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Looking for a spot to sit and look at the blooming cherry blossoms, and maybe sip on a cherry blossom-themed cocktail or local-made draft beer while you’re at it?
A “Parks Pop-up” offering a spot to buy some food and drinks and chill among the cherry blossoms is coming to West Fairmount Park for a few days starting this weekend. It’ll be located outside the Horticulture Center Arboretum, a quick walk away from Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center.
The temporary installation featuring “blooms, bites, and beers” will be around most days from April 2 through 10. It’s run by FCM Hospitality, the company that’s put on the Parks on Tap series in past summers, a partnership with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation that brings a traveling beer garden to various city parks.
Some of the pop-up dates coincide with the Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival of Philadelphia organized by the Japanese American Society of Greater Philadelphia, which includes a free concert series on the Horticultural Center grounds. The festival is happening April 8 through 10, and it’s been expanded this year to include West Philly-based performers from Parkside, in addition to celebrating Japanese culture.
The Parks Pop-up menu includes beer on tap from Mainstay Brewing (also owned by FCM), a hibiscus lemonade cocktail, soba noodle salad, and barbecue dishes from Craft Hall, the restaurant next to Mainstay’s brewhouse on Delaware Avenue.
Admission is free, restrooms are available, and seating is first come, first served. Salads and sandwiches range from $11 to $15, and alcoholic beverages cost between $7 to $10. Snacks, big cookies ($3), hot dogs for the kids ($5 each), and non-alcoholic beverages will be available too.
Fair warning: After this week’s particularly low temperatures, some blossoms might be in danger of turning brown if they’ve already bloomed, WHYY’s PlanPhilly reported. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Shofuso wrote that trees that were in full bloom or reaching it “took a hit.”
But the much-photographed weeping cherry tree there is in good shape, per Shofuso’s post, and trees that were developing but not yet blooming — like the Yoshino cherry trees at the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park — are “likely to have survived.”
You can stop by the pop-up at these days and times:
- Saturday, April 2 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, April 3 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 6 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Thursday, April 7 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday, April 8 from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Saturday, April 9 from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Sunday, April 10 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
If it rains on any of those days, the pop-up will close or not open for the day, according to spokesperson Kory Aversa. That’ll be determined within four hours of opening, and announced on social media and the website.
The overall pop-up is open to people and dogs (on leashes) of all ages, but anyone under 21 needs to be accompanied by a legal guardian with a legal ID. The beer garden specifically is open only to people 21 and older.
Parks Pop-up Menu
Snacks
Warm Soft Pretzel (V) $4
Spicy Maple Mustard
Burrata Cheese $11
Pesto, Prosciutto, Sesame Crackers
Hummus (V) $9
Edamame, Mint, Spring Onion, Togarashi, Pita Chips
-sub cucumber and celery for pita (GF)
Salads
Arugula (VG) $11
Dried Cherries, Roasted Squash, Aged Gouda, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Pretzel Crouton
Soba Noodle (V) $12
Snow Peas, Shaved Hearts of Palm, Shiitake Mushrooms, Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette
Sandwiches
(All served with a bag of potato chips)
Pulled Pork $14
Coleslaw, B&B Pickles, Brioche Bun
Hot Roast Beef $15
BBQ Eye of Round, Horseradish-Miso Sauce, White Soy Pickled Onion, Seeded Long Roll
Turkey Hoagie $12
Smoked Turkey Breast, Lancaster Colby, Shaved Iceberg, Cherry Pepper Relish, Seeded Long Roll
Veggie Wrap (V) $12
Hummus, Roasted Peppers, Broccoli, Red Onion, Flour Tortilla
Kid’s Hot Dog $5
All Beef Hot Dog, Martin’s Potato Bun
Sweets
Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie $3
Cocktails – $10
Hibiscus Lemonade
Vodka, Hibiscus, Fresh Lemonade
Hanami Punch
Tequila, Soju, St. Germain, Green Tea, Lemon Juice
Draft Beer – $7
Mainstay Poplar Pils
Mainstay Bowline IPA
Parks Pale Ale
King Laird Weiss
Heartbeat Porter
Constitution Lager
Downeast Cider
Canned Beer – $7
Bud Light Seltzer
Coastal Rose Spritz
2SP Sunfest Shandy
Parks Pale Ale
Bowline IPA
Wine – $9
Rose
Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Lemonade $3
Water $3
Red Bull $6
