Happy October!
For a garden party: Bartram's Garden (54th Street and Lindbergh Blvd.) hosts an evening cocktail party in their flower garden from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with an auction, ferry rides and more. Wear your garden attire — that means no heels, ladies.
For a community fundraiser: An activist, a cop, a student and an entrepreneur, who all used skateboarding as a platform to impact communities, will be honored at Paine's Park (Schuylkill River Trail, Philadelphia to Valley Forge) tonight during a fundraiser for Franklin's Paine Skatepark Fund. Street Level will also feature skating demos, live music, art, a silent auction and food and runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For an opera: Opera Philadelphia opens its 40th season with the production that gave life to the "Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!" line. "The Barber of Seville" features a series of twists, turns and mistaken identities. Catch it at the Academy of Music (240 S. Broad St.) for a 7:30 p.m. show time.
For a Perry performance: A word to the wise, courtesy of Tyler Perry. "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned" plays at the Merriam Theater at the Kimmel Center (250 S. Broad St.) at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
For activist-rock: As much about social change (members are vegetarian, supporters of PETA and have a new track called "The Eco-Terrorist in Me") as angst (the band's seventh album is called "The Black Market," with a song titled "I Don't Want To Be Here Anymore), Rise Against's latest release debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. They hit the Tower Theatre (19 S. 69th St., Upper Darby) at 7:30 p.m.