Paine’s Park to Host Philly’s First Skate Festival This Weekend

Paine’s Park image via Schuylkill Banks

On Saturday, skaters will be flipping and grinding at Paine’s Park — like they do every weekend. This will be special though, as this weekend the skatepark will be hosting its first-ever skate fest, Love on the Street Festival.

The LOTS Fest is free. The event includes skate demos, street art, food and skate vendors and a performance from the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. On the XPN-sponsored Mad Dragon Stage, there will be musical performances from Radiator Hospital, Dogs on Acid, Moon Bounce, W.C. Lindsay, Jack Deezl, Clique and Mr. Sampson. If you’re wondering if any of these bands are appropriate for a skate festival, please just read some of these names. Dogs on Acid is such a cool band name it should probably exclusively play skate festivals.

Here’s what else is in store for this weekend:

• The skate demo features the Powerfulnailya Skate Team and students from the Philadelphia Skateboard Academy combining to show off tricks.

• Professional circus performers, as well as staff and students from the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, will perform a variety of circus acts. Aerialists will show off their moves on silks, trapeze, lyra, and rope, while other performers will juggle, contort and tumble around. Others will do their thing on the tight-wire. Afterward, audience members will get a chance to learn how to juggle or try out the tight-wire themselves.

• Street artists will do live spraypainting on canvases during the festival.

The festival goes from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Grab your board and head to Paine’s Park — at MLK Drive and the Parkway. Seriously, skate over, the Dad Vail Regatta is that day as well, it’s going to be packed.