Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

NEW HOPE
New Hope, Pennsylvania, the popular riverside artist colony recently named as one of the “Top 25 Art Destinations in the Country” by American Style Magazine, offers eclectic charm comfortably offset by casual sophistication. Peppered with bed & breakfasts, galleries, historical attractions, restaurants and nightlife along Main Street and beyond, New Hope is as enchanting now to the diverse crowds that peruse its streets—from bikers to the GLBT crowd—as it was to so many eminent figures of yesterday. Here are some of the many ways to spend a day or a weekend in town:

Things To Do:

• New

WEST CHESTER
Chester County’s seat of government is a tree-lined and welcoming city where a stately historic courthouse dominates the skyline; West Chester University students populate the shops, bars and noodle houses; and the popularity of the skateboarding culture (plus the presence of hometown celebrity prankster Bam Margera) draws enthusiasts from all over the country. Here are a few suggestions for spending time in West Chester:

Things To Do:

• Chester County Historical Society – An award-winning History Center, workshops and walking tours tell the American story from a local perspective, and the Cultural Center houses a performing arts venue

MEDIA
Self-designated as the first fair trade town in the country, Media is also the last suburban town in the nation to run a trolley through its downtown. Residents call Media “Everybody’s Hometown” because the town’s friendliness welcomes all visitors. Brick sidewalks and tree-shaded streets encourage walking to the centrally located shopping district. Here are some suggestions for a trip to the town:

Things To Do:

• The Media Theatre – Housed in an old vaudeville theater, The Media Theatre stages a full season of mainstream Broadway musicals, children’s programming and more. 104 E. State Street, (610) 891-0100, mediatheatre.org
• Pennsylvania

AMBLER
Residents describe Ambler as a town where even visitors feel a sense of place. It’s a “real town” where locals and out-of-towners join together to enjoy professional theater and independent film, to admire art displayed in the storefront of a refurbished Art Deco building and to partake in a movie and progressive dinner through three restaurants the first Thursday of each month. A look at how to spend a day or a weekend in Ambler:

Things To Do:

• Act II Playhouse – For more than a decade, the Act II Playhouse has put on award-winning shows in its

gophila.com and uwishunu.com are the go-to-sites for Philadelphia locals and visitors looking to get festive in Philadelphia and The Countryside® this holiday season. Beginning November 20, the official visitor site for Greater Philadelphia, gophila.com will offer loads of holiday content, including e-postcards, top five lists, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day parade details, the scoop on New Year’s Eve fireworks and more. Philly’s insider blog uwishunu.com will provide up-to-the minute coverage of holiday happenings as they come in, including special meals, events and hotel deals.

Here’s what holiday revelers will find at gophila.com:

• Holiday e-postcards: Five With Love, Philadelphia XOXO™

It’s free! It’s new! It’s all about me (Philadelphia)! The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) today proudly debuted the second edition of the Official Philly Brag Book, filled with just 200 of the countless facts about the region that make Philadelphians so darn proud. For this project, GPTMC teamed up with the City of Philadelphia and CBS 3/The CW Philly, which will broadcast some of the fun facts on CBS 3’s Talk Philly program and The CW Philly’s Eyewitness News This Morning. GPTMC will distribute the book to concierge staff and select visiting groups and insert it into Philadelphia

New Year’s Day is about celebrating, and there’s no better place to fete than at the Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade, a 110-year-old tradition in which 10,000 men and women dressed in colorfully lavish costumes twirl, sashay, pirouette and strut up one of the city’s main streets. An unforgettably wild ritual, the parade and subsequent performances are all family friendly, yet exciting enough to entertain everybody. While a carnival-like atmosphere welcomes anyone who decides to stop by at the last minute, a little advance preparation guarantees a clear view. Better still, spending the night in the city ensures an early start to

Throughout the Philadelphia region, art spills out of galleries and into the great outdoors. Many of the region’s galleries and museums are set amid colorful gardens, quiet woodlands or serene meadows that accentuate the art found on the walls. Here are a handful of galleries that celebrate beauty both inside and out:

• When there isn’t a festival, concert or film series in the 27-acre Sculpture Park at the Abington Art Center, visitors can claim a quiet bench under the Katasura trees to contemplate the 20 environmentally themed semi-permanent and temporary sculptures by artists such as Sylvia Benitez, Ursula von Rydingsvard

The Calendar of Events is organized as follows:

November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
Ongoing Activities

NOVEMBER 2009

Through November 1, 2009
HAUNTED POE. This theatrical work unites literature, history and theater with the haunted attraction genre during the 200^th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth. A 10,000-square-foot warehouse is transformed into an eerie maze of chambers featuring short vignettes of 11 of Poe’s pieces, including “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” (215) 627-2577, hauntedpoe.com

Through November

Philadelphia is committed to the environment, as evidenced by Mayor Michael Nutter’s appointment of a director of sustainability in 2008. The position develops, implements and oversees the city’s environmental policies and initiatives to deliver the mayor’s promise to make Philadelphia the greenest city in America. The new position is just one of the latest efforts that shows the city’s commitment to reducing the region’s environmental impact.

