The 2018 City of the Year keeps things exciting in 2019, with no shortage of new places to explore — indoors and out — and even more great places to stay overnight.
Openings include the East Market consumer space Fashion District Philadelphia and new hotels with can’t-miss amenities, including the arrival of the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel atop the Comcast Technology Center.
On the theater scene, the debut of Broadway blockbuster Hamilton is much anticipated in the city where the most significant moments in Alexander Hamilton’s life took place.
And in the exhibition realm, there is the made-for-kids America to Zanzibar, Muslim Cultures Near and Far at the Please Touch Museum, The Impressionist’s Eye display of rarely seen sculptures, painting and works on paper at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and many thought-provoking installations.
Read on for Philadelphia’s must-experience experiences for 2019.
Following the formula it established at The Lokal Hotel in the Old City, the Fishtown location of this boutique hotel promises an “invisible service” model. Guests can count on highly customized concierge guidance without a front desk and other typical hotel amenities. The apartment-style one- and two-bedroom units invite visitors to live like locals.
Where: Lokal Fishtown, 1421 N. Front Street
Ten cast iron “blockwork” sculptures on the famous steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encourage visitors to think of humans as urban animals. At more than 10 feet tall, the prominent STAND sculptures bring the museum’s art outside, giving curious wanderers a chance to get up close.
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
The Please Touch Museum celebrates diversity in modern and historic Muslim communities around the region and the world using art, technology and innovative programming, including the engagement of six artists-in-residence. The groundbreaking six-month exhibit is designed for kids up to grade five and their families.
Where: Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University welcomes an exhibit about the ancient, natural inspirations behind and the modern endurance of mythic creatures long heralded in songs, stories and art. Visitors can see models of a “life size” unicorn and a tentacled kraken, build their own dragons in a virtual environment, make unicorn poop slime and more. Fossils help tell the story of how some mythical beings became popularized, and show the real-life creatures that inspire the legends.
Where: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Life-size LEGO brick animals appear at the Philadelphia Zoo to tell the story of endangered wildlife and how human behavior impacts and endangered habitats around the world. The zoo created the exhibit to inspire actions that impact global change; even the zoo’s website offers how-to lessons on saving animals and the planet.
Where: Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Avenue
Marvel’s most iconic comics, costumes and props on display in MARVEL: Universe of Super Heroes at The Franklin Institute.
Where: The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th Street
Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt and Vincent van Gogh may have made their most lasting impression with oils on canvas, but they and their contemporaries were also skilled in other media. The Philadelphia Museum of Art offers a rare opportunity to view in one place impressionist sculptures, paintings and works on paper.
April 2019
Membership has lots of privileges at this private lifestyle club designed by L.A.’s M-Rad Inc., where members can work, dine, exercise, play and stay. Lots of flexible meeting space, restaurants and bars, a spa, a lap pool, a bowling alley and a 14-room boutique hotel will live in this 75,000-square-foot space on the banks of the Schuylkill River in the former Marketplace Design Center.
Where: Fitler Club, 2400 Market Street
The historic home and property where John James Audubon, America’s most famed ornithologist, lived and made early discoveries, adds a brand-new center for permanent bird/wildlife exhibits, two galleries for conservation and art, an auditorium, outdoor features and a Fledgling Trail, an interactive exhibit that allows people to experience the earliest stages of a bird’s life, from egg to first flight.
Where: John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, 1201 Pawlings Road, Audubon
Mid-2019 The 60-story Comcast Technology Center, now the tallest building in Philadelphia, welcomes a luxury occupant in 2019: the Four Seasons. Guests take a high-speed elevator to the 219-room Four Seasons’ top-floor sky lobby, then ease into their stay with amenities like a spa, a fitness facility and aninfinity pool on the 57th floor; restaurants by award-winning chefs Jean-George Vongerichten and Greg Vernick; and more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space, including two fifth-floor ballrooms.
