It all started with one typed letter left on one person's door. It contained some disorganized…read moreramblings about a steel furnace, a date (Saturday April 27th), a time (noon) and a place (the empty lot at 27th & Girard in the Brewerytown section of Philly). It said "DO ATTEND"....and hundred of us did.
I went with some hesitation and a lot of questions... Who will be there? What is this? What if it's a trap and someone just wants to hurt a large crowd? I guess this is the mama bear in me, but hubs asked, and this day happened to be all about him, so we went.
It was pretty crowded at noon. There were a few characters...people dressed in tinfoil, a golden shark, masked folks, lots of people who made their own "do attend" shirts too. People definitely brought the creativity. Everyone was wandering around just as confused as the next person as to what's happening. But then something just clicked....the music started pumping, people started jumping in dancing and entertaining the crowd, cheering each other on no matter what.
It wound up being a super insanely fun afternoon for all! Everyone was there just to enjoy the sunshine and each other's company. There was a dj who played tunes from every genre, making sure everyone heard "their jam"....Cher, OutKast, Meek, Phil Collins, Motley Crue, The Beastie Boys and so on. He even so kindly took my daughters requests.
It was a thing of beauty watching so many drastically different people from so many different walks of life come together with one mission, to have fun! I honestly can't properly convey the feeling I had enjoyed this blending of types and just an all around light-hearted environment. The world needs more of these types of events! Everyone was on the same level and we all just came together as one.
There was some beer drinking, coolers, brown bags, lots of dancing, fun people watching, hackey sack, singing, even 'Spin The Bottle' and someone grilling. Anything went, really.
It was dog and family friendly. At not point did I feel unsafe for me or my children. The rowdiest it got was during one song where people sprayed beer, but you were able to step back and just watch without being involved if you didn't want to be.
The restaurants and bars in the area all ran specials and the neighborhood was pretty bumping, which I believe was the intention! I kept looking up at the neighbors on their roofs partying and gathering with friends in the surrounding apartments.
Also, parking around the lot was free and plentiful.
This event was the same day as the horrific synagogue shooting in San Diego, and it really restored my faith in humanity on such a tragic day. Everyone was lovely and friendly, kind and full of positivity. The views of the skyline from the lot were very cool too!
*The letter was apparently written by an elderly gentleman named Abba, who owns the lot. The Swedish band ABBA was very much a theme of the day because of this. There was even a special song with changed lyrics to 'Dancing Queen' that was pretty rad! My ABBA loving girls thought this was the coolest! Abba did show up to say hi to everyone! He was definitely the hero of the day!
I shared a bunch of videos online, and many who were too scared to attend like I initially was, wrote me saying they were bummed they missed out! Don't let that happen to you next time!
I kept hearing people say things like "this is why Philly is so awesome". Agreed.