Event Schedule
May 4
10 AM EDT | Festival Kick-off with Jane Jacobs Day & Flag Raising
Location: Scranton City Hall, 340 N Washington Ave, Scranton, PA 18503 + Virtual Stream (link coming soon)
Join Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and the Center for the Living City for the inaugural Jane Jacobs Day proclamation, a day of community conversations and gatherings, and the Jane Jacobs flag raising on what would have been her 105th birthday.
6:30 PM EDT | Book Launch, Jane Jacobs’s First City: Learning From Scranton, Pennsylvania
Location: theater at Lackawanna College
Author Glenna Lang will give a slide presentation to celebrate the publication by New Village Press of her new book, Jane Jacobs’s First City: Learning from Scranton, Pennsylvania on the occasion of Jane Jacobs’s 105th birthday, at the theater at Lackawanna College, on Vine St. near N. Washington Ave., formerly Central High School, which Jane Butzner [later Jacobs] attended. With Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.
Ticketed but free. This lecture is part of the Center for the Living City’s Jane Jacobs Lecture Series.
May 5
2 pm EDT | Jane Jacobs Walk | Explore Historic Forest Hill Cemetery and Find Who in "Jane Jacobs’s First City" Is Buried There
Location: Forest Hill Cemetery, 1830 Jefferson Avenue, Dunmore, PA, 18509 | Meet outside the cemetery caretaker’s office
Join the cemetery’s caretaker and archivist, Norma Reese, for a fascinating tour of Scranton’s first landscaped cemetery, founded in 1870. Within the beautiful grounds overlooking the city, you will be introduced to some of the 18,000 people laid to rest. African Americans and Caucasians, coal barons and miners, and immigrants from the world over have always been buried side by side here. In person. Author of "Jane Jacobs’s First City," Glenna Lang, will be on the walk.
5:15 pm EDT | Jane Jacobs Walk| The Architecture and History of Lackawanna Avenue in Central City
Location: The Marketplace at Steamtown, 300 Lackawanna Avenue Scranton, PA, 18503 | Meet outside the entrance to The Marketplace at Steamtown
Architect and local historian Richard Leonori, will lead a several block walk along Scranton’s main downtown street, laid out as part of the original plan for the city in the 1850s. He will discuss the origins of its beautiful historic buildings and the efforts to preserve and restore them. In person. Author of Jane Jacobs’s First City, Glenna Lang, will accompany him. Book signing follows immediately afterward.
6:15 pm EDT | Jane Jacobs’s First City | Book Signing at Library Express Bookstore
Location: Marketplace at Steamtown Mall, 2nd floor, 300 Lackawanna Avenue
Immediately following the Jane Jacobs Walk, join author Glenna Lang for a reading of passages from Jane Jacobs’s First City , with book signing. Sales from Library Express Bookstore benefit the Lackawanna County Library System.
6:00 - 7:30 pm EDT | Community Conversation: A Scranton City Dialogue
Location: Virtual on Zoom. Registration Required
The University of Scranton, together with city partners, will host a Jane Jacobs inspired community conversation focusing on questions and themes she raised in a seminal 1987 letter to the City about “what Scranton is, has been, and can be.” This event will involve small group facilitated dialogues via Zoom.
May 6
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM EDT | Blue Zones + the Built Environment
Location: Virtual on Zoom. To sign up, email Margaret.Brown@sharecare.com with the appropriate session.
Blue Zones are areas of exceptional health and wellness. Come join us for discussions about how the Built Environment – buildings, streets, open spaces, infrastructure – can create places where healthy choices are easy and accessible in northeastern Pennsylvania.
These sessions are brought to Observe Scranton by Valley In Motion, a Lackawanna County non-profit. Sessions will be moderated by built environment specialists at Blue Zones, LLC, who have worked to make over 50 communities in North America happier and healthier.
10:00 – 11:15am: Built Environment - Government: Discussions targeted to government and planning leaders for public works, economic development, walking and bike infrastructure, public safety, etc.
11:30am – 12:45pm: Built Environment - Policy Advocates: Discussions targeted to walk and bike advocates, neighborhood associations, chamber of commerce reps, etc.
1:00 – 2:00pm: Blue Zones for Elected Officials: Discussions targeted to mayors, city councils, county commissioners, and state and federal representatives, but also open to the public.
5:30 PM EDT | Book Reading with Glenna Lang + Community members in Scranton, PA.
Location: In front of the Lackawanna County Courthouse, N Washington Avenue side by the giant glasses.
Accompanied by special guests, author Glenna Lang will provide an outdoor book reading of Jane Jacobs’s First City, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. This event is sponsored by the Scranton Area Community Foundation.
May 7
5 - 9 PM EDT | First Friday #ObserveScranton
Location: Downtown Scranton
Join us at the First Friday Scranton!
First Friday Scranton features a wide variety of cultural events found in some of the city's best restaurants and cafes, as well as galleries, boutiques, and other small businesses. All events associated with First Friday Scranton take place from 5-9 PM in a walkable, close knit footprint, though a trolley bus is available to provide shuttle service at designated stops. First Friday Scranton serves as a conduit to artists, connecting them to prospective venues, art lovers seeking entertainment, and venues looking to attract new customers. For over 10 years First Friday Scranton has been a foundational event fostering growth and supporting local businesses and the arts in Downtown Scranton.
