10 Cool Things To Do This Spring

Take pride in all the things you are at the New Hope Celebrates PrideFest Parade and Fair on May 16. Start the party at the parade, kicking off from Lambertville City Hall, continuing down Bridge Street into New Hope, and featuring a 100-foot Rainbow Equality Flag. Then check out the PrideFest Vendor Fair at Pride Park, where attendees will find vendors featuring crafts, jewelry, clothing, information from local LGBTQ+ organizations, samples, and giveaways. For more information: Newhopecelebrates.com.

Newtown Theatre will be alive with the sound of music this spring, starting with a special sing-along screening of Richard Rodger and Oscar Hammerstein’s cherished movie musical The Sound of Music on March 12. Then, on March 29, come back to see Grammy-nominated singer Joan Osborne interpret the songs of another lyrical genius, Bob Dylan. Finally, please don’t miss the reopening of Newtown’s retro movie series, “The Cult Vault,” which kicks off with a tribute to John Hughes, starting with The Breakfast Club on March 31 and Sixteen Candles (above) on April 28. For more information: Thenewtowntheatre.com.

ArtYard’s Aqualumina returns May 9 with a night festival of light, dance, water, and music celebrating the beauty and vulnerability of the Delaware River and river systems worldwide. Enjoy the brilliance of parasol jellyfish lanterns, glow-in-the-dark fish, colorful coral hats, and illuminated cardboard boat creations guided and created by community members and artists. Continue your exploration of creativity at ArtYard’s newest exhibits, In the Company of Still Life, through May 31, and Lora Webb Nichols: Photographs Made, Photographs Collected, through June 7. For more information: Artyard.org.

Celebrate spring at Peddler’s Village all season long. From March 9 to April 12, check out the professional and amateur sugar creations at PEEPS in the Village. From April 20 to May 25, do some birdhouse watching at the Best of the Nest Birdhouse Competition and Display, courtesy of the Bucks County Audubon Society at Honey Hollow and AIA Bucks County. Don’t forget the berry sweet tradition of the Strawberry Festival May 2 to 3 with strawberry-themed food, live music, food trucks, kids’ activities, and shop specials. For more information: Peddlersvillage.com.

Things will be heating up this season at the Bucks County Playhouse’s spring shows, with Tennessee Williams’ steamy classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof April 23 to May 23. Then blast off into the Idaho sky with Starstruck, a new musical about connection, change, and unexpected attraction with a book by Tony Award nominee Beth Malone (Fun Home, Angels in America) and Mary Ann Stratton and music by Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) February 19 to March 21. International siren Meow Meow brings her brand of subversive, crowd-surfing musical mayhem to the Playhouse for one night only on March 28 at 7:30 pm as part of the “Women of Note” series. If all the excitement makes you thirsty, wet your whistle at Wine & Paint on April 2 or a Craft Cocktail Class on select dates through April. For more information: Bcptheater.org.

With all the gorgeous color outside, you’ll want something new to brighten your interior spaces, courtesy of the AOY Art Center in Yardley. Start with the New Members Show March 6 to 22, then check out the contestants at the Juried Show April 10 to May 3. Finally, discover some art created in the wild at the Plein Air Exhibition May 15 to June 7. For more information: Aoyartcenter.wildapricot.org.

Get mesmerized by all the striking images at the annual Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition March 29 to April 17. Juried this year by Dewitt Jones, Frank T. Smith, and Sara Ascalon, the selected works will explore the exhibit’s perennial theme of “Photography as Art and Photographer as Artist.” For more information: Phillipsmill.org.

The natural world takes pride of place at the Michener Art Museum this season. Through May 3, experience sixty pieces of Bucks County photographer Bruce Katsiff’s work from his sixty-year career, including selections from his famed Nature Morte series. Then, until May 24, visit the small world of animals and insects as interpreted by the beloved children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle at Small Living Things: The Magical Art of Eric Carle. Finally, get your fill of furry and flying friends at Creatures from the Collection, featuring artistically rendered animals from the Michener’s archives. For more information: Michenerartmuseum.org.

Catch forty-three years of art, fish, food, and fun at Lambertville’s Shad Fest April 25 to 26. From 11 am to 5 pm each day, check out live fishing demonstrations on the banks of the Delaware. Once you’ve landed your share of shad, venture out to the vendors offering hand-crafted art, jewelry, home goods, and a variety of delectable food. Festivities are rain or shine. For the complete Shad Fest experience, make sure to catch the Shad Fest poster auction, which kicks off the festival at 6 pm Friday in the First Presbyterian Church Gymnasium (the silent auction runs through 2 pm Sunday, with the live auction beginning at 3 pm). Proceeds benefit the recipients of the Jim Hamilton Memorial Shad Festival Scholarship. For more information: Lambertvillechamber. com/shad-fest.

The Town & Country Players’ spring productions starts with Rent April 17 to May 2, the Tony Award–winning show inspired by La bohème. Then come back May 29 to June 13 to glimpse all the hilarious drama backstage as imagined by Terrence McNally in It’s Only a Play. For more information: Townandcountryplayers.org.