In another pioneering venture for the city, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office (GPFO) will launch the second year of its initiative to encourage more eco-friendly practices during film production. The 2009 theme, Greener S.E.T.S.

gophila.com/phillies and uwishunu.com are the go-to-sites for Philadelphia locals and visitors “phired” up to see the Phillies defend their World Series title against the New York Yankees. The official visitor site for Greater Philadelphia, gophila.com/phillies offers visitors and locals loads of Phillies-related content, including places to watch the game, the Citizens Bank Park lowdown, a photo slideshow, tips for fans from New York and more. Philly’s insider blog uwishunu.com, on the other hand, provides fans with up-to-the-minute coverage on Phillies happenings as they come in, including pep rallies, special promotions across town, relevant newspaper articles and photos and videos

Philly & New York: Big City Similarities & Differences:

• Both Philadelphia and New York are home to the most ionic symbols of freedom in the country. Philadelphia boasts the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, while New York cherishes Lady Liberty. Fittingly, the Philly/New York World Series match-up has been dubbed the Liberty Series.
• Philadelphians and New Yorkers like their bread. Philly folks are all about soft pretzels. In fact, many shops are now hawking p-shaped versions of the doughy delights. In New York, bagels rule.
• New Yorkers head to Broadway for a dose of theater, and Philadelphians hit Broad

WHAT: The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) is hosting a Phillies fan party in New York City during game one of the World Series—a match-up between Philadelphia and New York. The tourism office and Shorty’s, an authentic Philly cheesesteak restaurant/bar in Hell’s Kitchen (in Manhattan), are co-hosting a With Love, Philadelphia XOXO™ party for Phillies fans looking for home-field advantage in New York City.

Four hours before game time, the With Love World Series party begins with free Shorty-sized cheesesteaks for all fans in the restaurant until game time. As soon as the national anthem is sung, all attention

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing (GPTMC) today announced the launch of the With Love, Philadelphia XOXO™ Dining Guide, the newest component of the popular tourism campaign that gives hotel guests a pass to exclusive prix-fixe menus around the city. Now through December 30, 2009, visitors who book their stays on gophila.com/withlove receive upon hotel check-in a guide to the 26 restaurants offering three- and four-course meals for $20, $30 and $35 per person. Participants include some of the area’s best eateries, such as Audrey Claire, Lacroix at The Rittenhouse, Le Bec-Fin’s Le Bar Lyonnais, Positano Coast, The Prime Rib and

New On The Scene
Philadelphia’s dining scene continues to expand and diversify by the day. Here’s a look at some of the latest openings:

• What happens when a food writer falls in love with a chef? The result is a charming Bala Cynwyd bistro called Avril, serving French fare like wild mushrooms and sea scallops over savory pastry crust and braised rabbit with lavender and artichokes over polenta.
• With the success of his Queen Village gem-of-a-seafooder Little Fish, chef/owner Mike Stollenwerk has branched out into the much larger Fish in Center City. The menu carries on the culinary traditions of

Just in time for tons of fun events, exhibitions and holiday happenings this fall and winter, Philadelphia’s hotel industry is turning it up a notch with two stylish new hotels and hotel packages for travelers of all interests. A Starwood and a Kimpton add to the region’s modern and diverse hotel scene, and with valuable offers like the Play & Stay Hotel Package, the Diana: A Celebration Hotel Package and 80 others on gophila.com/withlove, there’s a great deal for every discerning hotel guest. Here are some current and upcoming hotel highlights:

Openings:

• Kimpton made its Philadelphia debut on

Barkley Hendricks’ fans coming to Philadelphia for the hometown art legend’s first major career retrospective, Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool, can plan their trip at gophila.com/philly360, where they’ll find exhibition details, a Barkley and Friends tour of Philadelphia, a photo slideshow, videos, hotel package offers and more. The exhibition is on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) through January 3.

Here’s a look at some of the cool features found on the Barkley Hendricks page of gophila.com/philly360:

• Exhibition Details: Runs down the who, what, when and where and gives exhibition highlights and

The following itinerary is available on gophila.com/barkleyhendricks.

LOCATION: Historic Philadelphia, Center City and North Philadelphia

TRANSPORTATION: On foot, by taxi or car

DURATION: Two nights and two days

Note: Locations picked by Barkley and friends are indicated as such. Other places are suggestions of the tourism office.

Philly’s flavors, faces, rhythms and spaces have always been on the cutting edge of cool. Need proof? Acclaimed artist and local son Barkley L. Hendricks is bringing his Birth of the Cool career retrospective home to his alma mater, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), through January 3, 2010—making this

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) recently launched phase two of Philly 360°™, a marketing campaign designed to expand the region’s visitor base by attracting a new group of African-American travelers who are young, affluent, technologically savvy and driven to a destination based on its contemporary cultural offerings, vibrant nightlife and overall buzz factor.

The fall phase of the project focuses on Philadelphia-born artist Barkley L. Hendricks’ Birth of the Cool retrospective at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) from October 17 to January 3 and shines a spotlight on the region’s thriving independent boutique scene. In

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) recently launched the newest component of its With Love, Philadelphia XOXO™ campaign, and it’s got heart: an online postcard generator enabling Philly locals, visitors and fans to send one of eight postcards to friends and family with a personalized message. Those who send a postcard from gophila.com/withlove are automatically entered to win a $100 Stephen Starr or Jose Garces restaurant giftcard. In the first weekend alone, more than 1,000 people penned a message—sending out postcards featuring the Philly Phanatic, Philadelphia skyline, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and more.

Not only can visitors to gophila.com/withlove