5 - 7 PM EDT | Interactive Exhibit
Location: Observe Scranton HQ, Scranton Life Building, 546 Spruce Street, Scranton, PA 18503
During First Friday at event HQ with the University of Scranton
Share your thoughts about the past, present and future of Scranton.
5 - 9 PM EDT | Jane Jacobs’s First City Book Signings with Author Glenna Lang
Location: Observe Scranton HQ, Scranton Life Building, 546 Spruce Street, Scranton, PA 18503
POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER* | Light the Night Ride with Northeast Art Project
First Ever Community Night Light Ride
Meet Location: Park anywhere you can downtown Scranton. Registration table will be at the corner of Adams Ave and Spruce Street. Spruce Street will be closed to motor vehicle traffic.
A fun, evening bicycle ride through the city of Scranton. We ask that you decorate your bike with lights. There is no theme, so you can get creative! Ideally, we would like to have everyone’s bike lit up with fun decorations. To enter the contest, you will need to register your bike either online prior to the event or day of the event.
*Rain Date: DETAILS TBA. STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT FIRST FRIDAY
May 8
10 AM - 11 AM EDT | Jane Jacobs Walk |Walking in the Footsteps of Jane Butzner (Jacobs)
Location: 1712 Monroe Ave., Dunmore, PA | Meet outside Jane Jacobs childhood home
Architect and longtime Dunmorean John Cowder will retrace Jane’s routes to her neighborhood school, the potato chip factory in the alley, and other mom-and-pop stores she and her family and friends frequented. Discover some commercial sites and many homes still in existence today and learn about those that did not survive the ravages of time. Stories and information from participating walkers will be most welcome. In person. Author of Jane Jacobs’s First City, Glenna Lang, will join the walk.
7 PM EDT | Observe SCRANTON STORYSLAM with Scranton Fringe
Location: Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel Scranton (outdoors): 700 Lackawanna Ave, Scranton, PA 18503
Tickets Required. Doors at 6, show at 7. Jane Jacobs’s First City books will also be available for purchase and signings with Author Glenna Lang.
A major part of the Observe Scranton week of programming is the return of the SCRANTON STORYSLAM. This unique program, produced by our partners at Scranton Fringe, will take place outside in downtown Scranton on Saturday, May 8th.
The Scranton Storyslam has been a popular recurring event within NEPA, starting with its first Slam in March 2012 and becoming part of the Scranton Fringe Festival‘s year-round arts programming in the spring of 2016. The events feature some of the Electric City’s most colorful characters in a head to head storytelling competition and gives a platform to the voices of individuals from across the region. Scranton StorySlam has been on a hiatus since 2019 and is excited to bring this slam back to Scranton in a Covid-safe, outdoor environment.
Scranton StorySlam is a celebration of diverse voices, welcoming all to share their stories of triumph, disappointment, humor, and heartbreak with our supportive audiences. The joy of a StorySlam is that any kind of story can be spun within the theme. Stories can range from pants-peeing hilarity to soul-wrenching heartbreak. Within the framework of (approx) five minute true, first hand stories, StorySlams are an irresistible fusion of theater, memoir and documentary art.
The theme for this particular Scranton StorySlam is, naturally, Observing Scranton!
Featured storytellers are...
Amber Viola, City of Scranton, Human Resources Director
Chris Kelly, Journalist, The Scranton Times-Tribune
Glynis M Johns, The Black Scranton Project, CEO
Alicia Nordstrom, Professor of Psychology at Misericordia University
Gerard Hetman, NeighborWorks, Community Development Specialist
Dr. Jessica Rothchild, Scranton City Council Member & Physical Therapist
Maureen Gray, Executive Director NEPA Youth Shelter
Emcee Conor Kelly O’Brien
JUDGES
Tonyehn Verkitus // Dan Kimbrough // Julie Schumacher Cohen // Gus Fahey // Kristen Kosin
May 4 - 8 Jane Jacobs Walks
NEW! Check out the virtual Jane Jacobs Walking tours through Scranton with former Scranton Mayor and current NWNEPA board member Wayne Evans conducted two walking tours of sections of downtown Scranton.
Presented by Scranton Tomorrow, in partnership with the Lackawanna Historical Society, Observe Penn Avenue shows the influence of Jane Jacobs in several buildings along a key corridor in the downtown business district. Unusual and Valuable Assets: The Death and Rebirth of Scrantonexplores the change in urban landscapes following the development of the Mall at Steamtown. Todd Pousley, NWNEPA Neighborhood Revitalization Manager, is among those interviewed for the second video.
Produced by KP Productions, both productions can be viewed via the Scranton Tomorrow website.
Scranton Jane Jacobs Walks will be posted to the schedule when they become listed.
See Jane Jacobs Walk for more details on how to host your own walk. janejacobswalk.org
In Scranton, New York, Toronto, and other cities across the globe, individuals will self-organize informal group walks and discussions in their neighborhoods. People interested in participating can sign up online to join a free Jane Jacobs Walk or to organize one in their area.