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CiderFest Brought Hardcore Fun to Woodford Mansion in Philly’s Fairmount Park
Stately Woodford Mansion played host in 2023 to the sixth annual CiderFest. “His voice in her ear was rich, just like the cider was in her throat. She couldn’t help but look at him, and his face was so close. Everything about him was rich and balanced. He was the physical embodiment of this cider. Would she discover more layers the longer she knew him? He was close enough that the flecks of gold in his eyes sparkled at her like the cider’s missing effervescence. He was close enough for her to smell the cider on his breath, the color of it making her light-headed and giddy.” ― Amy E. Reichert, The…
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Getting a Lil’ (Apple) Sauced During CiderFest at Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park’s Woodford Mansion
CiderFest attendee gives the cider press a rotation during a demonstration. “There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin pie, where leaves are always orange and fresh-cut wood is always burning and it is always, just always Halloween” ~~ Catherynne M Valente Story, photos by Sharon Kozden While fall is the Fiona Apple of my ear (read: the aural equivalent of moody, low-slung clouds) I actually know people who don’t like autumn. Weirdos? Nah. Just people doing what they do (read: exercising their right to be). Imma do me. You do you. We all do…
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Cider Sparkles at Fairmount Park’s 3rd Annual CiderFest in Philadelphia, PA
Event signage hangs from fence posts at Cedar Grove. Photos, story by Sharon Kozden “It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” – Diana Gabaldon It really was a day such as described in the above quote … uncannily so if you happened to be attending the third annual CiderFest at the Historic Houses of Fairmount Park. Having written about and photographed the inaugural event in 2017, I had missed 2018’s iteration but was glad to be back spending my Saturday afternoon between the hours of noon and 5 p.m. surrounded by folks ranging in interest level…
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Tune Into the Sounds of the Season at Fairmount Park’s Historic Houses
“Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart … filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.” – Bess Streeter Aldrich Story, photos by Sharon Kozden They came. They toured. They listened. On December 2, in what was part of a 16-day seasonal presentation called A Very Philly Christmas, Fairmount Park’s Historic Houses came alive with the sounds of music during The Sounds of the Season. Philadelphia was well represented by its diverse musical culture and community, which included Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Clef Club of Jazz, Opera Philadelphia and PlayOnPhilly.…
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CiderFest Rules Fairmount Park’s Historic Houses in Philadelphia
Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “The older I get, the more I become an apple pie, sparkling cider kind of guy.” – Scott Foley What was Fairmount Park Conservancy thinking on the perfect autumnal afternoon in late September when introducing CiderFest, featuring cider samples from over 20 Pennsylvania cideries, self-guided tours of the six historic houses at Fairmount Park, free house-to-house transportation, live music and pay-as-you-go food trucks? I’d say they had their thinking caps spot-on with the aforementioned perfect confab of fall delights. Proceeds from the event benefitted the “ongoing stewardship, maintenance and promotion of the Historic Houses of Fairmount Park.” That alone was more than enough for this itsy bitsy spider to drink from the…
