Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

When it comes to celebrating America’s birthday, nobody rocks it like Philadelphia, America’s birthplace, and 2012 will be no exception thanks to a calendar filled with festive happenings before, during and after the Fourth of July. This year’s revelry includes patriotic ceremonies; a hometown-style parade that features a salute to the U.S. military; the nation’s largest free outdoor Independence Day concert starring The Roots, Queen Latifah, Joe Jonas, Common and Daryl Hall; dazzling displays of pyrotechnics; historic storytelling; outdoor movies; and much more.

With the value-packed Philly Overnight® Hotel Package, visitors can join in America’s birthday blowout without blowing the

Dining is big business in Philadelphia, with visitors spending $1.4 billion on food and beverage in 2010, according to Tourism Economics. Those in search of healthy choices are thrilled with the region’s vast and ever-evolving dining scene. From upscale white tablecloth with inventive vegetable creations to raw foods and gluten-free dishes, Philly’s veg-friendly scene offers possibilities aplenty. Here are some spots worth checking out:

Destination Dining:

• Blackbird Pizzeria, an entirely vegan pizza shop experience right off of South Street, serves up can’t-resist favorites like the nacho pizza, with caramelized onions, jalapeños, avocado and dairy-free cheese, and sandwiches including the

On the heels of Jay-Z’s announcement of the Labor Day weekend Budweiser Made in America festival, Philadelphia is gearing up for another musical bash—Black Music Month. Founded more than 30 years ago by the city’s famed songwriter and record producer Kenny Gamble and on-air personality Dyana Williams, the month-long celebration features different genres of music, including jazz, hip-hop and rap—all representing the influence of black performers and producers. A highlight of the festivities: The Roots Picnic, which takes place for two full days for the first time in its five-year run.

Black Music’s Roots In Philly:
Soul, R&B and

When the Barnes Foundation opens to the public on Saturday, May 19, 2012 (after the collection’s relocation from nearby Merion, Pennsylvania), the already-compelling cultural district along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia will become the focus of the art world, and a new interactive website, visitphilly.com/withart, is launching on May 15 to help visitors curate their own plentiful art experiences.

To tell the whole story of the parkway and the city, a growing list of organizations have partnered for the city’s first-ever coordinated and sustained visual arts marketing campaign called With Art Philadelphia™. Led by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism

CAMPAIGN NAME: With Art Philadelphia™

TAGLINE: Curate Your Own Experience

CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW & CREATIVE CONCEPT: Philadelphia’s first-ever coordinated and sustained visual arts marketing initiative, With Art Philadelphia aims to position the city as a top arts destination and draw more visitors to see and explore the vast and varied arts scene.

The series of advertisements describes a variety of ideal art-focused days and nights in Philadelphia and encourages visitors to take advantage of the many art offerings available within close proximity of one another. Each ad poses the question: How do you curate the most artistic mile in the country?

Just in time for the opening of the Barnes Foundation’s Philadelphia campus on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the City of Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and 14 other civic and cultural partners today launched the city’s first-ever coordinated and sustained visual arts marketing campaign called With Art Philadelphia™. The two-year, $2 million (to date) campaign aims to leverage the energy of the Barnes Foundation opening in order to generate sustained attention on one of the world’s great art destinations, draw new and engaged audiences and spur overnight stays from visitors worldwide. With Art encourages visitors to curate

The days are longer, the weather’s warmer, and the Philadelphia dining scene has come into bloom this spring. Options range from creative bistro-inspired dishes to comfort food eats to all sorts of new vegan options. The following are just a few of the latest good-eating additions to the city’s inspired food scene:

Talk-of-the Town Openings:

• Matt Levin’s “diner-inspired” Square Peg upgrades the staples of Americana with his quirky, fun-loving sensibility, and the result is inimitable invention: white chocolate-habañero chicken wings, cheesesteak pot pie and carrot cake sundae with cream cheese ice cream. 929 Walnut Street, (215) 413-3600, squarepegrestaurant.com
• A

This is a Wawa Welcome America! press release.

Whether it is July 4, 1776 or July 4, 2012, Philadelphia is the only place to celebrate America’s birthday. People of all ages are invited to the City of Brotherly Love to make lifetime memories at Wawa Welcome America! -- the nation’s largest, free 4th of July festival -- from June 25 to July 4, 2012. With 10 patriotic days packed with free, family fun, Philadelphia rolls out the “red, white and blue” carpet to area natives and visitors from the Greater Philadelphia region and across the nation.
A detailed event schedule

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) has welcomed Paula Butler as its new vice president of communications. In this role, Butler is responsible for development of GPTMC’s communication strategy and leading a team of communications professionals to promote Philadelphia as a leisure destination and to enhance Greater Philadelphia’s brand reputation. In addition to the day-to-day communications function, Butler will lead the team in media relations, content development and social media to keep Philadelphia in the news and top-of-mind.

