Look at this precious Philadelphia Fire Department Dalmatian puppy from the 2025 Hero Thrill Show in South Philadelphia. The carnival-style fundraiser will return to support the post-high-school education of families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty in the police and fire departments. Featured will be the Sound of Philadelphia music by DJ Bob Pantano, daredevil performances and displays of K-9 and bicycle units, the Philadelphia Police Motorcycle Highway Patrol Drill Team, a police helicopter, marine boat, and fire-rescue demonstrations. Get tickets online or at the event: $15 individuals; $35 for families up to 5 persons; noon to 4 p.m. EST. Xfinity Mobile Arena Parking Lot, 3601 S. Broad St. Parking and food-drink are free for those who buy a ticket: http://www.herothrllshow.org/ Photo by Elliott Curson.
If spring can go out like a lamb, then summer can definitely depart with a bark. You can make sure that it does by exploring these entertaining low-cost or free events to end summer and kick off fall!
Talk Sports
Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Get a field-level angle at Goes Beyond the Game: Sports, Media & Culture hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, Philadelphia. The event will feature sports journalist & podcaster Keith Pompey and former NBA baller and sports commentator Etan Thomas. They will tackle everything from the newest 76er LeBron James to the Philadelphia Eagles’ prospects of getting back to the Super Bowl. The event is part of the organization’s regular membership meeting.
Free (but donations are encouraged); pre-register; 6:30 p.m. EST. 6abc/WPVI-TV, 4100 City Ave. Email: nabjphilly@gmail.com or https://nabj-philadelphia.org/join-us/
Bet Your Bottom Dollar At Block Party
Thursday, September 3, 2026. Check out the bargain deals at Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll in the University City District, courtesy of local businesses and community vendors offering special deals from $1 to $5. Browse through the neighborhood commercial corridor for family fun, crafts, and food; vibe out to local pop-up performances by musicians and artists.
Free admission; 5 p.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST. Baltimore Avenue, between 40th & 51st streets. 215-243-0555 or https://www.universitycity.org/stroll/ or ucd@universitycity.org
Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr.
Ramsey’s on Key
Friday, September 4, 2026. Enjoy an evening of art, live music, cocktails, and refreshments at the First Friday at the Barnes. Relax to Who Hears Here? 250 Years of American Song, a presentation composed and performed by pianist Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. Ramsey is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and professor emeritus of music at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a producer, label head, and bandleader. His recordings include A Spiritual Vibe, Vol. 1 and Race Music 21: etudes/grooves/interludes. He has performed at the Blue Note, Harlem Stage, and the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. He co-curated the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s 2009 exhibition Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment and also served as a consultant for the Emmy Award–winning HBO documentary The Apollo (2019).
$35 per ticket; students: $10 (includes access to the museum’s main art collection); 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. 215-278-7000 or https://www.barnesfoundation.org/whats-on/first-friday-guthrie-ramsey-september…
Made in Philadelphia Summer Market coming to City Hall.
A Labor Day of Fun
Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 6, 2026. Spend Labor Day Weekend with family and friends at the Made in Philadelphia Summer Market 2026. Enjoy a lively open-air marketplace of more than 60 makers, crafters, artists and small Philly-area businesses. Shop for handmade artwork, jewelry, home goods, accessories, skincare, specialty foods, and handmade gifts. The market will be set up in the style of the holiday Christmas Village in Philadelphia by those organizers of that annual German shopping emporium, as well as the Center City District.
Free admission, Friday & Saturday: Noon to 8 p.m. EST; Sunday: noon to 6 p.m. EST. City Hall / Dilworth Park (west side), Broad Street and John F. Kennedy Blvd. Email: info@madeinphila.com, 215-440-5500 or https://www.madeinphila.com/
It’s A Blockbuster Event
Saturday, September 5, 2026. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned block party, Philly style. Back to Our Roots Community Block Party fits the bill. Enjoy a stellar summer-ending day of street-fair fun. Get a health-fitness checkup, information about community resources, and a book bag, courtesy of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Enjoy games, face painting, a flea market, and street fare from food trucks.
Free admission, 10 a.m. EST to 6 p.m. EST. Galilee Baptist Church, 459 Roxborough Ave., 215-483-7178 or https://GBC-BlockParty2026.eventbrite.com
Percussionist Karen Smith
The Art Of Coltrane
Saturday, September 5, 2026. Bee-bop into Labor Day by celebrating Coltrane 100 Philly, honoring John Coltrane’s 100th birthday with a jazz performance featuring the Karen Smith Experience. Smith, a percussionist with a wide range, will pay tribute to Coltrane through movement, music and poetry inspired by Coltrane’s legacy.
Free with a regular Art Museum admission of $30 for adults, $28 for seniors, $14 for students; 2 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST. Philadelphia Museum of Art / The Great Stair Hall. 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. 215-763-8100 or https://www.philamuseum.org/events/the-karen-smith-experience
Brazilian Day Philadelphia to celebrate culture and liberty.
Celebrate Brazil’s Independence
Sunday, September 6, 2026. A great way to blow off steam for the Labor Day holiday is to immerse yourself in Brazilian culture at Brazilian Day Philadelphia. Organized by Project Capoeira, Inc., the festival will celebrate Brazilian Independence Day (which officially will be September 7th). The event will celebrate Brazilian arts, culture and freedom. Brazil enjoyed a separate self-rule but had to gain its independence from Portugal in 1822 after the Portuguese parliament tried to transfer Brazil back into a dependent colony.
Free admission; 1 p.m. EST to 7 p.m. EST. Spruce Street Harbor Park, 401 S. Columbus Blvd. Email: BrazilianDayPhiladelphia@gmail.com, 215-601-9117 or http://braziliandayphiladelphia.com/
What Just Happened? Events Around Town
Black Dance Legacy Mural Dedication. Photo by Nicholas Steptoe Jr.
Mural Tribute To A Dynasty of Dancers
More than 80 guests turned out in South Philadelphia on August 4th for A Legacy of Dance Excellence, a multi-figure mural dedication honoring Black Philadelphia dance trailblazers in ballet and modern dance. Artist Bernard Collins Jr., created the tribute mural called “The Mighty Four.” It features dance instructor Essie Marie Dorsey (1893–1967) and three of her pioneering students, Sydney King (1919–2024), Marion Cuyjet (1920–1996), and PHILADANCO! founder and National Medal of Arts recipient Joan Myers Brown (born 1931). It focuses on their enduring legacy as dancers, educators, and cultural leaders. The mural includes Judith Jamison (1943–2024), Cuyjet’s student who later became artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Michaela DePrince (1995–2024), a Sierra Leone-born ballet prodigy who went on to global fame.
The ceremony kicked off with an African dance performance by Ama Schley (pictured), along with African drummers. Schley has been dancing with Kulu Mele for more than a decade, performing West African and African-Cuban pieces and traditions.
Former ballerina, dance historian, and mural organizer Karen Warrington said that she found her cultural identity through her lifelong connection to African dance. Warrington explained the impetus for the mural: “It was an attempt to showcase … Black dance and the legacy of dance educators who provided a path for aspiring Black dancers who, before the 1960s, were not welcomed in white Philadelphia dance schools.”
Mural Arts Philadelphia and the Black Dance Collab, which champions local artists and dancers of color, and their cultural stories, spearheaded the activities.
