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CONTACT: |
Donna Schorr |
GPTMC |
(215) 599-0782 | donna@gptmc.com |
WHAT'S IN
STORE FOR 2004
Annual And Blockbuster Events Make Philly Fun Year ’Round
PHILADELPHIA, January 19, 2004 – Art lovers, garden enthusiasts, film connoisseurs and sports fans will find a year packed beginning to end with festivals, sporting events, art shows, parades and cultural events in Philadelphia. Here’s what’s in store for 2004:
Major Festivals, Shows and Events:
DanceBoom! takes to the Wilma Theater stage in the new year with performances by local artists and companies. January 21-February 8, (215) 546-STAGE, www.wilmatheater.org
The not-for-profit Blue Ball Weekend for the gay and lesbian communities includes the hottest DJs with happenings at the National Constitution Center, Bump, Shampoo and more. January 30-February 1, (267) 514-2088, www.blueballphilly.com
Every year, the Philadelphia Film Festival showcases the best in independent and foreign cinema. April 8-20, (215) 733-0608, www.phillyfests.com
Jugglers, folk singers, puppeteers and dancers gather yearly to delight young audiences at the International Children’s Festival at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. April 25-May 1, (215) 898-3900, www.pennpresents.org
The Equality Forum celebrates the cultural and political legacy of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people with workshops, performances and parties throughout the city. April 26-May 2, (215) 732-3378, www.equalityforum.com
Memorial Day’s biggest party, Jam on the River, brings the best of rock and blues music to Penn’s Landing. May 29-31, (215) 922-2FUN, www.jamontheriver.com
Now in its 29th year, the Odunde Afrikan American Street Festival celebrates the Yoruba New Year, beginning with a spiritual procession to the Schuylkill River and ending with a lively street fair on South Street. June 13, (215) 732-8510, www.odunde.org
Every year the Rosenbach Museum & Library joins with James Joyce fans throughout the world to celebrate Bloomsday, the day on which the novel’s hero, Leopold Bloom, made his “odyssey” through Dublin. June 16, (215) 732-1600, www.rosenbach.org
In Alegria, the incomparable Cirque du Soleil explores themes of aristocratic power with fire-knife dancing, contortion and the aerial trapeze on the Avenue of the Arts. July 9-25, (800) 678-5440, www.cirquedusoleil.com
Visitors can see accurate room recreations, feel the temperature drop and learn about the aftermath of the Titanic disaster at the Franklin Institute’s Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, a 300-artifact display surrounding the ill-fated RMS Titanic’s journey. July 10, 2004 - January 23, 2005 (215) 448-1200, www.fi.edu
During Singer/Songwriter Weekend, WXPN, the public radio station of the University of Pennsylvania, brings together musical legends and new performers for a weekend of music at Penn’s Landing. July 17-18, (215) 922-2FUN, www.pennslandingcorp.com
Philadelphia’s answer to Woodstock is the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the longest continuous running event of its kind attracting musicians, storytellers and craftspeople for a weekend of song and merriment in Schwenksville. August 27-29, (800) 556-FOLK, www.folkfest.org
Avant-garde performance meets street theater for two weeks of artistic pleasure during the Fringe Festival. September 3-18, (215) 413-1318, www.pafringe.com
Art Exhibits, Shows and Tours:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art continues its tradition of world-class exhibitions with Manet and the Sea, featuring an in-depth study of Edouard Manet’s Impressionist seascapes and three of his contemporaries for the first time. The show highlights the impact these revolutionary works had on artists that followed. February 15-May 31, (215) 763-8100, www.philamuseum.org
Treasures await at the Philadelphia Antiques Show, where dealers from across the U.S. gather to display their unique finds at the 33rd Street Armory. April 17-20, (215) 387-3500, www.philaantiques.com
Experience the art of nothing and nothingness made manifest in a citywide initiative led by the Institute of Contemporary Art. The Big Nothing explores absence as a driving force of modernism, and involves many of Philadelphia’s cultural institutions. May 1-August 1, (215) 898-5911, www.icaphila.org
An annual tradition for 103 years, the Student Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts displays the works of third- and fourth-year students in an array of different media. May 8-June 6, (215) 972-7600, www.pafa.org
