A deep dive into the Adult Swim Festival Block Party

This weekend, Philadelphia’s Fishtown area will become home to an ongoing outdoor celebration of music, comedy, food and fandom. The Adult Swim Festival Block Party is a multi-day showcase chock full of live performances, comedy, show panels, custom craft beer, exclusive merch and much more.

“The Adult Swim Festival Block Party is a three-day-event in the heart of Fishtown that will bring together some of the best of today’s animation, comedy, and music,” says Jill King, senior vice-president of marketing and partnerships for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. “We’ll also have great food and drinks, games and attractions, Adult Swim series first looks and giveaways, and more going on throughout the event.”

As a release states, ticketed events will be taking place at The Fillmore Philly, The Foundry, Punch Line Philly and Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia. Buying a ticket to any of the live shows gains access throughout the weekend to the Adult Swim Block Party located at the Fillmore Campus and Other Half Brewing. The surrounding area (W. Laurel Street, Canal Street, E. Allen Street) will be closed off to traffic so that attendees can enjoy three days of attractions, food, and fun featuring a collection of local vendors. Adult Swim Block Party ticket-holders can access all the fun Friday from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday from noon to 10:30 p.m.

“Get ready for a big weekend—we have more than 15 musical acts and comedy shows lined up to play across over four venues. We have a range of ticket options available, from individual show tickets to general admission passes that cover the entire weekend, all available from our official site at adultswimfestival.com,” explains King. “Adult Swim has curated this event as only we could to feature headliner performances by Run The Jewels, Philly’s own Tierra Whack, and Dethklok, plus some of our favorite emerging comedy talent and artists.”

Other standouts happening over the weekend include panels for Adult Swim series ‘Rick and Morty’, ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ and ‘SMILING FRIENDS’, plus, performances by Brandon Wardell, Chill Moody, Conner O’Malley, and more. Those who can’t make it out themselves can also tune in online. Rebroadcasted highlights from the musical performances, panels, as well as fan favorite episodes will stream on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel throughout the weekend.

Food-wise, visitors are in for a treat as well, as several signature food items and a limited edition beer will be featured at the event inspired by Adult Swim and its hit shows. Food trucks—Dre’s Water Ice and Ice Cream, Calle Del Sabor, Dr. Wutzit’s WonderBalls and more—will be on site, and at specific locations—like Brooklyn Bowl—specialty items will be sold, such as the Fried Robot Chicken Sandwich and the Just Pickle Fries (fried pickles served with chipotle ranch aioli).

Wendy’s will also be at the Adult Swim Festival Block Party to debut their limited-edition Pickle Rick Frosty—a pickle twist on the iconic Frosty, plus samples from their breakfast menu. Klondike will be in attendance giving out free Klondike Cones, and a specialty brew from both Adult Swim and Other Half Brewing will debut. The limited-edition pale ale, is brewed at their new Fishtown location and will be available leading up to and during the Adult Swim Festival exclusively at the Other Half taproom and other festival locations including the Block Party’s official Beer Garden.

There will be plenty of attractions at the festival to check out over the three day period.

“Expect the unexpected and a really fun time: Huge musical and comedy acts. Emerging artists. Food trucks. Pickle Rick Frosties. Custom festival brew. A ride where fans will be dipped into a prize pit for the chance to grab Rick and Morty swag. A mechanical bull shaped like a hot dog. Giveaways and first looks,” says King.

The Adult Swim rep also had a few things to say about Philly becoming the home for the extravaganza this year.

“So far the Adult Swim Festival has visited Los Angeles twice and we have held two global virtual versions over 2020-21. For 2022, we wanted to bring the event to East Coast fans, and Philadelphia has everything we could want — from location, to fans, to local talent. We’ll host a virtual event this year too of course — fans will around the world will be able to tune in and take part online — but this year we’re rocking Philly.”

And lastly, but certainly not least, three Black Philadelphia-based artists, Branche Coverdale, Zeinab Diomande and Nazeer Sabree have been selected to create original murals across the city as part of the Adult Swim Festival Block Party.

According to a release, the Adult Swim Mural Project first launched in 2020 in the brand’s hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, and it was created in partnership with the local nonprofit Living Walls. The project was conceived to produce large scale murals and train new artists in the process of mural-making, while gaining experience in the full scope of creating public works of art. For the Philadelphia expansion, Adult Swim and Living Walls partnered with Ginger Rudolph, a curator for Mural Arts’ Fellowship for Black Artists, and Conrad Benner of Streets Dept.

“This is our first time hosting a Block Party in Philly and we’re celebrating your local artists, with 10 performing over the weekend and three custom murals going up,” finishes King. “Performances by our headliners Run The Jewels, Philly native Tierra Whack and Metalocalypse’s famed band Dethklok are not to be missed.”

The Adult Swim Festival Block Party makes its Philadelphia debut from Friday, Aug. 5 through Sunday, Aug. 7 at the Fillmore Philly, Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, and Punch Line Philly. Tickets are on sale online, and for more information, visit adultswimfestival.com