Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash

FunTimes Magazine Culture & Entertainment, Week of April 10, 2023          

April is Latin for aperio, meaning to open or bud, and plants certainly bud during April, the month of renewal. In 1970, this fertile month spawned Earth Day, a reminder to focus on climate change and other pressing environmental matters. But in a fun way. April 22nd officially marks the 53rd Earth Day. This year’s global theme is “Invest In Our Planet.” Two green thumbs up! We gladly intend to celebrate the spirit of Earth Day all month long.

So, get earthy by enjoying these low-cost or free activities related to Earth Day, with a few other events sprinkled in for good measure. But before venturing out to any in-person events indoors, please respect the ongoing pandemic safety protocols, and check individual event-attending instructions with the organizers. As a general rule: If you feel unwell, please do not attend in person. 

The cherry on top 

April 15 and April 16, 2023. Celebrate Japanese arts and culture highlighted by the splendor of Japanese sakura (the flowering of cherry trees) throughout Philadelphia at The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival. Nothing screams the arrival of spring like this annual event. The festival’s main attraction is Sakura Weekend. Enjoy live music, dance performances, arts and crafts, and a bustling fair with vendors. Since 1926, Japan has gifted Philly with hundreds of cherry trees to beautify its parks and streets as part of a goodwill relationship between the city and the country in the Far East. There is additional programming throughout April at different venues, including a film retrospective, cultural demonstrations, sushi classes, and seminars. The Sakura Weekend is free, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Horticulture Center and Centennial Arboretum, 100 N. Horticultural Dr.  215-878-5097 or japanphilly.org.

Stinger Square Park | South Philly Review

Earth Day park cleanup

April 22, 2023. Let’s Go Outdoors has partnered with Friends of the Wissahickon to host Earth Day Craft & Litter Pickup. Spend part of a Saturday in the park. Bring the kids for crafts and meet new friends while helping to spruce up Stinger Square Park in South Philadelphia. Free, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., 1400 S. 32nd St. 866-878-3595, letsgooutdoors.net or Learn more and register.

Chill at an Afrocentric Earth Day celebration

April 23, 2023. Relish in the great combination of food and art at The ROOTS Art Show -- a creative and collaborative experience of artists working in different mediums. Check out the Afrocentric art for sale, live paintings in progress, and performances. Open bar (3 to 4 p.m.); wine and beer, $5 (after 4 p. m.). Indulge in food and the flavors of the diaspora. Dress in your best “earth tones” to celebrate an Afrocentric Earth Day. Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door. 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Fairmount Park Horticultural Center, 100 N. Horticultural Dr., eventbrite.com.

No garden-variety urban event

April 15, 2023. It’s spring, and that means Springfest, Bartram Garden’s annual celebration of spring. This 2023 theme is “The Beauty of Urban Ecology.” Bartram’s Garden -- with its partners, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Clean Water Action -- knows how to usher in spring in real style. Enjoy workshops, tours of its garden and array of trees, “Meditation in the garden with Luna,” Drumline and drum circle with Musicopia, a plant sale, music, children’s activities, food, and fun. Free, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281 or bartramsgarden.org.

Create an urban garden oasis

Planning and maintaining an urban garden can be a challenge. But worry not. Learn first-hand how to plant a great sustainable urban garden -- from selecting your plants to the design. Sam Keitch, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Manager of Design and Procurement, will show you tips and tricks. Logan Square in Center City Philadelphia -- with its shrubs, annuals, tropicals, perennials, and seasonal flowers in a central public space -- will be referenced as a prime learning prototype for your garden space. Check out a how-to article online: phsonline.org.

Quiz Philadelphia’s next mayor?

April 13, 2023. Education, public safety, and economic opportunities will be the chief topics of discussion at Black Media Matters, an in-person mayoral forum presenting Philly’s candidates for mayor. This event, in which most of the ten mayoral opponents will take part, is critical and stresses the importance of getting out to vote. It also serves as a great primer for the election on May 16. It will all happen courtesy of a consortium of Philadelphia Black media, including the FunTimes, Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Sunday Sun, WURD Radio, and the Every Voice, Every Vote initiative. Free, 7 p.m., Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, 2800 W. Cheltenham Ave., eventbrite.com.

The Media’s influence on Gender and Equality

April 18, 2023. The virtual events hosted by WOMEN’S WAY are always top-notch. The nonprofit addresses issues impacting females related to gender and racial equality. Its latest stellar effort is Behind the Mic – The impact of Media Gender on Racial Equity. It’s part of the group’s insightful Closing the Gender Wealth Forum series featuring empowering women. The webinar will be moderated by Aparna Mukherjee, Chief Program Officer of Resolve Philly. The panelists will be: Jos Duncan Ase, Founder-Executive Producer and Publisher of Love Now Media, Nuala Cabral, Program Officer of Independence Public Media Foundation, and Paula Barnes, WOMEN’S Way Change the Narrative Fellow. Free but donations gladly accepted, 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. 215-985-3322 or womensway.org/media.