Events
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WXPN’s Xponential Music Festival is Summer Staple in Camden, New Jersey
Story, photos by David Krakow Ah festivals. The all-you-can-eat buffets of concert going. Although I’m of an age where folks went to concerts mostly and festivals hardly at all, they do hold a special place. I was living in San Francisco at the beginning of the 1990s and was able to jump on the Lollapalooza bandwagon with such folks as guiding spirits Jane’s Addiction, Alice In Chains and some new Seattle quintet called Pearl Jam. Later that decade I moved to New Orleans and took in two Jazzfests. By that time they were already as much pop and rock fests as jazz fests but any musical fest in New Orleans…
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Catch a Buzz at PA’s Drexel University’s Academy of Natural Sciences Boozy Botanicals Art Deco-Era Event
Whatever lies behind Door 19 must be more mysterious than anything in the proverbial door numbers one, two or three. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” — John Dewey I suspected that I was in for a wild night at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University‘s Door 19 event, cleverly named Boozy Botanicals. My vivid imagination envisioned scenes straight out of Little Shop of Horrors, all man-eating plants and specialty cocktails infused with the likes of stinging nettles or mugwort, ferns and fronds serving as swizzle sticks. Maybe my previous assignment at the Academy (Xtreme Bugs, featuring…
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Experience Best of Times, Wurst of Times at Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant in Phoenixville, PA
Foodies will pretty much follow anything that leads to food. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Achtung! Attention, that is and full disclosure: I’m apparently intolerant of craft brews, which I discovered at the wurst of times, namely Oktoberfest. This would ordinarily be of no concern; however and just prior to learning of my sensitivity to these more potent beers, I accepted an assignment at Phoenixville, PA‘s Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. Did I mention the event was a celebration of Oktoberfest (clearly not a big month for beer consumption)? To compound the irony, I reside in Phoenixville, where such boozy establishments saturate the Borough. Since I’d never encountered an issue…
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Restore Medical Marijuana Center Opens Second Cannabis Dispensary in Elkins Park, PA
Extracts, capsules, serums, salves, liquids via syringe and tinctures make for a variety of choices of one of Restore’s featured brands. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Restore Integrative Wellness Center has done it again! They opened a second medical marijuana dispensary on Old York Road in Elkins Park, PA this fall. Restore has the distinction of being Philadelphia’s very first such outlet, when its premier location was launched in the spring of 2018 in Philly’s Fishtown section (just across from the Fillmore). Both dispensaries are similar in size and staff, all of whom are at the ready to dispense not only product but a wealth of information and knowledge. A…
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Philadelphia Film Center Rolls Out Red Carpet for Paul Dano, Screens Directorial Debut of ‘WILDLIFE’
The theater formerly known as the Prince Theater was renamed; marquee now boasts new signage. “And there are words, significant words, you do not want to say, words that account for busted-up lives, words that try to fix something ruined that shouldn’t be ruined and no one wanted ruined, and that words can’t fix anything. Telling.” – Richard Ford, Wildlife Story, photos by Sharon Kozden The 2019 Academy Awards are in the bag, the suspense over until next year. Your personal favorites either won iconic trophy statuettes or were left out of the picture. For the record, I was disappointed over Glenn Close’s loss. And yet, one of the best things…
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F.A.B.R.I.C. in Tempe, Arizona Showcases Project Runway Fashion Designers
Photos, story by Cassie Hepler Bravo TV’s Project Runway designers hit Arizona’s “hautest” runway in an exclusive fashion show to help celebrate F.A.B.R.I.C.’s two-year anniversary in November 2018. F.A.B.R.I.C. Tempe is a collaboration to combine apparel manufacturing resources, creative professionals, co-op work space, events, industry training and more. Partially funded by Downtown Tempe, it is Arizona’s fashion headquarters. Services include design and manufacturing (tech packs, patterns, grading marking, cutting, no minimum sewing), event spaces (co-working offices, event space, photo studios, meeting space), education (classes, private lessons. fashion business consultations, camps) and resources (AZ Fashion Directory, calendar, jobs and news). F.A.B.R.I.C. is also home of the AZ Apparel Foundation, a non-profit providing the knowledge and resources to…
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Four Seasons Hosts Sneak Peak Party at BOK Building to Celebrate Comcast Plans in Philadelphia, PA
Greens and white candlelight … nature’s simple and perfect analogous match to bacon and eggs. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” –Dom Pérignon, monk and cellar master attributed to the discovery of champagne, upon first tasting it. As in Dom’s quote above, I found myself not only “tasting the stars” but doing so beneath them, when the Four Seasons Hotel celebrated its impending 2019 installation atop the Comcast Center by hosting a rooftop, invite-only Pop Down event at South Philly’s BOK building. According to Peter Nowlan, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the hotel, “Four Seasons Pop Down brings the Four Seasons experience…
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Cirque du Soleil’s VOLTA Electrifies Audiences Under the Big Top in Oaks, PA
Vibrant background colors and name-zapped graphic create visually arresting poster. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden (event photography courtesy of Cirque du Soleil) Step right up! It’s showtime, folks. Over the summer, the circus came to town at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. The renowned Cirque du Soleil arrived with its Under the Big Top production of VOLTA, and Oaks was woke! For some time preceding Cirque’s descension at the Expo Center, the locals and passers could witness the construction progress of a large tent (one that seated 2,500). People were talking. Something grand-scale was in the offing. A big deal in little but mighty Oaks. Word of…
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Philadelphia’s Bellevue Hotel Hosts Historic Hotels of America Reception
The event’s venue is the only Philadelphia hotel on the National Register of Historical Places and was awarded the distinction in 1977. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Philadelphia’s iconic Bellevue Hotel (also included on the Historic Hotels of America registry) hosted 14 other such accommodations winners from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for what was billed as a Philadelphia and Media Marketplace Luncheon. How does a single location, specifically the Bellevue’s 12th floor’s conservatory, fit ’em all in? Simple: these 15 lodging gems located across the country sent their very best representatives along with the necessary items to create alluring table scapes filled with theme-related décor, pamphlets and other…
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Step Inside Philadelphia’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Fishtown
Media members (and other invitees) check in for the May 2nd preview ahead of Restore’s official May 30th opening. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden Cannabis be true? While never imagining I’d find myself in the vicinity of a medical marijuana dispensary, that’s precisely where my Uber driver deposited me on the evening of May 2nd, when Restore Integrative Wellness Center hosted a VIP preview party to introduce members of the media, politicians and business owners to Philadelphia’s first such “house of well repute” located on Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia’s Fishtown. Finally and at long last (Governor Wolf signed Senate Bill 3, legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, on April 17, 2016),…