Music on the Mall – Free this Thursday

Music on the Mall, the city’s free summer concert series, which runs the first Thursday of each month, concludes this week with a special presentation of World Music on August 6. The event will feature the stylings of Paprika, a Brazilian-influenced girl group, from 6 to 7 pm and Casplash, a Carribean band, from 7 to 8. So put on your boogie shoes and come on out to Independence Mall.

And save this date – on September 3, the series will close out the season with a “Battle of the School Bands” right before the first bell rings. Find more info here.

Fast Five for Free Friday

Hey you guys!

Since we’re now headed into the summer and good weather, I know you’ll want to be out and about more. How can you do that and keep a reign on your cash flow?

Well, let me present the OnTheCheap solution for this common dilemma – the Fast Five For Free Friday. (See, Mrs. Ackerman, I wasn’t sleeping through that lesson on alliteration!) Every Friday I’ll shoot off a quick list of things you can do that weekend for free…so just check back when you have some time on your hands, m’kay?

Without further ado, here’s the first list of Five For Free.  And according to the Weather Channel, all signals point to a beautiful weekend. Go enjoy – without busting the budget.

*Speaking of Peace: A Festival of the Arts – What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding? Find out through the photo essays, storytelling and music at this festival, presented by the Frazer Mennonite Church
in Frazer, PA. Tomorrow, 1-7 pm. Call 610-644-3397 or check the web site for details.

* Ruby’s Walk Across America – Reality star Ruby Gettinger’s anti-obesity walk kicks off in Philly (just in time for swimsuit season, eh?).  Meet Ruby and the other walkers at Lloyd Hall, One Boathouse Row, from 8 am to 2 pm.

* Lincoln High School Glory Days – Ah, nostalgia! Apparently Lincoln High School is scheduled for demolition – but not before one last blow-out celebration. Flea markets, music, tours, games and memorabilia will mark the goodbyes from 8 am to 2 pm tomorrow. 3201 Ryan Avenue; 215-335-5653.

* ARTspiration! – Billed as a free community arts festival for the whole family, this event will be held at the Fleisher Art Memorial from 10-4 on Sunday. Check out the arts and crafts, book sale, bake sale and free performances at the nation’s oldest tuition-free art school. Tip: don’t miss the “Play With Your Food” booth.

* And, for those headed to the shore – the Boardwalk Spring Family Fun Fest will be going on all weekend in Ocean City. Face painters, bands, pony rides and a juried art show are some of the featured attractions on the boards from 9-6. Call 609-457-1151 for info.

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Day 11 – Philadelphia City Pass

Give mom the city – without having to gift wrap – with the City Pass.

Wouldn’t you love to wrap up the best Philly has to offer for mom this Mother’s Day? Well, this year give her the National Constitution Center, The Philadelphia Zoo and Adventure Aquarium – without the hassle of wrapping. Easy to do, with the CityPass,your ticket to the best the city has to offer.

Better yet, buy one of these ticket booklets – at $58 a book – for each of you, then share the next few days together exploring six of the most popular Philadelphia attractions, including the Franklin and the Academy of Natural Sciences. You’ll both have wonderful memories of your “staycation,” – and you’ll be saving a whopping 45% off the price of these tickets sold separately.  Passes are valid for nine days, and you’ll see savings if you just check out three of the attractions – but in a city this great, why stop at three?

So make Philly the City of Motherly Love this year by sharing it with the CityPass.

25th Philadelphia International Children’s Festival May 1-2

Q- Where can you find the Give & Take Jugglers, a hungry hungry caterpillar and some giants you can hang with?

A- Well, this weekend you can find all of them – and more! – at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts at the 25th annual Philadelphia International Children’s Festival.

The festival, sponsored by the nonprofit arts education initiative Project Synergy, will feature a variety of indoor productions, including Hangin’ With The Giants, The Lost World and Eric Carle favorites. Admission is $10 a production, or you can get a birthday pass – three productions for $25 and a bonus free T-shirt.  And, best of all, the outdoor activities are free! Call 215-898-3900 or check the web site for details.

