase here.

• Shows This Weekend:

  

  Aerosmith is kicking off their 50th Anniversary, Farewell Tour Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. They are accompanied by “Them Skinny Black Crowes” as Jacky Bam Bam would call them. Limited tickets still remain.

  

   

  Thursday through Sunday

  Aries Spears @ Helium

  Billy Wayne Davis @ Punchline

  Thursday

  Iris Dement @ City Winery

  Smoking Popes / Iron Chic @ Johnny Brenda’s

  Dysrhythmia @ Milkboy

  Seven Kingdoms / Empress @ Kung Fu Necktie

  Brittany Ann Tranbaugh @ The Lounge at World Cafe Live

  The Groove Merchants @ Brooklyn Bowl

  Friday

  Escape From The Zoo / Apes of the State @ Kung Fu Necktie

  X @ Keswick Theatre

  JVKE @ TLA

  He Is Legend @ MilkBoy

  Saturday

  Aerosmith / The Black Crowes @ Wells Fargo Center

  Pub Choir @ The Music Hall at World Cafe Live

  The High Kings @ City Winery

  Kali Masi @ Kung Fu Necktie

  The Waywoods @ The Lounge at World Cafe Live

  Richard Papiercuts & Blues Ambush @ Johnny Brenda’s

  Fred Mascherino (The Color Fred, Ex-Taking Back Sunday) @ MilkBoy

  Sunday

  Pyrrhon / Couch Slut @ Milkboy

  Your Neighbors @ Johnny Brenda’s

• What's Going on in the Movies? Still In Theatres:

  The Strays ( R ): Jamie Foxx, Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Tinashe Kajese, Josh Gad

   

  Retribution ( R ): Liam Neeson

   

  Gran Turismo (PG-13): Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet

• What’s Happening at MMR?

  MMR’s Annual Back to School A to Z: Kick back and enjoy listening to thousands of songs from the MMR library played in alphabetical order… a true crash course in EVERYTHING THAT ROCKS! Follow along with the Recently Played List or text SONGS to 39333 to get the last three songs played. Starts: Thursday, August 31st at 9am with Preston & Steve and ends: Sometime after Sept 12th…

  

• Happening Around Town:

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by The Big Bounce America (@thebigbounceamerica)

  The Big Bounce America is a temporary installation lets you jump around on an inflatable landscape of installations, shapes, and obstacles. Big Bounce America is currently located at the Navy Yard (4747 South Broad Street) for a limited time. You can bounce in the World’s Biggest Bounce House which is “a crazy landscape filled with some of the most completely customized attractions”. One can  play around in the Sport Slam which is a “sports arena filled with goals, nets, hoops and balls of every size”. There is also airSPACE which is an attraction filled with “friendly aliens, spaceships, giant planets and moon crater ball pits”, and much more. Just a heads up: Not every session is for kids. There are sessions for toddlers, junior sessions, ones for bigger kids, and an adult session. Make sure to get your tickets ahead of time here.

   Through September 10

  The Bridges of Madison County: Bucks County Playhouse, 70 South Main Street, New Hope.

  The Lion King: Academy of Music, 240 South Broad Street.

  Through September 23

  Walk Around Philadelphia: Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia.

  Through September 24

  Festival of Fountains: Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square.

  Summerfest: 101 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard.

  Through September 30

  Pockets of Light: Race Street Pier, Cherry Street Pier, Washington Avenue Pier and Pier 68 (near Walmart).

  Through October 1

  Pixar Putt: Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, 101 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard.

  Through October 10

  The Southeast Asian Market: Saturdays & Sundays. a.m.-6 p.m., Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, 1500 Pattison Avenue.

  The Garden Railway: Morris Arboretum, 100 East Northwestern Avenue.

  Through October 15

  Illuminating Birds Exhibition: Drawing as a Way of Knowing: Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

  Through October 29

  PA Renaissance Faire: Saturdays & Sunday. 11AM-8PM. 2775 Lebanon Road, Manheim PA.

  Through October 30

  Data Nation: Democracy in the Age of A.I.:  National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut Street. libertymuseum.org

  Through November 26

  Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia: Museum of the American Revolution, 101 South Third Street.

  U-2 Spy Planes & Aerial Archaeology: Penn Museum, 3260 South Street.

  Through 2023

  The Future Will Follow the Past: Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 South Independence Mall East. theweitzman.org

  Through January 21

  Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University – 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia,

  Through May 2025

  At the Water’s Edge: Working and living along the Delaware River: Independence Seaport Museum, 211 South Columbus Boulevard.

   

• Things Happening This Weekend

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by The Car Bomb Parade (@thecarbombparade)

  This weekend up in Scranton, there is a  huge punk festival called Camp Punksylvania. 40 plus performers including the Suicide Machines, A Wilhelm Scream, War on Women, and Tsunami Bomb, will ascend upon the The Circle Drive-In Theater (1911 Scranton Carbondale Hwy) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. When you’re not lacing up your Chucks and slam dancing in the pit, you can chill out at the carnival, shop the vendor market, and relax at some bonfires with other crust punks. Tickets and camping info available here.

  FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, & MONDAY

  Staying Power: Be Distinct, or Go Extinct: Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 West Girard Avenue.

  Twilight Tours: every night through September 4th, 6 p.m., meet in Independence Square, at the Commodore Barry Statue.

  Meet the Women of the 18th Century: Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch Street.

  Once Upon a Nation: Tuesday-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., through September 4th, multiple locations.

  Spruce Street Harbor Park: 301 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard.

  Summer Twilight Tours at Eastern State: Thursdays-Sundays through September 4th, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Avenue.

  The Turmoil of Transition: The Mid-Nineteenth Century at Cliveden: Thursdays-Sundays, noon-4 p.m., ongoing, Cliveden, 6401 Germantown Avenue.

  The Oval Live: In and around Eakins Oval, 2451 Ben Franklin Parkway.

  Parks on Tap: Penn Treaty Park:  Penn Treaty Park, 1301 North Beach Street. WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY 4pm-10pm, SATURDAY- Monday 12pm-10pm

  FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY

  Otherworld Philly:  Fridays & Saturdays: 10AM – 10PM, Sundays: 10AM – 6PM, 2500 Grant Avenue, number 1. otherworldphila.com/

  Camp Punksylvania: September 1st-3rd, Circle Drive-In Theater, 1911 Scranton Carbondale Highway, Scranton.

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by The Mahoning Drive-In Theater (@mahoningdriveintheater)

  If you aren’t camping at Camp Punkslvania you drive over to the Mahoning Drive-In Theater (635 Seneca Road, Lehighton) for their Camp Blood IX Slasher Celebration. It is four nights of bloody, slasher fright on the giant outdoor screen. Even though it isn’t Halloween yet, you can start to get into the spooky season with these murderous movies. This year the madness includes  The Burning (1981), Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter (1984), Sleepaway Camp (1983), and more. A handful of the stars from the films will be in attendance. The doors open  at 6 p.m.,  but the movies start at sundown. For what is screening when and tickets head over to mahoningdit.com

  Big League Fun:  Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic.

  FRIDAY September 1

  Escher in Fishtown:  6-10 p.m., Front Street Gallery and Walker Fine Art, 1345 North Front Street.

  Movie Nights Under the Stars & Stripes: Dusk, Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch Street.

  First Friday at Cherry Street Pier:  4-9 p.m., Cherry Street Pier, 121 North Columbus Boulevard.

  Viernes Calientes Dance Party: 8:30 p.m., World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street.

  The Artist’s Palette:  5-7 p.m., Science History Institute, 315 Chestnut Street.

  Friday & Saturday

  The Great Philadelphia Comedy Magic Walk:  ongoing, meets behind the Bourse, near 4th and Ranstead streets.

  CFFC 123 & 124: 7 p.m., Xcite Center at Parx Casino, 2999 Street Road, Bensalem.

  SATURDAY September 2

  Meet & Greet with Allen Iverson:  9 a.m.-8 p.m., RISE Dispensary Philadelphia, 3903 Aramingo Avenue.

  ¡Viva Mexico!:  1-2 p.m., Penn Museum, 3260 South Street.

  Beyoncé vs Rihanna Dance Party:  9 p.m., Underground Arts, 200 Callowhill Street.

  SATURDAY, SUNDAY, & MONDAY

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein (@cannstattervolksfestverein)

  151st Annual Labor Day Volksfest: For the 151st year, Philadelphia’s largest (and the nation’s oldest) German festival, Volksfest is back again. This year’s Cannstatter Labor Day Weekend Volksfest will feature an “Oktoberfest-Styled Extravaganza” with traditional German food, drinks,  German and American music, and some “schuhplattler dancing” The fest will be Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10pm and from noon to 8pm on Monday. Stop on down at the Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein, on 9130 Academy Road.

  SATURDAY & SUNDAY

  Philadelphia Marketplace: Saturdays and Sundays, September 2nd-October 1st, noon-6 p.m., Dilworth Park, west side of City Hall.

  Mural Mile Center City Walking Tour:  Saturdays 11am and Sundays 2pm, ongoing, meet at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 128 North Broad Street.

  SUNDAY September 3

  Brazilian Day Philadelphia:  1-7 p.m., Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, 101 South Columbus Boulevard.

• Sports Up!

  

  All Weekend

  PHILLIES AWAY vs Milwaukie Brewers: Fri @8:10pm, Sat @ 7:15pm, Sun @ 1:05pm

  Sunday

  UNION HOME vs New York Red Bulls @ 7:30pm

  Monday

  PHILLIES AWAY vs San Diego Padres @ 6:40pm

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