At Penn Live Arts, the return of cherry blossoms to our Outdoor Plaza can mean only one thing: the steady approach of our Philadelphia Children’s Festival, entering its 37th year this May 20th through 23rd.
Like all large public gatherings, the Children’s Festival was on extended hiatus throughout the pandemic and had a soft return in 2022. This year, it will look more the way our audiences remember it, with live performances of dance, theatre and music for pre-K to middle-school students. Read more...
As many of us navigated the virtual and hybrid back-to-school activities of this week, our friends at Opera Philadelphia announced that T-VOCE will rehearse virtually this fall, providing teens across the city with the chance to safely uplift their minds, bodies and hearts with song. T-VOCE, pronounced "tee-VO-chay" and short for Teen Voices of the City Ensemble, is a free, inclusive choir that uses music to build musicianship and vocal skills, while providing teens ages 13-19 an outlet for self-expression and community. As one of our past Philadelphia Children’s Festival partners, Annenberg Center school and family audiences are likely to recall performances by T-VOCE at the 2016, 2017 and 2018 festivals, including Hip H’opera, a work that combines classical music with hip-hop. Thanks to ArtSmart, Esperanza Dance Ensemble, Fortress Arts Academy, Opera Philadelphia, Play On Philly and Singing City, Philadelphia teens can enjoy choir rehearsals, voice lessons and other workshops in writing, spoken word and more this fall. If you know a local teen or someone that does, spread the word!
From our 2019 Children's Festival Photo by Mark Garvin
Even though we can’t be together for our Philadelphia Children’s Festival’s 35th birthday, we’re still celebrating from home with some of the best virtual content from this year’s performers. We look forward to seeing you at the 2021 Children’s Festival. Please enjoy! Read more...
If you’ve been to the Philadelphia Children’s Festival in recent years, you know the Spot Gourmet Burgers food cart, which serves up the best burgers, fries and hot dogs, hands-down. Spot Burgers is owned by Josh Kim, and his food cart is one of the most well-loved additions to the Festival. In fact, Spot (and Kim’s companion hot dog cart, Winky’s) quickly became the Annenberg Center’s official, exclusive food vendor of the Festival. While he opened an actual brick-and-mortar restaurant on Girard Avenue in 2016, Kim still continues going out to events and festivals because he loves the human and community connection that has always been part of his work. Read more...
This week, listen to one of our most lively playlists yet. Every year, the excitement of our Children’s Festival goes beyond our theatres with a fun mix of popular, kid-friendly songs playing in our lobby and outdoor plaza all day. From “Can’t Stop the Feeling” to “I’m a Believer,” get on your feet and dance to some of the best songs you would have heard at this week’s event.
PlazaMania, the lively outdoor component of the Children’s Festival, allows kids to explore their own creativity with a feast of hands-on activities provided by arts partners from across Philadelphia. We invite you to visit them in their own online spaces, via the following list, where you’ll find a whole host of cool activities to keep the whole family busy. So take in a show, then fire up the playlist and have fun creating your own PlazaMania! Read more...
If you’ve ever been to our annual, three-day Philadelphia Children’s Festival, you might have seen a delightful performance by Enchantment Theatre Company, who we have welcomed at our festival for numerous seasons. In 2017, Enchantment put on three sold-out performances of its charming Peter Rabbit™ Tales. Now, as an extension of its Enchantment Everywhere outreach initiative, the festival favorite has made the full-length video of Peter Rabbit™ Tales available for streaming on YouTube (see below). Read more...
Plan a “play date” with the Trusty Sidekick Theater Company! One of the highlights of our 2019 Children’s Festival was the Company’s marvelously inventive Shadow Play. Stream the full video (for free) of the playful adventures of Flash and his exciting quest to reunite with his shadow in this multimedia performance for children (ages 2-5) and their adults. As an added bonus, learn how to make shadow puppets at home with Trusty Sidekick’s Artistic Director Drew Petersen.
