DELIGHTFULLY QUIRKY EVENTS FILL PHILLY’S CALENDAR IN 2009 AND BEYOND

Goat Races, Cemetery Dinners, Animal Mating Tours, Mushroom Worship And More Make Philly More Quirky All Year Long

PHILADELPHIA, February 11, 2009 – As if making an international name for itself in the 19^th and 20^th centuries with an underdog championship boxer movie character, dueling cheesesteak purveyors, the Mummers and, well, a cracked bell didn’t make Philadelphia quirky enough, it seems the 21^st century will continue to propagate that fun-loving mystique with strange and wonderful annual events held every month of the year. Here’s a look at the city’s quirky side:

February:

• Mating. See how the animals do it during Lovin’ on the Wild Side, an up-close-and-personal tour of the Philadelphia Zoo that probes the mating behaviors of everything from tigers to tortoises. Brunch and champagne are served between some of the voyeuristic peeks. February 14-15, 2009. 3400 W. Girard Avenue, (215) 243-5254, phillyzoo.org  

March:

• Beware the Ides of March this year, as it comes on the heels of one of three Friday the Thirteenths haunting the 2009 calendar. Superstitious types can drink their trepidation away at Friday the Firkenteenth, an all-day cask ale event held at The Grey Lodge Pub every Friday the you-know-what. March 13, 2009. 6235 Frankford Avenue, (215) 825-5357, greylodge.com 

April:

• The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the country’s premier science history museum, regularly sponsors events that lead participants through its galleries while probing topics like “Ethics and Medical Care in Puritan New England” (April 16, 2009) and “Triumph at Carville” (April 27, 2009), which explores a leprosy hospital in Louisiana.

19 S. 22^nd Street, (215) 563-3737, muttermuseum.org

May:

• On the first Sunday in May owners of real-live goats bring their cloven-hoofed friends to race other goats in the parking lot at Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville. The winner gets a maibock named in his/her honor. May 3, 2009. 519 Kimberton Road, Pikeland Village Square, Phoenixville, (610) 935-4540, slyfoxbeer.com
• Alien spaceships mounted on welded bikes, giant pink poodles hurdling through the air and Mummers riding hand-cranked pirate ships. It can only be the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, a competition that challenges crack physicists to invent the most outrageous and artistic yet functional human-powered vehicles they can dream up. May 16, 2009. Norris Street between Trenton Avenue & York Street, (215) 427-0350, ext. 120, kinetickensington.org

June:

• What do you get when you cross tattooed temptresses with skates? The Philly Roller Girls, of course. Each June, the three female roller derby teams that comprise the city’s league—

the Broad Street Butchers, Heavy Metal Hookers and Philthy Britches—host the East Coast Derby Extravaganza, a roller derby competition to determine who can claim to be the “baddest broads” on wheels. June 27-28, 2009. The Sportsplex, 1331 Oreilly Drive, Feasterville,
(215) 355-2582, phillyrollerderby.com

July:

• Have fun stormin’ the castle at Eastern State Penitentiary on Bastille Day, when re-enactors and audience members playfully recreate the storming of the Bastille at the nation’s first “modern” prison. Philly’s re-enactment of this historic event includes Marie Antoinette throwing more than 2,000 Tastykakes—a favorite Philly delicacy—out to the assembled crowd. A French-themed street party beforehand lets revelers fortify themselves for the attack. July 11, 2009. [Back to Press Releases Main]