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What Can I Expect at the Inaugural ArtPhilly Festival?

As a non-profit organization, ArtPhilly aims to create a movement connecting Philadelphia’s acclaimed arts and culture community through ongoing artistic programming, commissions of original work and — the main event — a major citywide art festival featuring over 35 performances, exhibitions, talks and projects.

Exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art   — Photo by A. Pentecost-Farren

The whole Philadelphia arts community has collaborated to produce the multidisciplinary festival, including premier institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Mural Arts Philadelphia; community-based organizations, like Theatre in the X ak Asian Arts Initiative; and seasoned artists and curators, like curatorial director Tania Isaac, producer and performer King Britt, and Philadelphia Dance Projects director Terry Fox.

Taking place at iconic Philly museums, landmarks and venues, the jam-packed slate of programming reflects the vibrancy and diversity of Philly’s cultural scene with musical concerts, theatrical shows, dance performances, visual art exhibits and new museum experiences.

King Britt   — Photo by K. Britt

La nation’s milestone 250th anniversary provided inspiration for the theme, What Now, encouraging artists and audiences to harness the revolutionary spirit of America’s Founding Fathers and envision a bold future for our country. Many experiences, tailored to visitors coming to town for Philly 250 and locals alike, encourage community involvement and dialogue.

What Artists & Art Projects Can I Experience During the ArtPhilly What Now?: 2026 Festival?

There’s so much to see and do throughout the five-week festival, featuring artists based right here in Philadelphia (or who have called Philly home at some point). Here’s a rundown of what to expect, with projects sorted by category, and be sure to follow ArtPhilly on social media for behind-the-scenes content about the festival projects.

Community

• What Can You Do While You’re Waiting: Encouraging families to put down screens and look up while waiting for the bus, this installation art takes over SEPTA bus shelters across the city with artistic games and conversation starters (ongoing).
• Rewilding Philadelphia: Imagine how wild it could be to turn an abandoned lot into a green oasis. Creative Producer Angevine has worked with community partners to do just that: rewild a Philadelphia lot. The long-term project features a tree planting festival and ongoing art and training opportunities (Sunday, May 31, 2026).
• Say Yes, Philly: Urban Movement Arts spotlights Black American music and dance with a series of community events featuring emergent and mid-career dance and music artists (June 2-13, 2026, select dates).
• Acknowledge Me: A Community Play: Theatre in the X plans to gather four multigenerational communities to discuss Philadelphia’s future and what America250 means to them, and then use that community-curated content to create a play that tells a collaborative story (June 4-5, 2026).
• Giving Thanks: Farmer, educator and chef Laquanda Dobson collaborates with theater artist Jennifer Kidwell to host an outdoor community meal at historic Bartram’s Garden, complete with dancing, music and pop-up performances. Guests can reflect on gratitude and trust while feasting on seasonal and local cuisine (Sunday, June 28, 2026).
• Revival!: Artist Rashid Zakat’s vision for Revival! 2026 includes videos coupled with live performances in four designated outdoor spaces designed to bring communities together in conversation, self-care and art (Sunday, June 28, 2026).
• Salonish: Rewilding Philadelphia: Meet the artist behind the work (see above) and learn about the city’s greening programs while noshing on snacks (Tuesday, June 23, 2026).

Urban Movement Arts   — Photo by L. Powers

Dance

• in case of fire, speak: Using archival materials and new music, choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans offers an answer to Martha Graham’s question “What is an American?” in this dance installation collaboration between the Martha Graham Dance Company and PHILADANCO! (May 29-30, 2026).
• The Four Seasons Reimagined: See Vivaldi’s Four Seasons come to life as never before at BalletX’s world premiere project, meshing dance, music and “immersive placemaking.” Composer Dan Deacon reimagined the classical music piece exploring winter, spring, summer and fall that incorporates choreographed voices to accompany modern dance (June 4-5, 2026).

Film

• Patina/Promise: Director Glenn Holsten partners with artist Majesty Royale-Jackson to present a film and audio collage project that captures the essence of Philadelphia. After a training workshop, participants set out with their cell phone cameras and drones to create “an urban self-portrait” of Philly (June 3 & 10, 2026).
• John Coltrane en Motion: Live Rescoring Diasporic Stories of Motion: John Coltrane’s music takes center stage in an immersive film and sound experience. BlackStar curates the event, pairing the music with two feature film screenings in John Coltrane en Motion: Live Rescoring Diasporic Stories of Motion (June 10 & 12, 2026).
• Displaced Flowers; Still in Bloom: Filmmaker Walé Oyéjidé premieres three films during large-scale screenings paired with live scores, all in honor of Philly jazz icon John Coltrane (Thursday, June 11, 2026).
• Transmissions: Roberto Clemente: The one-night film festival features a selection of films and historic footage that focus on the life of Roberto Clemente and his Puerto Rican roots, all screened outdoors at Roberto Clemente Park (Wednesday, June 24, 2026).