Free outdoors are arts and crafts projects for children provided by Project Synergy, a nonprofit arts education initiative. The Give & Take Jugglers, back by popular demand, will perform with Clowns Without Borders. On Saturday, the Clay Studio will give free lessons on creating monoprints with clay.

Indoor performances include Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular, in which dancers trace 30 years of hip-hop. Storyteller and author Antonio Sacre will entertain. Audiences can learn the history of blues music in a stage performance of Blues Journey, the children’s book by Walter Dean Myers, adapted by Jerome Hairston.

Cathy & Marcy, folk banjo artists and two-time Grammy winners, and hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon will perform and collaborate in a banjo-meets-hip-hop performance.

Other indoor productions are The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites, The Lost World, Hangin’ With the Giants, and more. Low-cost, kid-friendly catered cuisine from the Hinge Cafe will be available.

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Day 2-Omoma Coffee

Brew up a cup of love for mom. Or win a pound for the two of you to share!

Remember the old Beverly Hillbillies TV show, where oil was referred to as “black gold”? Well, most of the moms I know would agree – coffee is the true black gold of our day. Serve your mom a mug of freshly brewed, delicious coffee this Mother’s Day, and you’ll open her eyes to your gratitude and affection.

For an affordable way to treat your mom to her favorite beverage, try a gift set from OMOMA Coffee. Gift sets range in price from a mere $14.99 to $74.99, and all include their delicious 100% Arabica gourmet estate OMOMA coffee, an OMOMA mug, absolutely yummy biscotti and a personalized gift message.  Or, if mom has enough mugs, order a pound of their medium (American), dark (French) or Espresso roast, sold in individual serving packet, by the pot or by the pound.

And, specially for PhillyOnTheCheap readers, OMOMA is offering two special ways for you to share their coffee with mom this Mother’s Day. First, you can get 20% off your order on their site. Just enter coupon code 1239922423 during checkout, and a 20% discount will be applied to one order per customer. Note this code cannot be used with Google checkout, but can be combined with other OMOMA discount offers, including the free shipping for orders over $35. The code is good until May 15.

Now the giveaway – the good folks at OMOMA are giving away a pound of their coffee to one lucky reader. Just enter a comment on this blog post with a mom memory, and you’ll be entered to win the pound. The contest closes Friday, May 8.  Winner will be chosen by our handy dandy itemizer and announced on Mother’s Day.

So head on over to OMOMA – and perk your mom’s day right up!

Last Days for Perception: Reality

Just wanted to give a shout out to the fine folks at the Projects Gallery on 2nd Street. They have different exhibitions every week, and they’re a favorite (and free) day trip of my art-loving 12 year old.
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I wanted to let you guys know that this is your last chance to catch the current exhibit, Perception: Reality, which features three simultaneous solo shows on the same theme. Our favorite: the carved phonebook artwork of Cuban artist Alex Queral.

Check them out yourself – but get there Friday or Saturday, or you’ll be too late (though I’m sure the Gallery’s next show will be just as impressive!).

Day Tripping On The Cheap

We had planned to make the rounds of yard sales on Saturday, but the rain sort of ruined our plans. So what to do with the kids on a rainy Saturday that’s educational, fun and (most important to my budget) cheap?

Well, never fear, the City of Brotherly Love came through again. First, our foursome (one 6 year old in pigtails, one 12 year old art lover, my dh and I) headed over to the historic district, where we visited the Betsy Ross House on Arch Street. This is a great bargain – $3 for adults, $2 for kids, which means we could flag down (hee) an educational museum experience for just one Alexander Hamilton ($10).

