This just in from 215 Festival organizers:
This week, The 215 Festival — Philadelphia’s literary arts festival, featuring readings and events with some of the city’s greatest writers (and some pretty good ones from more far-flung locales, too) — will ramp up, and we couldn’t be more excited. That’s for a few reasons. One is that the 215 Fest is one of our favorite times of the year. Another is that we’re proud and honored to welcome this year’s writers and authors — a lineup that is proof positive that Philly’s literary scene is fresh, robust and totally ready to party. But maybe most of all, we’re excited about where the 215 Fest is this year: South Street.
Allow us to explain: Since we rebooted the 215 Festival in 2013, we’ve accidentally also turned it into a festival that celebrates neighborhoods. After all, this is Philadelphia, that great city of neighborhoods. And over the last few years, we’ve been lucky to throw events in East Passyunk, Fishtown, the Eraserhood and more. But when we considered what to do for this year’s Fest, time and again, South Street came up. Why? Well, for one, the South Street/Headhouse Square area features more independent bookstores than any other locale in the city: There’s Brickbat Books, Headhouse Books, Garland Of Letters, Mostly Books, Wooden Shoe and more. (Ever check out the Thrift For AIDS book section? It’s pretty great.) More than that, South Street plays host to a wide variety of reading series year-round at venues like Tattooed Mom and L’Etage. And beyond all of that, like any good Philadelphians, we all owe a debt of gratitude to South Street. And as the street is ever in the process of reinventing itself, imagine our surprise when, the more we looked at it, the more we realized that South Street isn’t just the home of cell phone stores and hookah shops anymore; it’s actually the city’s most organically-occurring literary destination. Looking at it that way, there was no other place that made any sense for the 215 Fest.
So starting this Thursday and running through Sunday, won’t you join us for any of these amazing, free readings and other events in the South Street area? As always, we promise your mind a great time. We can’t wait to see you.
Festival schedule after the jump…
7PM: 215 Fest Kickoff Reading w/ Philly Poet Laureates at Headhouse Square
8PM: J. Robert Lennon/Wintfred Huskey/Erik Bader at Jim’s Steaks
9PM: Gigantic Sequins + Bedfellows 215 Fest Reading & Cocktails at Tattooed Mom
Friday, October 24
7PM: The Phila. Review of Books at Brickbat Books, featuring Lee Klein, Sugar Tongue Slim and many more
10PM: Literary Mixtape: 215 Fest Edition at Society Hill Society
Saturday, October 25
3PM: 215 FEST TYPE-IN @ Pumpkin Fall Fest! at Headhouse Square
4PM: Ixnay press presents: Sandra Simonds/Pattie McCarthy/Jenn McCreary at Headhouse Books
7PM: American Poetry Review presents: Dorothea Lasky & Thomas Devaney at Brickbat Books
8:30PM: (A Very Creepy) Writers Night In America: 215 Fest Edition at Tattooed Mom
Sunday, October 26
11AM: The Head & The Hand Press @ Headhouse Farmer’s Market
3PM: Sunday Afternooner: APIARY Magazine Staff Reading & Audience-Participation Junk/Treasure Auction at Tattoed Mom
10PM: Last Call w/ Tara Murtha/Elizabeth Scanlon/Joey Sweeney/Mark McCloughan at Society Hill Society