BlackStar film screening   — Photo by P. Jackson

Interactive

• Dinner with Dinah: Poets Trapeta B. Mayson and Yolanda Wisher turn the grounds of Stenton into an interactive stage where participants can dine, write poetry and discuss the life of Dinah, an enslaved Black woman who once lived at the historic Germantown site. Mayson’s performance of her choreopoem about Dinah rounds out the experience (Saturday, June 6, 2026).
• Aaahhh! WTF Now?!: If the daily news cycle has you wanting to scream, this one’s for you. Join the Bearded Ladies Cabaret in a “solidarity sing-along” and get out all those frustrations through song (Saturday, June 13, 2026).
• Salonish: BYOI (Bring Your Own Instrument): Join some of the top musicians in Philly for an impromptu jam session where you bring your own instrument and improvise (Tuesday, June 30, 2026).
• What Now? Love Now!: Celebrating the power of love, Jos Duncan-Ase’s LoveNow Media creates an 11-day immersive exhibit with film screenings, archival photography, art-making opportunities and live storytelling culminating in a live concert (Dates TBD).

Dinner with Dinah   — Photo courtesy ArtPhilly

Multimedia

• Bicentennial Baby: What does it mean to be a Bicentennial baby? Former Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher aims to find out by interviewing five other Philadelphians born in 1976 to create a limited series podcast (Ongoing).
• Vote that Jawn: Growing from a summer program to encourage high school and college students to use their voices and their art to make change, Vote that Jawn brings these new works to life in live performances, videos and social media (Wednesday, June 3, 2026).
• A Traveler Weeps, A River Laughs: In a genre-bending exhibition combining film, poetry and mixed-media, 12 Gates Arts invites participants to reflect on concepts of history, identity and migration to better understand how one’s lived experiences contribute to our collective history (Gallery opens June 5, 2026; Performance Friday, June 12, 2026).
• Pepper Pot: Combining history, music, poetry and food, a collaborative team of artists presents the story of pepper pot soup spanning multiple generations. During the performance, participants can dine on an authentic pepper pot soup prepared by Chef Valerie Erwin (Saturday, June 13, 2026).
• Salonish: The Dinnersation: Chef Valerie Erwin (see Pepper Pot above) collaborates with other masters of cuisine to create a dish that tells a story  (Tuesday, June 9, 2026).
• Salonish: Fresh Ink, New Voices: Time for the oldheads to make way for the next generation. Meet some of Philly’s rising artistic voices (Tuesday, June 2, 2026).

Music

• Root Song: Set at historic Bartram’s Garden, Root Song immerses participants in the live vocal chamber music of Roomful of Teeth as native storyteller Tchin’s weaves tales embodying the wisdom of the forest. Part of What Now: 2026’s opening weekend, the experience includes nature walks with renowned author Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass) and scientist and author Suzanne Simard (Finding the Mother Tree) for a weekend of concerts, talks and walks. Tickets are available for purchase (May 29-31, 2026).
• Joyful Abundance: Emerging Artists: As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia spotlights the next generation of composers and poets by inviting these emerging artists to create short choral works to make their world premiere during the Semiquincentennial celebration (Saturday, June 6, 2026).
• The Month of Moderns: Building a Contemporary Canon: Grammy Award-winning chamber choir, The Crossing, performs two world premiere programs across four days. The first features a new piece by Nicole Lizée, with the second showcasing music from Grammy-nominated artist Nathalie Joachim (June 6-7 & 27-28, 2026).
• Marian Anderson: A Voice of Beauty, Hope and Change: Through the fusion of jazz and classical music, contemporary composer Ruth Naomi Floyd reexamines the life of Marian Anderson through several new compositions (Tuesday, June 16, 2026).
• Long Live the Queen: A Her-Story of Drag: This collaborative experience featuring Andrea Clearfield and Cookie Diorio (along with guest performers from many of Philly’s LGBTQ+ choral groups) combines opera, drag, performance art and multimedia cantata to take listeners through a her-story of drag in the hour-long work (June 18-20, 2026).
• Sound of History: Black Music City at the Museum of the American Revolution: A collaboration between the Museum of the American Revolution, Black Music City, WXPN, WRTI and RECPhilly, this immersive music residency gives two Philadelphia-based artists the opportunity to dig into our collective revolutionary history to then create original compositions to premiere in June. (Friday, June 19, 2026).
• Blacktronika: Philadelphia Now and Then: Creator of “Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music,” producer-musician-professor King Britt has curated a weeklong series of discussions, workshops and performances featuring a stellar lineup (June 23-29, 2026).

