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CONTACT: |
Cara Schneider |
GPTMC |
(215) 599-0789 |
WHAT'S NEW IN PHILADELPHIA?
Winter 2005 and Beyond
When Benjamin Franklin turns 300 on January 17, 2006, no one will be feting Franklin quite like Philadelphia, his adopted hometown. Festivities officially kick off in fall 2005, and the centerpiece of the celebration is the Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World exhibition, making its world debut on December 15, 2005, at the National Constitution Center. Historic sites, attractions, restaurants, shops and hotels will get in on the act too with special exhibits, programs, tours, menus and packages. www.benfranklin300.org
Longwood Gardens Celebrates A Century In Bloom
In January 2006, Longwood Gardens’ begins a year-long celebration to commemorate 100 years as the region’s horticultural hotspot. Festivities unofficially get underway in October 2005, when the garden unveils one of its largest renovation projects to date. The new East Conservatory will feature a half-acre “Garden Under Glass,” complete with Mediterranean and subtropical-climate flora, year-round blooming plants, courtyards and fountains. The Music Room and Ballroom will be restored to their original 1920s splendor, and a new Organ Museum will showcase Longwood’s historic 10,010-pipe organ. www.longwoodgardens.com
Body Worlds Makes Its East Coast Debut At The Franklin Institute Science Museum
Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, a first-of-its kind exhibition in which visitors learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing human bodies preserved through “plastination,” makes its East Coast debut at The Franklin Institute Science Museum in October 2005. Approximately 25 human bodies will be on display through April 23, 2006, giving the public a rare opportunity to see up close the relationship between healthy lifestyles and healthy bodies. www.fi.edu
Fans of Andrew Wyeth can view seven decades of the Pennsylvania artist’s work during Andrew Wyeth: Memories and Magic, a retrospective exhibition on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from March 29 through July 16, 2006. The show features nearly 100 tempera paintings, watercolors and drawings from Wyeth’s personal collection. www.philamuseum.org. Wyeth enthusiasts can enjoy an art lover’s perfect weekend by seeing the exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, spending an evening in city and then heading out to the Brandywine Valley, Wyeth’s home and often the source of his inspiration. In conjunction with the exhibit, the Brandywine River Museum, regularly displaying three generations of the Wyeth family’s work, will host special programming of its own. www.brandywinemuseum.org
Spring 2006:
What’s big, cutting edge and coming to the Philadelphia Zoo in spring 2006? Big Cat Falls, a $20 million, 1.7-acre exhibit that will be home to more than a dozen big cats, including African lions, leopards, jaguars, Mountain lions and tigers. Including five spacious outdoor areas, the exhibit is the first of four major new projects in the works at the zoo designed to showcase the animals in a naturalistic setting, dramatically improve animal care and educate visitors in a compelling manner. www.philadelphiazoo.org. The region’s fascination with cats will continue on June 13, 2006, when Disney’s The Lion King begins its run at the Academy of Music. The visually stunning, technically astounding production features a spectacle of animals brought to life by a cast of more than 40 actors. www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the debut of its new nearly $6.5 million, 7,000-pipe organ with a two-week inaugural festival, May 11-25, 2006. One of the largest of its kind in the world, the 32-ton instrument will be the centerpiece of Verizon Hall, home to the Philadelphia Orchestra and other performing arts groups. Seventeen events will take place over the course of the festival, including orchestral and choral concerts, film screening and special programs for students and families. www.kimmelcenter.org
In May 2005, Once Upon A Nation debuted, giving visitors to Philadelphia’s Historic District a chance to hear the nation’s greatest untold and undertold tales at 13 storytelling benches in and around Independence Mall. In summer 2006, Once Upon A Nation will begin a new chapter in its story with the re-opening of Franklin Square. In an effort to reclaim green space for Philadelphia residents and further enliven the Historic District, the newly revitalized Square will open as a legacy to Ben Franklin’s year-long 300th birthday celebration. The space will feature new attractions such as the Liberty Carousel, a Philadelphia-themed miniature golf course, two playgrounds, gardens and improved landscaping, storytelling, craft demonstrations and a renovated Franklin Square Fountain, which will be used for the first time in 30 years. www.onceuponanation.org
2007:
Last Chance To See King Tut — In Philly
February 2007 is the last chance to see Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a blockbuster exhibition on display at The Franklin Institute Science Museum from February through September 2007. The exhibit will include 50 major objects excavated from Tut’s tomb, including his royal diadem (the gold crown that encircled the head of the king’s mummified body), along with more than 70 objects from other royal graves of the 18th Dynasty. www.fi.edu. The entire Philadelphia region will celebrate Tut’s legacy with special exhibits, events and programs. The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, for example, will host a special exhibit about Tut and the City of Amarna, where the boy king grew up, using artifacts from their expansive Egyptian collection. www.museum.upenn.edu
Philly Exclusive: Gifts You’ll Find Here And Only Here
Hotel News: More Heads Means More Beds—Even For Fido
With tourism booming in Philly, it’s no surprise that hotels are expanding their space to accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors. The charming Rittenhouse Square Bed & Breakfast will jump from 10 rooms to 20 over the next year, with six rooms expected to be complete over the summer. Also growing is the Morris House and Hotel. This Society Hill property will add three suites to its carriage house and four rooms to the historic building next door. At the Sheraton Society Hill, human guests aren’t the only ones sleeping soundly on the extra-comfortable “Suite Sleeper” bed. This winter, the hotel introduced a similar bed for pets.
Move over Napa Valley—Bucks County, Pennsylvania is fast becoming one of the premier grape growing regions on the East Coast. Wine lovers visiting this picturesque Philadelphia suburb can easily drive the Bucks County Wine Trail, home to the Sand Castle Winery, Buckingham Valley Vineyards and New Hope Winery, among others. During tours, they’ll see how wine is produced, talk with the people who make it and tour the chilled wine cellars before making their way to a quaint Bucks County bed and breakfast. www.buckscountywinetrail.com
While tourists are flocking to Philadelphia in record numbers, residents are moving here for good. In recent years, 6,500 new residential units went up—that’s 9% population growth since 2000. Where people live, they play, and tourists reap the benefits: restaurants are up 206% since 1992 (199 new ones in 2003), outdoor cafés are everywhere (149 of them), and soon residents and visitors will have three new luxe bowling lanes to choose from. That’s a strike for everyone!
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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.
Note to Editors: photos of Greater Philadelphia are available in the photo gallery.
