A big weekend for festivals and traffic tie-ups in Philly

Nari and Godfrey Miller were hungry for everything Friday at the Taste of Philadelphia, the opening event of the city's annual Wawa Welcome America festival.

The couple from University City stopped by the Marabella Meatball Co. stand at Penn's Landing to share a meatball slider. They ordered a macaroni-and-bacon hot dog from the Dapper Dog vending cart on the Chestnut Street bridge. They also got a cheesesteak from Steaks on South.

"There's so many options, we're getting one of everything," said Godfrey Miller, 25, as he carried his 2-year-old daughter, Freya. He craved a funnel cake. Nari Miller, 26, heard Belgian waffle ice cream sandwiches were to be had.

Shortly after 5 p.m., City Representative Melanie Johnson and her 15-year-old daughter, Jahna Samuel, cut a ribbon lined with balloons to open the festival, which lasts through the Fourth of July.

Philadelphia will be busy this weekend with several events, including the Manayunk Arts Festival and the Philadelphia Triathlon, that will draw large crowds and could cause traffic headaches.

The Taste of Philadelphia continues Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The weekend will be filled with culinary offerings from restaurants, food trucks, and street vendors, including Seth Russell, who runs the Dapper Dog in Northern Liberties. This is his first Welcome America event.

"I'm hoping that it'll bring out a lot of people who wouldn't normally get to us," he said.

Kate Grant, 27, and Matt Haines, 28, who were in Old City and decided to check out the festival, ordered from the Jamaican Jerk Hut stand.

She wanted to try something different.

"A lot of this stuff here, cheesesteaks, I've had plenty of times," she said.

Along with the usual water ice and Italian sausage will be plenty of diversity, with vendors providing Indian, Greek, and Cuban food, as well as crepes.

The festival will offer performances by blues, jazz, and gospel acts. Among those taking the stage at Penn's Landing, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, will be the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz, Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, Brass Heaven, and, at 8 p.m., R&B/gospel star Aaron Neville. The first Welcome America fireworks will follow.

Sunday from 11 to 7, gospel will join the mix, with sets by the Sounds of Life Choir, Zak Williams and 1/Akord, and Frank Bey and the Swing City Blues Band.

In Manayunk, Main Street turns into an arts-and-crafts gallery on Saturday and Sunday. This is a juried show. Typically, 275 or so exhibitors make the cut. The hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 to 6 Sunday.

The Philadelphia Triathlon is actually a couple of events, a Sprint Course on Saturday morning and an Olympic Course on Sunday. Saturday's swimming, running, and cycling are almost all along Martin Luther King Drive, which is regularly closed on weekends for recreation.

With a 40K bike race from Eakins Oval to Falls Bridge, the Sunday competition will nudge traffic off a lot more roads. Though the races don't start till 7 a.m., closures will start about 5, according to police.

Closed until about 11:30 a.m. will be Eakins Oval in front of the Art Museum; the length of Kelly Drive, even for trolleys and parking; Chamounix Drive; Strawberry Mansion Bridge; and Reservoir Drive.

Cars won't be able to reach the Art Museum, though buses and taxis will.

No parking will be permitted along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in Eakins Oval, on Water Works Drive, or on Lemon Hill.

King Drive will be closed until about 5 p.m., and access to Fairmount Park mansions and various entry points will also be curtailed.

Complicating the weekend traffic will be repair work on the Schuylkill Expressway around University Avenue..

Only one lane will be open in each direction until 5 p.m. Saturday, then from 7:30 p.m. Saturday until about noon Sunday. The break is to allow fans a chance to get through to see the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park or the Soul, the city's Arena Football League team, at the Wells Fargo Center, both at 7:05 p.m.

The eastbound resurfacing and bridge work will fix stretches that buckled from the heat on June 8, while the other side will get preventive measures.

For the latest traffic updates, go to http://go.philly.com/traffic.

For more on this weekend's festivities, go to www.welcomeamerica.com.