And we were doubly lucky on this particular trip. First, the guy selling us the tickets asked if we wanted the audio tour, which was being offered at the sale price of just a dollar that day (it’s usually two). So we snatched up the headphones, which saved us a lot of reading aloud. (Note to self: wait until the kids are old enough to read before taking them to museums. If that’s impossible, bring along a lot of Sucrets.)

Second, the museum was holding a special exhibit called Marching to the White House: Election Memorabilia from the Sublime to the Ridiculous which was free with admission. This was so neat – presidential campaign buttons (like “Nixon Now!” and “All the Way With JFK“) were displayed along with surprising posters (Elvis for president? Really?) and even Jimmy Carter toilet paper. The kids had a blast checking out the oddball items, while I tried to see which campaigns I could actually remember based on the memorabilia (I’ll admit to the Nixon – Humphrey race).

After finishing the tour, we were directed to the courtyard, where the famed seamstress and her husband are buried. Although we were too late to catch her Saturday, “Betsy Ross” also makes personal appearances out there and is quick to teach children her one-snip method of making five-pointed stars.

The campaign memorabilia will be on display through May. Betsy Ross makes the rounds daily, with a special story hour on Sunday mornings.

Free Flower Show At Macy’s

So maybe you missed the Big Kahuna – the Philadelphia Flower Show – this year. Don’t go thinking the bloom is off the rose already!

Okay, so that was a bit corny (my kids are pretending they don’t know me, so I guess I’m guilty as charged). Anyway, my point is you can still see a beautiful show of blossoms and blooms – and it won’t cost a thing. Just check out the Macy’s Philadelphia Flower Show in the Grand Court of Macy’s Center City. This was the same site of the Wanamaker’s flower shows of the thirties through seventies…so it’s not only horticultural, it’s historical. And it smells good, too!

Through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (sponsors of the aforementioned Big Kahuna), Macy’s will present Dream In Color, complete with guided tours. So meet at the Eagle from April 5 through April 19 – and remember to take time to smell the roses.

Film Festival on the Cheap

We know that Philly has one of the best film festivals this side of Cannes.  But we also know that having all those good films playing here means shelling out a lot for tickets in a short period of time. The Philadelphia Cinema Alliance, which sponsors the film festival, charges the general public $10 a ticket.  Now, that’s a bargain – if you’re coming to see a movie or two. But if you’re a real buff and want to see as many films as possible, well, the single ticket prices can really bite into your popcorn budget.

But there are a couple of ways to do this year’s film festival (March 26 – April 6) on the cheap. The best way to save money is to work off your admission.  PFF/CineFest 09 is looking for volunteers to work the box office, act as ushers, help with advanced ticket sales or distribution….just about anything you can imagine to make CineFest 09 a success. And for each shift you volunteer, you’ll earn a complimentary film festival ticket.  Can’t beat that, right? Plucky do-gooders with a passion for the cinema should call Pari Patel at 267-765-9800 x 205 to get in on this deal.

If you don’t have the time to volunteer, consider investing in a CineFest badge or pass.  The cheapest deal? For $35, you can get a Matinee 5-pass, good for any movie before 4 pm.  Other deals can be found here.

Let’s Stay Overnight!

At these prices, you can’t afford not to stay in Philly this spring. From March 10 to May 21, the Alexander Inn is offering rooms from Thursday through Sundays for just a buck.  Yep, you read that right – prime time weekend lodging for what it costs to get medium fries off the Super Value menu.

And the Inn has a great locale, too, for your visiting guests (or just to get out of the suburbs for a night!) It’s only minutes away from the Avenue of the Arts, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Antique Row and the Independence Hall area.

Of course, there are a few cavaets – but no small print! The rooms are limited and will be confirmed on a first come, first serve basis in advance. Guests are only permitted one reservation at this rock bottom price and cannot reserve multiple rooms (you know, share the wealth!). Credit cards will be charged for rack rate, but all but a dollar will be returned at check out.

Make your reservations now at the Inn or by telephone at 215-923-3535 or tollfree at 1-877-253-9466.