Where: Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, 1 N. 19th Street
Spring/summer 2019
Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor center and the gateway to Independence National Historical Park completes its $15 million Visitor Experience Improvement Project. Renovations and upgrades include a 42-foot, digital “Philly Welcome Wall” with content visitors can explore via touchscreen; two new dedicated desks for National Park Service Rangers and visitor services representatives; a public, wrap-around terrace on the second floor (already complete); and an expanded gift shop, dedicated to Philadelphia-themed merchandise (also already complete).
Where: Independence Visitor Center, 599 Market Street
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s modern Broadway blockbuster debuts in the city of its namesake’s greatest achievements (from Revolutionary War artillery officer to presidential advisor to the founder of the first national bank) and his romantic downfall (the Reynolds affair). Prospective audience members are encouraged to reserve tickets early for the Forrest Theatre show.
Where: Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut Street
Summer 2019
The 180-year-old fountain and centerpiece of one of Center City’s original public squares, as envisioned in the 17th century by Philadelphia founder William Penn, gets a dramatic $2 million update. Day and night, the free choreographed shows feature dancing water, lights and music from Philadelphia artists.
Where: Franklin Square, 200 N. 6th Street
The Delaware River Tail continues to come together through 2019, with connections being made along the North and South pieces. Bike and pedestrian pathways along the waterfront form a connected network, with Fishtown’s Penn Treaty Park and areas near South Philadelphia’s Pier 68 scheduled to come on line in 2019.
Where: Locations include Penn Treaty Park, 1301 N. Beach Street
Audiences experience Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park in new ways with the Fairmount Park Conservancy’s series of site-responsive, outdoor performances of the works of pioneering post-modern choreographer Trisha Brown.
Where: Various locations including Mount Pleasant Mansion, 3800 Mount Pleasant Drive
September 2019
This public art partnership between Mural Arts Philadelphia and Visit Philadelphia transforms the gateway to the Historic District with an 8,500-square-foot installation between Franklin Square and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge underpass that dazzles with color by day and illuminated lights by night.
Where: North Sixth Street, Benjamin Franklin Bridge Underpass
Three city blocks transform the old Gallery mall into a retail, dining and entertainment destination. Retailers Asics, Columbia, Forever 21, H&M, Levi’s, Polo Ralph Lauren, Skechers, Zales and Zumiez join already open Century 21 and Burlington stores. Other newcomers: an AMC theater, Dallas BBQ’s first location outside of New York City and the seventh location of City Winery, offering fine dining, concerts and food and wine classes. Market Eats, a collection of quick-dining options, adds to stalwart tenant Tiffany’s Bakery.
Where: Fashion District Philadelphia, 8th to 11th streets from Market to Filbert streets
The micro-hotel pioneer arrives in town via this efficient, modern, 11-story building just two blocks from Rittenhouse Square. The new spot includes a coffee bar by Greg Root and Nick Kennedy of Fishtown’s R&D cocktail bar and a rooftop greenhouse bar with a retractable roof of its own.
Where: Pod Philly, 31 S. 19th Street
The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia opens its most ambitious exhibition to date, a multi-disciplinary recounting of a global pandemic that took thousands of local lives in two years, only 100 years ago. History, art and science offer a unique view into the terrifying time. Included in the exhibition is a work by the artist group Blast Theory and digital interactives that allow visitors to explore data from more than 20,000 death certificates from Philadelphia neighborhoods.
Where: Mütter Museum, 19 S. 22nd Street
Fall 2019
The first major phase of Penn Museum’s building transformation culminates in fall 2019 with the opening of the newly restored Mexico & Central America Gallery and Africa Galleries, complete with new interpretive displays, a transformed Main Entrance Hall and the renovated 618-seat Harrison Auditorium, offering unique new perspectives on the fascinating and diverse collections held by the storied, 130-year old museum.
Where: Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Late 2019
Locally inspired artwork brings the city inside this hotel, set to open this winter in the Market East neighborhood. Guests who still want a workout after traversing the walkable downtown can pop into the fitness center.
Where: MainStay Suites/Ascend Hotel Collection, 917 Arch Street
The Visit Philly Overnight Package — booked more than 190,000 times since 2001 — comes with free hotel parking (worth up to $100 in Center City Philadelphia), overnight hotel accommodations and choose-your-own-adventure perks.
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