Puerto Rican Day Parade, Fringe's biggest show, a Corgi meetup, and other things to do in Philadelphia Sept. 22 to 28

The 55th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade will march up the Parkway on Sunday in a display of cultural pride that typically draws more than a thousand participants and thousands of spectators. The 2017 theme is The Rhythm of Our Culture. — Staff report

Noon Sunday, 16th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with participants marching toward Eakins Oval. elconcilio.net

Pig Iron Theatre Company's ambitious new work, a collaboration between composer Troy Herion, designer Mimi Lien, and director Dan Rothenberg, is described as "symphonic theater." In five movements, the piece assumes perspectives of children, the elderly, and machines as they contemplate planetary change and technological peril. True to the quirky approach of the troupe, the Fringe Festival's biggest show features choirs, a chamber orchestra, parade floats, wrestlers, philosopher Henri Bergson, and a halal cart with a scrolling LED screen gaining consciousness. — Michael Harrington

8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., $39 to $49, 215-413-1318, fringearts.com

In Benjamin Behrend and Patrick Romano's spoof, a wacky comedian and a pretentious performance artist have to share a stage when the venue mistakenly books both acts on the same night, creating a whole new experience for the audiences of either genre when the low brows and high brows meet. The Fringe Festival show's got improv, stage combat, music, and maybe a few lessons to teach (or not). — M.H.

11 p.m. Friday at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., $10, 215-413-1318, fringearts.com

10 p.m. Saturday at Good Good Comedy Theatre, 215 N. 11th St., $12, 215-399-1279, goodgoodcomedy.com

The TV series based on the French picture books Les Pyjamasques chronicles every little kid's dream: After a day of problems at school, three Parisian 6-year-olds are put to bed, only to emerge as superheroes determined to find the bad guys behind the high jinks. Wee ones will thrill as the heroic Gekko, Catboy, and Owlette (yay!) leap from cartoon to stage action to battle villains Romeo, Night Ninja, and Luna Girl (boo!).  — M.H.

6:30 p.m. Friday, 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday, Merriam Theater, 250 S Broad St., $25 to $99.50, 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org

Kids love slime. Unfortunately, it's not always great for the carpets, furniture, pets, and grandparents. This event gives kids the chance to test different slimes against one another, make their own slime to take home (cover the couch), and even learn how to blow slime bubbles. — M.H.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Garden State Discovery Museum, 2040 Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill, $13.95; $12.95 seniors, 856-424-1233, discoverymuseum.com

Schuylkill River Corgi Meetup

Owning a single corgi is nice, but it doesn't quite scratch that itch to see a roving herd of corgis frolicking together in the wild. Although that dream remains out of reach at least for now, this event will bring together more corgis than you can fit in your home for a casual corgi get-together at the Schuylkill River Dog Park. Meet fellow corgi owners and let your dog run free with his short-legged brethren — it's sure to be cute. Corgis of Philadelphia asks that your dog be at least 4 months of age, friendly, and fully vaccinated. — Thea Applebaum Licht

5 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Schuylkill River Dog Park, Schuylkill River Trail Walk, 129B S 30th St., free. phillyfido.org.

In his lecture "Friends of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and History's Forgotten Man From Stockbridge," historian Gary B. Nash discusses the abolitionist views of the Revolutionary War general and his relationship with Agrippa Hull, a free-born black New Englander who served as his orderly during the war. Nash looks at Kosciuszko's beliefs that the rights of all — serfs, slaves, Jews, women — should be immediately recognized and details his doomed attempts to move the Founding Father to adopt the same stance. — M.H.

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. Third St., free, thekf.org

The Bethlehem-based steam-punk musicologists have a new record, Onward! Up A Frightening Creek, arriving Friday, presenting their distinctive mélange of styles from ragtime to rock to reggae. Check out the bouncy "Going Home Again." You're welcome. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday at Kung Fu Necktie, 1248 N. Front St., $10, 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com

The mandolin virtuoso, best known for his work with bluegrass great Nickel Creek, has also played Bach partitas with Edgar Meyer and jazz with Brad Mehldau, replaced Garrison Keillor as the host of A Prairie Home Companion, and happened to win a MacArthur "genius" grant. He plays a solo gig sure to cross genres. — M.H.

