Make Philly Barbecue

Sun., Aug. 9, noon, free, Fairmount Park, Sedgley and Lemon Hill drives, makephilly.com.

by Carlene Majorino

[ event ]

The hosts of this party ask just one thing of attendees: Keep it simple — food, drinks and water rockets only, please.

For the third year in a row, Make Philly, a 500-member DIY group made up of "electrical engineers, ceramic sculptors and college students," is throwing its annual summer cookout. Anyone can attend, and though the barbecue is more low-key than Make Philly's regular meetings, it still encapsulates the group's raison d'être — to create and build things, no matter how old, skilled or "inventive" you are. "We're about getting everyone's left brain and right brain working at the same time," says co-founder Harris Romanoff.

It's no surprise, then, that the Make Philly crew asks attendees to come with a homemade water rocket, preferably one that's pimped out — past rockets have donned fins and been painted all colors of the rainbow. Made from just a soda bottle, water and a bike pump (visit makephilly.com for instructions), the rockets are safe, relatively simple to build, and just as crucial to a Make Philly barbecue as hot coals.

Sun., Aug. 9, noon, free, Fairmount Park, Sedgley and Lemon Hill drives, makephilly.com.