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia   — Photo courtesy Torello Productions

Theater

• The Becoming: Through a theatrical installation, artist Shavon Norris invites four female-identifying Black Philadelphians to hold a dialogue about obstacles they face during transitions to adulthood and middle age. Norris plans to take those stories to curate an immersive and interactive experience for audience members (June 4-7, 2026).
• Kea and the Ark / Twist the Grid: Kea and the Ark recreates the tale of Kea Tawana, a woman who built a three-story, 86-foot-long ark on a vacant lot in the middle of Newark as an act of protest. The experience includes discussions and workshops (June 4 to July 1, 2026, select dates).
• Civic Theater Project: To: The Powers of Today, From: The Voices of the Future: Philadelphia Young Playwrights invites young people from across the city to learn how to become changemakers through the art of writing plays. After students interview prominent Philadelphians, they’ll create one-act plays and see them brought to life during live performances (June 5-7, 2026).
• Basil Biggs: Playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith digs into her family’s Civil War-era history in Gettysburg, Harrisburg, York and Philadelphia, and the present-day experience in these cities in this original play detailing the life of her prominent great, great grandfather, Basil Biggs (June 26-28, 2026).

Visual Art

• Iron and Paper: Unfolding Philadelphia’s Chinatown: Featuring a gigantic pop-up book, artist Colette Fu partnered with curator Dave Kyu to create an immersive art experience that examines what makes Philly’s Chinatown neighborhood special. Visitors can flip pages by turning a crank to learn more about Chinatown’s vibrant culture.
• Sail Through This to That: Artist Indira Allegra explores the lives of Ona Judge (Martha Washington’s enslaved seamstress) and late Philly fashion designer Rem’mie Fells through the creation of three schooner sails using historic sewing techniques and fabrics. After a community procession following Judge’s escape route, visitors can view the sails on exhibition (Thursday, May 28, 2026).
• From Our Forefathers: Climate Crisis through Museum Tours: Artist, curator and public historian Aislinn Pentecost-Farren takes tour-goers through Philadelphia’s legendary museum collections, exploring the history of the climate crisis through their art and artifacts (May 28 to June 28, 2026, select dates and locations).
• Freedom is: Complete the sentence through waves of color and light in this new permanent installation coming to Broad Street Love. Nigerian-American artist Odili Donald Odita’s triptych of see-through fabric banners flows from the ceiling, capturing light and creating a dazzling diversity of colors (Saturday, May 30, 2026).

Chinatown Pop-Up Book   — Photo by C. Fu

What’s the schedule, and where can I get tickets?

ArtPhilly’s inaugural festival spans five weeks, so there’s plenty of opportunity to participate in an incredible amount of art created and curated by Philadelphia’s diverse creative community.

Tickets are on sale to the public here.

So Much Art, So Little Time. Got Any Tips for Planning Out my ArtPhilly Schedule?

You betcha! Like any major festival, it’s always best to start with your favorite kinds of art and add those to your social calendar first. Then, once you’ve got your list of must-see events, see what other kinds of art you’d like to check out.

In addition to the curated list above, ArtPhilly’s official website has events listed by date and sortable by theme to help you plan, plus here’s a short list of a few festival highlights to help you get started.

For artwork aficionados

• Iron and Paper: Unfolding Philadelphia’s Chinatown takes you through an immersive Chinatown pop-up book, and
• Sail Through This to That weaves a connection between historic sewing techniques, the accomplishments of underrepresented voices and the aesthetic of modern sailboats.

For community participation

• Aaahhh! WTF Now?! invites you to a “solidarity sing-along” with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and
• Acknowledge Me: A Community Play gathers neighbors across generations to collaboratively create a play.

For environmentalists

• From Our Forefathers: Climate Crisis through Museum Tours explores several Philly museums, looking at the climate crisis through the lens of art and artifacts, and
• Root Song takes over Bartram’s Garden to immerse participants in live vocal chamber music and Indigenous storytelling. Bonus: nature walks and talks with renowned authors Robin Wall Kimmerer and Suzanne Simard (!).

For fans of film

• What Now? Love Now! celebrates all things love with film screenings, archival photography, interactive art-making opportunities and live storytelling, and
• Say Yes, Philly delivers pop-up dance and music events, paired with a documentary film about the Philly dance scene.

For foodies

• Giving Thanks features an outdoor community meal at historic Bartram’s Garden, along with music and dancing, and
• Pepper Pot combines history, music, poetry and food to tell the story of pepper pot soup.

For music lovers

• Sound of History: Black Music City meshes historic research and new music, and
• Joyful Abundance: Emerging Artists showcases the next generation of composers.

What’s the Best Way to Get to the Festival?

Since the ArtPhilly festival happens at locations and venues across the city, getting to each experience might require some preparation and planning ahead of time.

SEPTA travels to all corners of Philly with its trains, trolleys, regional rail line and buses. Those who prefer to drive can choose from numerous parking options, from street parking to paid lots. And Philly has always been a super walkable city.

Our comprehensive guide to navigating Philly makes it a breeze to figure out the best ways to get to all the ArtPhilly festival has to offer. For more information about ArtPhilly, including the full slate of programming, click the button below.