PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Ogontz Avenue in West Oak Lane is prepping for Thursday night’s Uptown Rhythm Festival, which will kick off a series of fall events to keep the semiquincentennial celebration going through the end of the year.
The festival will take place along the 7100 block of Ogontz Avenue, featuring DJs, food trucks, vendors and musical acts like Breakwater, the Urban Guerilla Orchestra and the Ladies of Sky.
“It’s going to be a great time,” said Kimberly Lloyd, president of the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC), which organized the festival. “Bring your lawn chair. We have a 24-by-20-foot stage that will have digital screens, so no matter where you are on Ogontz Avenue, you’ll be able to see the performances.”
Philadelphia 250 is helping to sponsor the festival through its Ring It On program. As costs for city services escalated, threatening to end some community festivals, Ring It On was created to make sure the semiquincentennial would be felt in every neighborhood. Eight more are scheduled through early December.
OARC sponsored a three-day jazz festival on the same block until it lost state funding in 2013, following a state investigation tied to its founder, Congressman Dwight Evans. Even though the state found no wrongdoing, Lloyd said OARC restructured, eliminating politicians from the organization and refocusing on economic development.
Lloyd said activities like the Uptown Rhythm Festival are part of the mission, and she hopes they continue.
