Philly arts fest planned for next year

This year, Philadelphia is dipping its toe into a citywide international arts festival with Philagrafika 2010. Next year, the city will dive deeper. The Kimmel Center has announced the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts for April 2011.

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Organizers have not yet announced the performances scheduled for the month-long festival beginning in April of next year. They have said, however, that the Philadelphia Orchestra will perform with the Pennsylvania Ballet. The two entities have never shared a stage, and will present the French ballet Pulcinella.

Kimmel Center president Anne Ewers says more 100 local arts organizations will participate, many collaborating with international guests.

What's unique about this, it is centered on arts organizations that are here – spotlighting the great art here – and tying it to the international things we bring into the city regularly, now as a focused theme and a focused festival.

The festival will be heavy on performance but will include the visual and even the culinary arts. Some of the funding comes from a 10 million dollar gift by Lee Annenberg. It was one of the last large gifts the philanthropist gave before she died last year.