Read

Hundreds rally to protest the planned closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum (Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 2026)

How to protect our drinking water at the source (Green Philly, September 8, 2026)

Philadelphia Parks and Rec head says she authorized Phillies’ unpermitted turf field for 250th celebrations (WHYY, September 10, 2026)

Fight Crime — by Gardening (Philadelphia Citizen, September 10, 2026)

Under Pressure: How Weather Affects our Health (WHYY, September 11, 2026)

Learn

Well-Being Through Outdoor Learning
Tuesday, September 15 from 7 – 8 p.m.
Virtual. Outdoor Learning School and Store.
Join us for this FREE virtual workshop for an overview of how educators and healthcare practitioners can better understand and support kids’ mental health through outdoor activities and to learn practical, low-pressure ways to support both student and teacher wellbeing through simple outdoor routines and experiences.

Community Changes Everything: How to Build Community That Inspires and Sustains Action
Thursday, September 17 from 3 – 4 p.m.
Virtual. ee360+.
Get ready to laugh, connect, and rethink what “building community” means in this interactive webinar from comedian, educator, and activist Esteban Gast. Drawing on his work creating spaces that people want to show up for, Esteban breaks down the techniques he uses to turn one-off audiences into real, sustained communities—the kind that keep showing up long after the workshop ends. 

Kincentric Plant Portals in Botany of Nations
Thursday, September 17 from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
The Academy of Natural Sciences, 19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Join Botany of Nations‘ co-curator, ethnobotanist and agroecologist Enrique Salmón, for a keynote symposium on “kincentricity,” a term he coined to convey the interrelatedness of all living things, a concept at the heart of Indigenous philosophies that influences how Native Nations tend to their homelands.

A Skeptic’s Guide to AI
Saturday, September 19 from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.
South Philadelphia Library, 1700 South Broad Street
AI is seemingly everywhere these days. With increasing pushes towards adoption of AI across platforms, it’s important to understand the numerous ethical issues with this technology. Join Alison Macrina of Library Freedom Project to examine AI from an ethics-based framework.

Do

Park after Dark: Moonwalk + Stargazing
Tuesday, September 15 from 6:30 – 8:30
Lemon Hill Drive & Sedgely Drive
Join Fairmount Park Conservancy and astronomer/educator Buddy Muhler for a one-mile guided moonwalk and telescope observation in East Fairmount Park. 

The Big Fall Clean-Up
Saturday, September 19 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
FDR Park, 1500 Pattison (meet at the Welcome Center)
Every Saturday, volunteers help fight back against litter in FDR Park. This year, for National Clean-Up Day, we’re going to team up to tackle stubborn spots in the park as a group! Everyone is welcome, with a range of different tasks available. 

Apple Fest & Pawpaw Palooza
Saturday September 19 from ​11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Fair Amount Food Forest, 2300 N 33rd Street
Free community harvest festival: apple tastings, pawpaw fruit and ice cream tastings, fresh squeezed apple cider, food trucks, arts and crafts, and more.

Attend (Fringe Festival)

Creatures of the Deep
Various times, September 11 – 16
Dark Star Theater @ Yellow Bicycle Theater, 1435 Arch Street
Dive into the deep ocean with black light puppetry! Appropriate for children and families, beautiful and fascinating for any age. 

Slowly, Slowly, We Begin Again
Various times, September 18 – 20
Katherine M Yatsko and Dancers @ &Space, 1021 Hamilton Street
“Slowly, slowly we begin again… ” is an evening length dance performance choreographed and performed by Katherine M Yatsko exploring her transition into motherhood through the lens of a snail.

Earthborn
Sunday, September 20 at 7 p.m.
Arianna Celine & Rey Gabriel @ Circus Campus, 6452 Greene Street

View

Surrounds: A solo exhibition by Theo Loftis
September 1 – 20
Da Vinci Art Alliance
Discarded materials, plants, scents, liquids, and shifting light carry histories of adaptation, reciprocity, and survival within them. Surrounds, a new exhibition by Da Vinci Art Alliance’s September Linda Lee Alter fellow Theo Loftis, ushers viewers into an immersive unfolding of queerness, plant life, and porous identity.

Eco-Social Realism: Historic Mural Activations
September 10 – November 21, 2026
TILT Main Gallery
Eco-Social Realism: Historic Mural Activations takes as its starting point four murals within the larger neighborhood around TILT that were produced in the early years of Mural Arts Philadelphia. As with many murals of that time period, these four engaged in the representation of pastoral and garden scenes, often mixing fantasy with landscapes familiar to both nearby Pennsylvania and the Caribbean, where many neighbors originally migrated from. Four Philadelphia artists have been invited to use these murals as a prompt to create activations throughout the summer of 2026 that include active engagement with the site and neighboring areas to explore the meaning of the original work and its relevance for the present.

Plan ahead 

Delaware River Festival
Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.