Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers come to South Philly and 14 other things to do this weekend in Philly

In the late fall and early winter of  1777, the stone-and-wood Fort Mifflin withstood the greatest bombardment of the American Revolution as the British tried to get supplies up the Delaware to Philadelphia. The fort eventually fell, but the delay allowed Gen. Washington to get his beleaguered troops to Valley Forge and kept the Redcoats from any pursuit. This event recognizes the role played by the Mud Island bastion in allowing us to celebrate Independence Day, with guided tours, blacksmithing, and heritage craft demonstrations, hands-on living history activities, weapon and cannon demonstrations, and a flag-raising ceremony. — Michael Harrington

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, Fort Mifflin and Hog Island Roads. Free, 215-685-4167, www.fortmifflin.us.

The interactive children's theater company StoryUP! continues its summer residency at the Please Touch Museum with two Saturday shows. The troupe gives children the opportunity to create and write their own original stories, then watch as they are performed on the spot by the improv comics.  Throw anything at them: Recent bits have involved a purple hippopotamus, magical fish sticks, tumbling trolls, and buying a guinea pig. — M.H.

11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Please Touch Museum, Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park
4231 Avenue of the Republic. $19 (includes museum admission),  215-581-3181, www.pleasetouchmuseum.org.

Always able to find the oddball, Secret Cinema presents an animation selection including Buddy's Lost World, a 1935 Looney Tune starring the bow-tied boy (now an obscure character, but meant to be a Warner Bros. linchpin) wandering a mysterious jungle dodging dinosaurs, cavemen, and the Three Stooges; To Your Health, a 1956 United Nations effort about the dangers of alcohol; Korochan the Little Bear, a 1959 Japanese anime well-known to American schoolkids through Encyclopedia Brittanica distribution; Willoughby's Magic Hat, a 1943 tale (credited to a former Disney striker) about a meek man who becomes super after he puts on a cap made from Samson's hair; and The Wacky World of Numbers, a 1968 minimalist short about mathematical humor. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday at Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St.  $9,  215-922-3456, www.thesecretcinema.com.

» READ MORE: "Marooned"

This 1969 space adventure, about astronauts stranded in orbit by engine failure, followed the moon landing by just a few months, and was pretty gripping stuff in its day. It hued as closely as possible to straight-forward, realistic depiction of what such an emergency would look like — with some melodramatic movie touches, such as a hurricane threatening ground control just as they are attempting a rescue — and so predicted some of the events that later occurred with Apollo 13 (as well as Skylab). The special effects may seem primitive in these CGI times, but the Mayo Simon script is top-notch, and, besides Gregory Peck as the NASA administrator in charge, the cast includes Gene Hackman and Richard Crenna as two of the endangered astronauts. — M.H.

2 p.m. Sunday, Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. $7; $5 students and ages 12 and under, 610-917-0223, thecolonialtheatre.com.

» READ MORE: 8th Annual IPA, Champagne & Rosé Block Party

Bring the dogs and the kids to this celebration to outdoor drinking. Expect many varieties of the drinks in the name, as well as food ranging from St. Louis Ribs to South Philly Italian Sausage. —Nick Vadala

Noon-8 p.m. Saturday, 738 S. 11th St. Pay as you go, 215-627-3012, www.hawthornecafe.com.

» READ MORE: Parks on Tap

There's a double dose of the popup beer garden this weekend. Paine's Park has been home to the traveling beer garden since June 21 and will continue to be until Monday, while a special July Fourth weekend edition pops up at the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. — N.V.

•1 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Paine's Park, Schuylkill River Trail,  parksontap.com.
•1 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday and Monday, noon to midnight Tuesday, Strawberry Mansion Bridge, Ford Drive and Strawberry Mansion Drive, parksontap.com.

» READ MORE: Final Fridays: Down the Shore

Everyone and her mother might be heading Down the Shore for the holiday weekend, but if you're still in Philly, head to the Philadephia Museum of Art for sweet treats courtesy of Lil' Pop Shop, music from Louie Louie and DJ Yolo Ono, a mini golf course created by local artists, and custom beach tags from artist Nick Cassway. — N.V.

