Disability Pride, Juneteenth, affordable art, and lots more this weekend

‘Tis the season for festivals — and whatever else Philly always has cooking, even in June, when you might’ve thought the scene would slow down.

On Friday night at the Drake (part of JUNE-A-PALOOZA), Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists and A Day in the Life of an Artist of Color present a POC Artist Happy Hour from 6 to 8pm, including beer, coffee, cookies, and water ice. Directly following the happy hour, there will be a reading of Chloé Hung’s play, MODEL MINORITY (directed by Kasual Owens-Fields), a comedy about appropriation of African-American culture by Asian Americans. Both events are pay-what-you-wish.

Or, over at the Adrienne, the Philly Improv Theater hosts Chloe Koser’s CHLOE DOESN’T DO BOYS at 9pm. Koser’s hourlong show covers life as a trans comedian. She came out as a woman two years ago, upending both her personal life and her comedic repertoire. This “personal, gross, silly, sad, and joyous” show tells the comic’s story through a bunch of her own wacky characters.

Saturday’s a big one around here, so buckle up.

Disability Pride

It’s Disability Pride week in Philly, honoring the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and challenging definitions of “disability.” Things wrap up with the Disability Pride March of Solidarity, starting at 10am at the National Constitution Center with speeches from disability community leaders. The crowd heads for City Hall along Market at 11am. From noon to 4pm, there’ll be a family-friendly, accessible celebration at City Hall Courtyard, with speakers, food trucks, kids’ activities, live music, and a resource fair.

Juneteenth

Philly is also celebrating Juneteenth this weekend. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, but a reading of it didn’t reach Texas until June 19, 1865 — and it is now commemorated as “Juneteenth.” The Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival is coming to Johnson House (6303 Germantown Avenue) on Saturday from noon to 8pm. There’ll be family activities, re-enactments, a marketplace, guided historic tours, and a panel discussion on human trafficking in Philly. It’s all free and open to the public.

You can also catch Liberty to Go to See ($15) at Cliveden (6401 Germantown Avenue), a site-specific play based on the real-life history of the Chew family, including their free, indentured, and enslaved workers from the 1760s to the 1860s. Audiences (who move through the house during the show) are limited to 20 people, ages 12 and up. Weekend performances happen on Friday at 7pm and on Saturday at noon and at 3pm.

Norristown celebrates Juneteenth, too, with the help of Iron Age Theatre and the Norristown NAACP. Free hour-long, eight-block walking tours will start from Five Saints Distillery every 20 minutes from 10am to 3:40pm (reservations recommended). Local businesses, activists, and historical locations team with professional actors to bring the past to life, including encounters with Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells, and Sekou Sundiata, and living icon Angela Davis.

All day long

And outdoor art fests? Of course. InLiquid’s Art for the Cash Poor is coming to Callowhill this year (Saturday from noon to 6pm), with original, handmade works from local artists and nothing priced over $199. There’s also the Clark Park Music & Arts Festival, a community institution since 1970. Tons of Philly craft vendors and nonprofits meet food trucks, pop-up art, and live music from local bands (Grandchildren and TJ KONG and the Atomic Bomb headline).

Dance fans should head to Kensington for Vervet Dance’s In the Light on Saturday, a marathon performance at the Iron Factory (118 Fontain Street). It runs from sunup to sundown (5:31am to 8:31pm), with semi-composed acoustic music, a large ensemble of loosely choreographed and improvising dancers, and lighting design “by the sky.” Loren Groenendaal directs. Tickets are $25 ($10 if you’re a student, senior, artist, or underemployed), and the audience comes and goes throughout the 15-hour performance at will.

And on Sunday? Find your favorite dad and rest up for next weekend.

Above: Actor Richard Bradford plays a runaway slave named Crixus at this year's Juneteenth celebrations in Norristown. (Photo by John Doyle.)