Wow, do we have a week for you … and looking a bit beyond, even more.
Here’s what’s what.
Saturday, October 26
Celebrate Halloween with the Shantys at The Fainting Goat, 105 South MacDade Boulevard in Glenolden. Happy hour starts at 5 p.m. Wear a costume!
Sunday, October 27
It’s got pancakes! It’s got Irish music! Sweet! Take in the pancake session with Maggie’s Boots at Philly Wolf Den, Wolf and South Chadwick Street in Philly, starting at 12:30 p.m. Musicians are welcome to join in the tunes. Pancakes and other goodies will be served until about 3. Suggested donation: $10.
On a more serious note, the film, “Dan Berrigan Pray for Us” will be shown at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. The film documents Father Daniel Berrigan’s life around the time of the Vietnam war. It’s free, with refreshments following, with the screening starting at 2 p.m.
And starting at 5 p.m. down on the St. Joseph’s University campus, the 2019 Philadelphia Gaelic Athletic Association All Stars are hosting an evening of Gaelic games. Local hurlers take on the New York GAA at 5. After that, the Delco Gaels will take on the St. Joe’s team. Following that, the big matchup—local footballers take on University of Ulster Jordanstown. It all takes place at Sweeney Field, and admission is free.
Tuesday, October 29
Take in “Readings from Belfast’s Seamus Heaney Centre,” starting at 6 p.m. on the Villanova campus, 800 East Lancaster Avenue. The readings will be presented by a group of leading Belfast writers, organized by 2016 Heimbold Chair Glenn Patterson, in Garey Hall, Room 10a. Details here.
Friday, November 1
Catch the John Byrne Band’s Album Release Show at World Café Live, 3025 Walnut Street near the Penn campus. Also on the bill, Jamison Celtic Rock and Citizens Band Radio. All starting at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7. “A Shiver in the Sky” is the name of the new release, and it’s already getting lots of attention. Tickets here.
Saturday, November 2
Get set for the 114th Annual Mayo Association of Philadelphia Charity Gala Ball, to be held starting at 7 p.m. at the Irish Center. The McLean Avenue Band—we heard them at the Irish Festival on Penn’s Landing last summer, and they’re great—are the headliners. There will be performances by pipers, DJ John Shields, the Rince Ri Irish Dancers—and the whole night culminates in the crowning of this year’s Miss Mayo.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased via PayPal on the association’s website. Dinner will be served from 6 to 8 p.m. at an additional charge.
One quick note of a theatrical nature:
- Already in progress, Irish Heritage Theatre is presenting “Woman and Scarecrow” by Irish dramatist Marina Carr at Plays and Players Theater, 1714 Delancey Street in Center City through November 9. It’s the story of a wife and mother who, facing death, looks back on her life—and wonders what that life might have been. More information and tickets here.
- Wrapping up this weekend, Conor McPherson’s “The Night Alive,” presented by Inis Nua Theatre Company, described as a “delicate and humane play from one of Ireland’s most widely produced playwrights.” See it at Louis Bluver Theater at the Drake, 302 South Hicks Street, Washington Square West. Tickets and info here.
- Also, Quintessence Theatre Group’s acclaimed presentation of the Synge Triptych has been extended through November 3. Catch it at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy. Details here.
And a quick reminder …
Judge Patrick Dugan, Sr. Marguerite O’Beirne, Russell Wylie and (posthumously) Liam Hegarty will be honored by the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame on November 17. Learn more.
That’s it for now. See you next week.
