April 8 through 23, the Kimmel Center is mounting its third
Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). This year’s event includes everything from theatrical performances to lectures to a fiery art installation on the waterfront to concerts played from inside city fountains. The whole thing will culminate in the
PIFA Street Fair on Broad Street, beginning at 11 a.m. on April 23, an all-day family-friendly affair packed with fantastic sights, food, vendors, rides and performances.
According to artistic director Jay Wahl, there are fewer projects this year, but they’re "bolder" than in the past.
"We’ve spent more energy on fewer projects to make them better and richer," he explains.
This year’s festival features over 60 events in 16 days across the city. The theme is "We Are What We Make"; as the website puts it, exploring "how our humanity is shaped, changed, inspired, and challenged by the world we create." 2015 MacArthur Genius Award winner Mimi Lien will put up a "massive" installation in the Kimmel Center's lobby.
"I was starting to notice that across the city, there was a real interest in where we make things, how we make them, who makes them," says Wahl of the PIFA theme. For example, our contemporary food culture: Diners aren’t only interested in where the restaurant is, but who the farmer was and how the food got there.
And this extends to many facets of modern Philly life, including our burgeoning urban and waterfront parks (an "interest in the way that urban and natural environments come together and the materials of those things"). In the 19th century, Philadelphia was known as "the workshop of the world," and from a historical perspective, "this is where the nation was made," explains Wahl. "We did that politically, we do that socially, now we’re doing that behaviorally and mentally, and I was thinking, what does that mean?"
When it comes to the street fair on April 23, Wahl suggests arriving early -- one-of-a-kind performances will pop up in the crowd all day. There’ll be patches of grass in the middle of Broad Street, a 25-foot waterfall, a zip-line, a Ferris wheel, a Zeppelin blimp in the air and carnival swings below City Hall.
"I think we can say all we want [about] the arts transform[ing] the city…but until your body is doing something quite literally different, I don’t think you can feel it," he adds. "The moment you sit with your kids in the grass in the middle of the street is the moment you think about Broad Street differently forever."
And PIFA is part of a larger narrative about Philly as a destination -- a city
touted by The New York Times and
Lonely Planet as a top place to visit, and
designated a UNESCO World Heritage City.
"None of that happens without the arts and culture here," says Wahl. "That’s the reason you want to go someplace…PIFA is part of that tapestry of what makes the city vibrant."
To browse the full line-up of events, visit PIFA’s
online calendar.
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Jay Wahl, Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts