Musikfest Today: Five Things to Know

Good morning, ‘festers. Today is Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011 – Day Nine of Musikfest.

1. Only two days left to enjoy and the weather forecast is increasingly making Sunday look like a washout. Today is actually looking decent, though not quite as lovely as these last two days: Mostly sunny with a high of 86 degrees. The chance of showers and thunderstorms increases as the day wears on.
2. Lots of kid-oriented stuff if you’re making it a ‘festing day with the family. The Cool Crafts Tent Kid-Tastic theme of the day is "tropical," while Yosi & The Superdads and Alex & The Kaleidoscope Band play the tunes. The Verve Pipe plays a special family concert at the Musikfest Café at 2pm for only $5 admission (standing room only). Then there is tween girl heartthrob Nick Jonas, who is your Sands Steel Stage act, starting at 7pm. Tickets at $39 and $29 are still available.
3. One of the most buzz-worthy acts of the free stages takes its performance out into the streets of the Historic Downtown when the MarchFourth Marching Band parades down Main Street at 5pm. Based on its description as a “punk rock marching band of epic proportions,” and the photographs taken last night at Volksplatz by Patch freelancer Betty Cauler, this is something you may not want to miss. The band also plays a repeat engagement at Volksplatz at 7:30.
4. The best of the free stages includes Talking Heads tribute band Start Making Sense at Volksplatz after MarchFourth; local guitar hero Craig Thatcher at Americaplatz at 9; blues night at Plaza Tropical features The Dirty Guv’nahs and Albert Cummings, and Irish folk band Runa, whom we profile today, plays Liederplatz at 9. Click here for the full schedule.
5. If you love the funk, today is your lucky day. Festplatz will be the home of funk for seven hours with Musikfest’s first-ever “funk off,” featuring Delaware’s Universal Funk Order, the New York Funk Exchange and the Philadelphia Funk Authority. So get down, get funky, starting at 4pm.