Samhain in the Street debuts at Sassafras on Saturday, October 31, and the bar is already calling it the first of many. Owners Donal McCoy and Neill Laughlin built it as a tribute to their Irish heritage, around the ancient Gaelic festival that runs from sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1.
It lands in a month that was already full. Sassafras and its upstairs sister bar, 48 Record Bar, are running weekly jazz, a resident singer-songwriter and a new Record of the Month, all at 48 South Second Street in Old City.
What Samhain in the Street Brings to Second Street
Samhain is the Gaelic festival that marks the end of the harvest and the start of the dark half of the year, and Sassafras is leaning into the atmosphere. Festivities start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 31 and run until close, with cocktails, traditional Samhain decor, fire jugglers, burlesque performances and more.
The party doesn’t stop at midnight. Programming picks back up from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, which is All Hallows’ Day. Spreading it across both days follows the festival’s own calendar, and it gives a neighborhood bar two chances to turn a one-night party into a habit.
Sassafras has spent decades on Second Street in a building that dates to the 1870s, with century-old tile, chartreuse flocked wallpaper and moody lighting. A haunted-feeling festival is a natural fit for a room like that, and the setting does half the work before anyone lights a torch.
Sassafras Jazz Nights Around Samhain in the Street
Sunday jazz is the room’s default setting. A live trio plays from 6 to 9 p.m. on October 4, 11 and 18, and guitarist Greg Snyder holds his standing fourth-Sunday residency on October 25. The Sunday sets are cover-free, as they were during Philly Jazz Month in April.
The weeknights get their own sets. Burt Harris and Laurent Bass, the duo that anchored the Monday sessions during September Sessions, return on Monday, October 5 and Monday, October 19, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Third Eye Ensemble takes the room on the third Wednesday, October 21, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with modern classical sounds inspired by psych rock and jazz.
48 Record Bar Sets the Soundtrack Beside Samhain in the Street
Upstairs, 48 Record Bar is built around an ultra-high-fidelity vinyl sound system and a stated mission to bring people together to listen to records. Every Tuesday it hosts Tuesday Nite Music Club, a weekly live performance and listening session. This month’s resident artist is Philadelphia singer-songwriter Taylor Kelly, known for her soulful sound, who plays at 7 p.m. on October 6, 13, 20 and 27.
The October Record of the Month is Marcos Valle, the Brazilian songwriter who rose in the bossa nova era of the 1960s and later blended samba, rock, soul, jazz and dance music. The Record of the Month is a membership-based vinyl subscription for local record lovers, hand-picked by Creative Director Joey Sweeney.
Planning a Samhain in the Street Weekend
Sassafras is open seven days a week until 2 a.m. It opens at 4 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and at noon Wednesday through Sunday, with weekly lunch specials Wednesday through Sunday. The back bar leans herbal, since the bar stocked up on Chartreuse before the global shortage.
48 Record Bar opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and it also closes at 2 a.m. Guests reach the listening room through Sassafras, at 48 South Second Street.
Plenty of bars throw a Halloween party. Sassafras is doing something less common, building one around a festival older than the holiday and giving it a home on Second Street. If the first Samhain in the Street lands, the promise of many more stops being a slogan and starts being a date on the calendar.
About Post Author
Discover more from dosage MAGAZINE
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
