Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is Hosting Kidchella Juneteenth Celebration
Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse (3500 Reservoir Dr.) welcomes back its popular Kidchella Music Festival featuring Grammy-nominated, Emmy-winning, and nationally acclaimed children’s music artists alongside local youth performers and community partners. This year’s Kidchella dates are June 17, July 22, and August 19, with themes for Juneteenth, Smith’s Birthday, and Back to School. Kidchella looks to welcome back thousands of Philly kids and parents for games, activity stations, unstructured play, food trucks, and family-friendly jams. The Youth Arts Zone opens at 4pm, with pre-show acts starting at 5pm and the main bands taking the stage from 6-730pm.
The Juneteenth concert invites families to a freedom song sing-along with crafts and activities. A Juneteenth community wall will be created to leave inspirational messages about what freedom means to each guest. Families will enjoy pre-show performances by Mlanjeni Magical Theater and MoveMakers Philly.
Kidchella 2022 Lineup
Friday, June 17: Troupe Da Da + Ms. Niki’s Music Class (Juneteenth)
Friday, July 22: Ants on a Log + City Love (Smith’s Birthday)
Friday, August 19: Lucy Kalantari and 123 Andrés (Back to School)
Kidchella is a rain or shine event. Tickets are $12 per person (adults and children of walking age) or $6 for Smith members and ACCESS cardholders. Learn more and purchase tickets here.
Kidchella 2022 is made possible by the generous support of Bimbo Bakeries USA. Other support for Kidchella provided in part by Brown’s Family ShopRite and Herr’s.
Troupe Da Da is a high-energy African drumming ensemble whose repertoire includes a variety of traditional West African and Afro-Cuban dances.
Ms. Niki’s Music Class is a virtual music classroom on Youtube created by music “edutainer,” singer, and songwriter Niki Addison. Niki has taught music education for over ten years to youth in grades K-12.
Ants on a Log makes music for kids and kids at heart, songfully advocating for positivity, social justice, and silliness.
City Love is a West Philly-based social justice music and education group that spreads love, hope, dialogue, justice, and healing.
Lucy Kalantari is a two-time GRAMMY winner whose music inspires community and highlights the power of resilience.
123 Andrés is a Latin GRAMMY award-winning duo that performs catchy songs to get the whole family dancing and learning in Spanish and English.
Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is a non-profit organization located in Philadelphia’s East Fairmount Park. Founded in 1899, Smith welcomes visitors from more than 500 zip code areas. The mission of Smith is to provide and promote opportunities for unstructured free play for children. Smith contributes to the development of healthy children, strong families, and safe communities by maintaining a proud tradition of free family admission, partnering with community-based organizations to reach a diverse audience, and advocating for the power of play.
