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Now in its second year, the South Street Spring Festival appears to be taking steps to catapult itself up the ladder of Philadelphia’s banner events.
Set to take place 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 3rd, the event will shut down South Street from Front to Eighth, opening it up to the tens of thousands of people expected to descend on one of the city’s most widely recognized locations. The success of last year’s inaugural festival only spurred organizers to think bigger, and it appears they’ve accomplished just that. To make the rise, they’ve employed two draws — Germany’s festival culture and the local music scene.
Naturally the German component, and really the whole idea of Spring Fest itself, started with Doug Hager, owner of Brauhaus Schmitz, 718 South St., the popular beerhouse that serves sausage by the meter and fills a stein as well as any bar in the city. Hager, whose restaurant already spearheads the well-attended Oktoberfest, wasn’t satisfied with one event and sought to give South Street the spring event it lacked while also infusing more of Germany into Philly. For this, he turned to the centuries old tradition of Maifest.
“Oktoberfest is the one everybody has heard of — six or seven million people descend on Munich each year for the biggest festival in the world,” Hager said. “But that’s only one example of what Germany does. They have hundreds of festivals throughout the country throughout the year, and one of the biggest is Maifest, a celebration of spring. It has been around since the 1500s and is celebrated across all Germanic countries, Scandinavia and even Great Britain.”
Rather than tackle it alone, he approached the South Street Headhouse District, headed by Executive Director Michael Harris, and Hager found that rather than be hesitant, the district would think big.
“We were going to just shut down the 700 block, but then we thought why not just shut the whole thing down from Front to Eighth,” Harris said.
Fast forward one year and more than 30 restaurants, bars, cafes, and food trucks, as well as 40 musical acts, and numerous shops are on board. South Street, perhaps Philly’s most eclectic street, is now set to come together each spring. But to truly capture the vibe of the host neighborhood, the organizers recognized local music needed to be a central feature.
“I really think this is going to become one of the signature music festivals on the Philadelphia scene,” Harris proclaimed.
The aforementioned musical acts, featuring local talent anyone tapped in is sure to recognize, will be spread across three stages set up on Second, Fifth and Eighth streets, as well as eight street performance locations spread throughout the festival. Jim Thorpe of the Legendary Dobbs, 304 South St., one of South Street’s oldest and most notable venues, was enlisted to curate with help from those at The Twisted Tail, 509 S. Second St., the Headhouse’s own juke and bourbon joint.
“Last year the music sort of took over the festival in a very good way, for round two this year we had to up the game. We booked all bands that played South Street. It’s the current sounds of South Street that’s going on,” Thorpe noted. “All these bands have played Dobbs, Lickety Split, TLA, Twisted Tail, Woolly Mammoth, or even on a street corner down here at night. The variety of music goes from funk to jazz, rock, and bluegrass. The Facebook page for the festival has some links to those performing and you can check them all out.”
On the heels of a brutal winter, spring and its festivities have never been more highly anticipated. For the Headhouse District and the rest of South Street, it appears to be the perfect moment for upping the ante and staking their claim among Philly’s flagship events. Thawed out and eager, the city seems ready. SPR
For more information, visit southstreet.com.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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