8 p.m. Saturday, Swarthmore College's Lang Concert Hall, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, free; reservations required, swarthmore.edu

Jay Som is the nom de rock of Melissa Duterte, the San Francisco Bay Area guitarist and songwriter who after making her debut with 2016's Turn displays serious artistic growth on this year's more fully fleshed out and stylistically varied indie-pop collection Everybody Works, highlighted by swoony tracks like "The Bus Song" and the more raucous "1 Billion Dogs." Duterte, who toured last year on a formidable all-female bill with Mitski and Philly's own Japanese Breakfast, is headlining an all-ages show this time, with Stef Chura and Soccer Mommy opening. —  Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Friday at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., all ages, $13-$15, r5productions.com.

The Los Angeles first-wave punk-rock band X is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the fecund period of Southern California music it came up in is recalled in coleader John Doe's 2016 book Under The Big Black Sun, which snagged a Grammy nomination for its audio version this year. On Friday, the original members of the Exene Cervenka-coled band come to town, including Billy Zoom, the inimitable guitarist (and saxophone player) who is back on the road after having completed a round of chemotherapy treatments for cancer. One of the great bands of the era, still going strong. — D.D.

8 p.m. Friday at Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., $30-$99, 215-627-1332. undergoundarts.org.

Grace, Hulda and Sophia Quebe mine an intersection between traditional Texas fiddle tunes, classic Western swing, and the old-time pop harmonies of the Andrews Sisters. It's a wonderful alchemy, both as nostalgia for bygone eras and as pure musical pleasure: The sisters are impressive fiddlers and singers. They mingle genres with ease, from instrumentals such as "San Antonio Rose" and "Take the A Train" to harmony standards such as "How High the Moon" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds." Their name may rhyme with "maybe," but don't hesitate to check out this rare East Coast appearance: It's a definite treat. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Friday at the Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave, Sellersville, $25-$40, 215-257-5808, st94.com.

Mac DeMarco's easygoing charm is a blessing and a curse. The young singer-songwriter favors the loping pace, gentle melodies, and understated arrangements of '70s soft rock. Songs like "A Wolf Who Wears Sheep's Clothes," from this year's This Old Dog, contain reassuring mantras: "Don't let the world outside the windowpane get to your head." That insular view is part of his slacker / stoner persona, but it can flatten a song's emotions. Even when DeMarco sings of heartbreak and loss, he sounds complacent, comfortable, and mildly amused. Still, DeMarco's headspace is not a bad place to spend an evening away from the world. — S.K.

7 p.m. Sunday, Skyline Stage of the Mann Center for Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave., $35, 215-878-0400, manncenter.org.

Without exaggeration, Wire's contribution to the Brit punk Class of '76 — the icy atonal art rock skronk and abstract lyricism of 1977's Pink Flag — far outweigh any of its (then) contemporaries when lurching into the influence of the present day. While the Sex Pistols and the Clash (both admirable) were aping the usual rock and roll and protest tropes of its time — only faster — Wire created music cool, corrosive and innovative (repeatedly too, as in 1978's Chairs Missing and 1979's spikily synth-phonic 154), a sound that can be heard in everything from Blur to LCD Soundsystem. That Wire continues making quirky, hard and twitchy music on albums such as 2015's Wire and 2017's Silver/Lead proves that Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, & Co. can't mellow with age. — A.D. Amorosi

8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St, $22-$23, 215-232-2100, utphilly.com

The Hurricane Relief Fund concert will feature Curtis Institute of Music faculty, alumni, and students in a joyful music-packed afternoon with an important purpose. Coordinated by Philadelphia Orchestra's principal bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa with the enthusiastic willingness of his Curtis colleagues, the concert will benefit the relief efforts of the American Red Cross. — Tom DiNardo

3 p.m. Sunday, St. Mark's Church, 1625 Locust St., free-will offering, redcross.org/donate.

This ensemble's imaginative angle this time around is A View From the Bench, with pianist Laura Ward sharing the artistic challenges of accompanying singers in art songs, opera and new works. Her vocalists are mezzo Suzanne DuPlantis, soprano Jennifer Aylmer, baritone Randall Scarlata, and tenor Jonas Hacker. — T.D.

8 p.m. Friday, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave.; 3 p.m. Sunday, Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St., $35, 215-438-1702, lyricfest.org.