Local artists of all mediums open their workshops to the public during the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. October 9-10 and 16-17, (215) 683-2084, www.philaopenstudios.com
Dozens of art dealers gather for USArtists, an art expo and sale benefiting the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. October 22-24, (800) 455-8312, www.usartists.org
Patriotic Events:
Celebrating the nation’s birthday, Sunoco Welcome America! is a week-long party with free events for all ages. June 27-July 4, (215) 683-2200, www.americasbirthday.com
Holiday Events and Activities:
The Mummers Parade kicks off the New Year with 30,000 decorative strutters marching on Broad Street. January 1, (215) 683-3622, www.phila.gov
By day, enjoy the Fourth of July Parade, followed by a nighttime explosion of fireworks over the Philadelphia Museum of Art. July 4, www.americasbirthday.com
Celebrate the Halloween season with Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary by visiting the spooky haunted house inside the abandoned prison. October 3-November 2, (215) 236-3300, www.easternstate.org
Channel 6 ABC and Boscov’s sponsor Philadelphia’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. November 25, (215) 581-4507, www.wpvi.com
The Philadelphia Holiday Festival rings in the season with old-fashioned traditions, live performances and endless shopping to commemorate holiday celebrations throughout the region. December 2004, (215) 965-7676
Sports:
High school and college track stars compete for glory in multiple events at the legendary Penn Relays, the longest uninterrupted collegiate track meet in the nation, taking place at Franklin Field. April 22-24, (215) 898-6122, www.thepennrelays.com
The Broad Street Run spans 10 miles from Olney to South Philadelphia, and competing runners raise money for the American Cancer Society. May 2, (215) 235-7481, www.broadstreetrun.com
The Schuylkill River is the site for competitive rowing at the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the world. May 7-8, (215) 542-1143, www.dadvail.org
Equestrians show their talents at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, the country’s oldest and largest event of its kind featuring contests and exhibitions topped off by an old-fashioned fair on the Devon Show Grounds. May 27-June 5, (610) 964-0550, www.thedevonhorseshow.com
Home & Garden:
Longwood Gardens blooms during Welcome Spring, with indoor displays of bulbs, trees and flowers. January 17-April 2, (610) 388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org
Professionals and hobbyists display their horticultural creativity at the 175th anniversary of the Philadelphia Flower Show, which routinely draws plant lovers from all over the county for the largest indoor flower show in the U.S at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. March 7-14, (215) 988-8899, www.theflowershow.com
Local restaurants welcome cookbook authors for a series of special dining events during The Book & the Cook Festival, which also features an impressive culinary market at the Fort Washington Expo Center. March 12-21, (215) 545-4543, www.bookandthecook.com
Morris Arboretum celebrates spring, Japanese-style at the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival. Events include taiko drumming, a tea ceremony and origami demonstrations. April 1-30, 2004, (215) 247-5777, www.morrisarboretum.org
Join Greater Philadelphia Gardens for the World’s Largest Garden Party. This collaborative of public gardens, arboretums and historic houses with gardens in Philadelphia and Its Countryside hosts more than 40 special events, including plant sales, tours, festivals and more. April-June 2004, (215) 247-5777, www.greaterphiladelphiagardens.org
With Swans and Gardens, the Pennsylvania Ballet packages admission to Longwood Gardens, Morris Arboretum, Chanticleer or Winterthur with the world premiere of preeminent choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake at the Academy of Music. June 4-12, 2004, (215) 551-7000, ext. 1212, www.paballet.org
The Morris Arboretum’s Garden Railway Display features more than a dozen replicas of lighthouses and historic buildings created entirely of natural materials and set in the splendor of a summer garden. June 8-October 11, (215) 547-5777, www.morrisarboretum.org
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) builds the region’s economy and image through destination marketing to increase the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county region. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.
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Note to Editors: photos of Greater Philadelphia are available in the photo gallery.
2004
