West Reading Fall Fest tops weekend events
The West Reading Fall Fest, featuring crafters, food and drinks and music, is set for Saturday.
The following events are planned for this weekend throughout the region:
• The West Reading Fall
Fest, featuring crafters, food and drinks and continuous music on three stages, is set for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the 400 through 700 blocks of Penn Avenue, West Reading. The Sixth Avenue stage will feature performances by Evil Bovine, La Overtoner, Dance Fusion, And You, Brutus?, SlothLoveChunk, North End, Jon Smith’s Voyages, Bradley Stewart and the Thorn Birds and Drew and the Blue. The Eighth Avenue Stage will present Peter Errich and Friends, Noah Gibney Trio, Pseudo Seal, Lost Dad, Onyx & Honey, Kick Out Before 3 and Milou Sky. Appearing at the Fourth Avenue Stage/ Nitro Bar are Dance Your Dreams, Dead Belly, Brick Nova, Prodigal Son, thequietcampaign, Food Truck, Hot Dad Calendar, Damn Renegades and Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentlemen. Admission is free. For more information, see visitwestreading.com. • The 2021 Devon Fall Classic, presented by Bryn Mawr Hospital, returns to the Devon Horse Show Grounds through Sunday.
The event features an expanded full carnival midway with a Ferris wheel and carnival food, live bands, a Vendors Village and a schedule full of special events alongside a world-class show-jumping competition featuring some of the nation’s top equestrians. There will be kids’ activities, a Girls’ Night Out, the Devon Dog Show, a Pub Crawl, a Bourbon Tasting with Boardroom Spirits and a demonstration featuring equestrians from the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy. For tickets options, see www.devonhorseshow.net/fall-classic or stop by the box office, 23 Dorset Road, Devon, during the event.
• Manatawny Still Works will host an Apple Brandy release party outdoors at its Pottstown distillery on Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. The event will include a creative cocktail list, live music and food from Mike’s BBQ. James Mars will perform from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and Penny’s Wasted from 7:30 to 11. Distiller Max Pfeffer will hand out complimentary apples from Big Hill Ciderworks, one of the fruit sources for his Apple Brandy.
• The Santander Performing Arts Center, Reading, presents “Blippi the Musical” on Saturday at 2 p.m. The show is the first touring production featuring the energetic and educational children’s YouTube sensation known as Blippi. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com.
• The Reading Symphony Orchestra presents the opening concert of its 2021-2022 season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Santander Performing Arts Center, Reading, with soprano Renee Fleming as featured soloist. The program will features works by Strauss, Saint-Saens, Corigliano, Rodgers, Lipa, Leoncavallo and Pucini. Tickets start at $20. For more information, see readingsymphony.org.
• The Berks Fiddle Fest will be held Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Longswamp Township. Formerly held in Lyons, this festival has moved to a new location this year. The traditions from Lyons will continue, including a fiddle competition in three age groups from 1:30 to 5 p.m. A gospel service kicks things off at 9a.m. Travis Wetzel will perform from 9:30 to 1 p.m. Fiddlemania is set for 5 p.m., awards at 5:15 and the Swing Low Finale Jam at 5:30. Admission is $5 for ages 13 and older. For more information, see bcmountainresort.com.
• Building a Better Boyertown’s 14th Annual Oktoberfest will take place in Boyertown’s Town Center Parking Lot on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (rain date: Sunday). Participants will enjoy a family-friendly, Germanand fall-themed event, including beer, food, music and entertainment, and a variety of craft vendors. Admission is free. Beer tent wristbands cost $5. For more information, visit www.boyertownpa.org.
• The Oley Valley Community Fair runs today through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at the Oley Fairgrounds. The fair features agricultural exhibits and contests, plenty of homemade food and ongoing entertain, rain or shine, under the Bandstand Pavilion. Bring your own lawn chairs. Admission is free and parking is $5. For more information, see oleyfair.org.
• Reading’s Fall Festival of the Arts presents “The Amish Project,”
a fictional exploration of the Amish schoolhouse shootings that took place in Nickel Mines on Oct. 2, 2006, from Friday through Sunday at the WCR Center for the Arts, Reading. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children at fallfestivalofthearts.org.
• The Montgomery
County Studio Tour will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. as part of Arts Montco Week, which runs through Sept.
26. Twenty-eight artists in 16 studios will exhibit different mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, clay, tile and drawing. All the artists will be on hand to talk about their work and meet buyers and browsers alike. A map, artists and studio listings and a new feature to map your own itinerary are posted at www.countystudiotour.com. Handicapped accessible studios are marked on the studio pages in the catalog and on the website.
• The Friends of Pennypacker Mills, a historical site located in Schwenksville, is holding its 10th annual Craft Marketplace on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Mills. Handcrafted items will include sterling and gemstone jewelry, wire and bead jewelry, fabric crafts and clothing, woolen wear made from alpaca, angora and llama, bird houses and feeders, pottery, baby items, soaps and balms, leather work, home décor and more. Go to www.friendsppm.org to see a complete list of crafters and their crafts.
• Exeter Quaker Meetinghouse, 191 Meetinghouse Road, Douglassville, will present a free program by quilt historian Judith Bauer and local historian Laurel Miller today at 6:30 p.m. They will display a Signature Quilt made by Maidencreek and Exeter Quakers in 1844. Bauer will talk about how she acquired the quilt and the history of the fabrics including the use of “Free Cotton” by Abolitionist Quakers. Miller will share about the families who participated in the making of the quilt.
• The Pottstown Area Artist Guild’s fall series of Masters of Art talks presents Reading artist Victoria Lawrence speaking on “Cycling Lends a Hue to Plein Air” on Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom. A competitive off-road cyclist, Lawrence will offer a tour of her adventure van, share racing photos, tell of her plein air kit and share more of her story. Those who want to see this free talk must sign up at paag. ingo to get the meeting information.
• Iain Matthews, founding member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort, will perform next Thursday at 7 p.m. at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, Pottstown, in their restaurant Sessanos. In a career spanning over 50 years, Matthews has appeared on more than 100 albums. Matthews Southern Comfort had a U.K. No. 1 single in 1970 with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock.” In 1979, Matthews’ cover of Terence Boylan’s “Shake It” reached No. 13 on the U.S. charts. He will be accompanied by Philadelphia guitarist Jim Fogarty. Jon Crouse will open. Tickets are $20. For information and reservations, contact Graham at 610-247-3027.