5 to 8:45 p.m. Friday, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Free with admission, www.philamuseum.org.

» READ MORE: Summertime: Outdoor '90s Dance Party

Head to the Delaware Waterfront for throwback jams. DJ Dame Luz is on the deck. You can head over right from the fireworks. — N.V.

10:30 p.m. Saturday, La Peg Brasserie at Fringe Arts, 140 N. Columbus Blvd. Free, lapegbrasserie.com.

Mikael Eliasen, artistic director of Curtis' Opera Theatre, does the keyboard honors in this unusual concert. He first accompanies the brilliant Philadelphia Orchestra principal flute in Franck's  Sonata for flute in A major. Then, with soprano Rachel Sterrenberg and baritone Jonathan Beyer, he leads familiar songs and arias from Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Copland, and Gershwin. — Tom Di Nardo

7:30 p.m. Friday, Field Concert Hall at Curtis Institute, 1726 Locust St. $25, 215-893-7902, curtis.edu/summertickets.

» READ MORE: The Crossing

Wrapping up the choir's Month of Moderns programs, Donald Nally leads the world premiere of Anonymous Man by Bang On A Can composer Michael Gordon, interplays of the joys and tragedies of events in his native Lower Manhattan. — TDN

8 p.m. Saturday, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. $35, 267-627-4306, crossingchoir.com.

Last year was the 40th anniversary of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers's first album, the one with "Breakdown," "American Girl," and other classics. Their record company celebrated by releasing two big sets of the complete studio albums (16 in all), but more important, Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, and the other Heartbreakers are commemorating the occasion with a tour that comes Saturday to the Wells Fargo Center. That means an evening full of familiar hits, whether straightforward rockers like "Refugee," thoughtful ballads like "Free Fallin'," or MTV-era favorites like "Don't Come Around Here No More." Get there early for Peter Wolf, formerly of the J. Geils Band. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Saturday, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St. $49.50-$149.50, 215-336-3600, livenation.com.

The space-rock ensemble S.T.A.R.W.O.O.D. bills itself as a "Propaganda Performance Module" of androids backing a cyborg sent back in time from Planet Vitrus moments before that world's destruction by a human invasion in the year 2776 A.D. (Hey, why not? Stranger things have happened lately.) Fronted by a West Philly slacker inhabited by G7ANGEL591S, a.k.a. "Gabriel Starwood," wearing a disco-ball helmet that allows intergalactic communications, the band is trying to alter 21st-century human behavior — before it's too late — with synth-heavy backbeat. Go do your part to advance the human race in outer-space approval ratings. — M.H.

9 p.m. Saturday, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave.  $12, 215-739-9684, www.johnnybrendas.com.

» READ MORE: Kasey Chambers

Dragonfly is Australian country-and-roots songwriter Kasey Chambers' 11th album, and I guess it counts as her 12th, too, since it's a double-disc, 20-song collection. Divided in halves produced by revered Aussie singer Paul Kelly and Chambers' brother Nash, it's a wide-ranging set that includes folkie nods to Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, hardscrabble honky tonk, and solid, if less singular, pop and rock. And while Chambers doesn't need anyone to vouch for her talents, Dragonfly does include a duet with that other Down Under country singer, Keith Urban, to aid in attracting the wider audience she deserves. — Dan DeLuca

With Garret Kato, 8 p.m. Wednesday, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. $35. 215-222-1400. worldcafelive.com.

Once the prototypical heartland rocker, John Mellencamp on record has gradually transitioned to rustic Americana troubadour. It's a shift that has not come without occasional whiffs of pretentiousness. But Mellencamp sounds most at home in this role on his new album, Sad Clowns and Hillbillies. Maybe that's because the music strikes a deft balance between sounding ancient and modern. Another plus: The set prominently features Carlene Carter, a gifted, country-leaning singer-songwriter in her own right who has made a heartening comeback from personal travails. She will also be one of the opening acts for this show, along with the queen of Americana herself, Emmylou Harris. — Nick Cristiano

7 p.m. Thursday, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave. $55-$130.50. 215-546-7900, www.manncenter.org.