A native of the Philadelphia region, Butler was GPTMC’s first vice president of communications in the organization’s early years, from 1999-2006,

The Calendar of Events is organized as follows:

May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012
January 2013
February 2013
March 2013
April 2013
Ongoing Activities

MAY 2012

Through May 1, 2012
THE PHILADELPHIA ANTIQUES SHOW. During this annual event, dealers from across the U.S. offer the finest examples of period furniture, folk and fine art, ceramics, porcelain, silver, jewelry and textiles at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. (610) 902-2109, philaantiques.com

Through May 6, 2012
VAN GOGH UP CLOSE. The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents some of the most daring and innovative works

A city reveals itself through its street food, and Philadelphia has always had a bountiful spread of on-the-fly options. Locals and visitors can taste food truck fare en masse at Night Market Philadelphia, scheduled for two Thursday evenings this season, May 24 in Northern Liberties and June 28 along Washington Avenue, or at Philadelphia’s second-annual Vendy Awards, in which the city’s best food trucks vie to be the best, this July. Of course, foodies can always taste the yummy creations the original way, on city streets. Local food trucks run the gamut from student grub in stainless steel

May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
November 2012

MAY 2012

May 6, 2012
BLUE CROSS BROAD STREET RUN. The largest and one of the fastest 10-mile runs in the nation goes from North Philadelphia down the length of Broad Street to The Navy Yard to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This year, all finishers will receive a medal. (215) 683-3594, broadstreetrun.com

May 12, 2012
QUAD COUNTY METRIC BIKE RIDE. Cyclists pedal at their own pace and ride up to 76 miles through four rustic Philadelphia-area counties. The two longer rides include an

In Philadelphia, the first weekend of June starts off the busy tourism season with four big draws in just three days. Visitors to Philadelphia can catch all the action by booking the Philly Overnight® Hotel Package on visitphilly.com/hotels. The package comes with two nights at one of more than 30 hotels and free hotel parking. Here are the big events happening for June’s premiere:

• Philly Beer Week – Brewers, crafters and beer lovers pour into Philadelphia for this fifth annual sudsy celebration. The “Opening Tap” event on Friday night signifies the beginning of the 10-day event, which continues with

El mes de la Herencia Hispana se celebra del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre, pero Filadelfia celebra a esta rica cultura todo el año con festivales gratuitos, exhibiciones de arte, eventos deportivos, espectáculos y mucho más. Echa un vistazo a algunos de los eventos Latinos que acontecerán en esta primavera y verano.

De Fiesta:

• Taller Puertorriqueño presenta Café Bajo las Estrellas, un evento artístico gratuito, en vivo y al aire libre que se llevara a cabo a partir de abril y hasta octubre. Café Bajo las Estrellas es parte del proyecto Knight Fundation Art Challenge y presenta

The hub of Latino culture and life in Philadelphia, El Centro de Oro is home to several international non-profit organizations, many third- and fourth-generation family-owned businesses and residents descending from almost every Latino country across the globe. Visitors to this lively enclave—just a short cab ride from Center City Philadelphia—can feast on authentic Latin/Caribbean dishes at Isla Verde, get inspired by the work of Puerto Rican artists at Taller Puertorriqueño or feel their way through a flamenco dance lesson at Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas. Here are some suggestions for those who want to get a taste of the Latin flavor in

Situated amidst richly fertile farmland and home to innovative urban growing projects, Philadelphia is a market-goer’s dream. The open-air stalls dotting the city and countryside—from the sleek urban gathering place known as The Piazza at Schmidts to the gingham-clothed tables of the Phoenixville Market—collectively connect consumers to freshly grown and produced food every day of the week. With many now accepting electronic payments, Philly’s growing roster of markets has made eating fresh, local food a way of life for its residents. Here are just a few places to find seasonal goodies and support area farms:

Year-Round Markets:

• The only

Los hisoanohablantes de visita en Filadelfia pueden sentirse realmente bienvenidos en muchas de las atracciones turísticas de la región gracias a la abundancia de personal docente bilingüe, de guías de audio traducidas y de material escrito multilingüe. Cada año, más de un millón de los visitantes nacionales a la Zona Metropolitana de Filadelfia (Greater Philadelphia) es de origen hispano. Debido a esta afluencia, los puntos históricos y culturales más destacados de la región están ocupados haciendo los arreglos para que aquellos visitantes que hablan español no se pierdan de nada.

Interpretación histórica:

• El mejor sitio para comenzar una visita

For those visitors who like to stray off the beaten path, Philadelphia is bursting with attractions that pay homage to the unusual. The region boasts a slew of delightfully quirky spots, including a bench that seems to contradict the laws of sound, the country’s largest bug museum, an anatomical model made of a human nervous system and more. Here’s a look at some of the Philadelphia-area attractions that make the region just a little delightfully weird:

Collections Of A Natural Kind:

• There’s a reason an anatomical model outside the bookstore at Drexel University College of Medicine’s East Falls campus