Celebrate the Philadelphia Science Festival with Bar Crawls, Explosives, Pirates and Cookies

PSF/Facebook

Listen up, nerds. If there’s one thing we love here at Foobooz World HQ, it’s food. But after food comes…

Well, after food comes booze, probably. Beer, cocktails, occasionally wine. But if there are three things we love around here, it’s food, liquor and science.

And it’s not often that an opportunity comes along to mix all three. At least not legally. So when an opportunity does present itself to have a drink, a snack and some science all in the same place? That’s like mixing peanut butter, jelly and bread. Or chimps, switchblades and whiskey. In other words, a damn good time. And that’s just what this year’s Philadelphia Science Festival offers to those of you out there who, like us, prefer your science with a sidecar. And maybe a sandwich.

So what kind of events does this year’s Geek Week offer for those of our particular tastes? Lots. Everything from rum to cookies, small-animal x-rays to hallucinogens. And we’ve got all the details right here.

The 2017 Philadelphia Science Festival takes place at locations all over the city and runs from April 21-29. There are over 80 events taking place, but we’re focusing here just on our favorites–and the ones that have some kind of food or drink component.

• To that end, let’s begin with the best idea we’ve heard in a while: the Fishtown Science Crawl on April 23. Nine bars, nine drink specials (including the special collaboration beer done by Yards just for the Science Festival — Brewbiks Cube) and a whole bunch of different science experiments. The bars involved are Barcade, Bottle Bar, Fette Sau, Frankford Hall, Front Street Café, Garage Fishtown, Kensington Quarters, La Colombe and the Pennsylvania SPCA — Fishtown Center (which isn’t a bar, I guess, but that’s ok). And as for the science, there’ll be samples of brain tissue, solar viewing, robots, square bubble making and something called “pet x-ray trivia” (at the PSPCA, natch) which sounds just weird enough to be awesome.
• On Friday, April 21, there’s a prom. No, seriously. It’s part of the science after hours program, and it’ll have everything you’d expect from a prom–dresses, music, spiked punch, science. Tickets are $20 and it runs from 7-10pm at the Franklin Institute.
• Looking for something to do with the kids? Also on the 23rd–which is Be A Scientist Day in Philly–there are a couple different food-focused events. At Greensgrow Community Kitchen you can Be A Food Psychologist and learn “how taste, smell, memory and emotion all work together to make us eat the foods we do.” Meanwhile, at the CSA Farm at Saul High School on Henry Avenue, you can Be A Farm Scientist and get your hands dirty learning about how crops grow.
• On Monday, April 24, at the Independence Seaport Museum, there’s a cocktail lab focusing on mixing with rum. It’s an interactive event, and you’ll learn everything you need to know about the distilling process, how rum is spiced, and what to do with it once it’s in the bottle. The crew from Cooper River Distillers is sponsoring this one. There will be various stations and activities–including a barrel maker from Anthony Barrel Company who’ll be demonstrating how to assemble and char barrels (read: FLAMETHROWERS) and a live science show by the Franklin Institute called “Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum”. So yeah, pirates and flamethrowers. Plus liquor. This one’s gonna be fun. It will also cost you $20 a ticket.
• Also on the 24th, National Mechanics will be hosting a Science On Tap program called “Scientific Malarkey” where “five speakers will dive into beliefs that clouded scientific reasoning throughout history—and explore debunked theories that were once accepted as reality.” Entry is free. The drinks will cost you.”
• Then, on April 25th, there are two events which always sell out. First, there’s “Sensory Overload” being held at the Yards brewery. Tickets are $20 each and here’s the event description, straight from the folks behind it: “A rush of adrenaline, the quickening of breath, a warm and fuzzy flood of feeling—complex reactions abound when we stimulate the senses. Join us for an exhilarating, wide-ranging exploration of sensory overload — from psychedelic hallucinations to being “drunk in love.” With a different Yards brew paired with each topic, this evening is sure to be one full of dizzying delight.” Yeah, and also very drinky — which, as you well know, is the best way to absorb scientific knowledge. Or at least that’s how I did it back in college. Anyway, you gotta hurry and get your tickets to this one fast because as of this morning, there were only six left.
• The second event is the Cookie Lab. $30 gets you in the door where R2L’s Peter Scarola and Shanna Caster, the Franklin Institute’s resident food scientist (I really want her job) will show people how recipes come together, the science behind cooking and tasting, and how one small change in a recipe can make a huge difference in the final product. It’s all about the science of baking, essentially, and baking is fascinating, so make your plans now to check this one out because, again, tickets are going fast.

Okay, so that’s what we’ve got for food and drink events at the Philadelphia Science Festival. There are dozens more things happening all throughout the week, so if you’re interested (and you should be, because at least one of them is all about sex, and another discusses living on Mars), check out the link below for all the details you could ever need.

Philadelphia Science Festival [Official]