Your guide to the week in arts and culture, June 1 – 7, 2018

With a marathon drag show, flying chandeliers, and even a concert among crypts, this is a big week for unusual performances — and much more. Here are my picks.

June 1 – 10: The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts returns with a global, multidisciplinary lineup of offbeat performances, including a brass band suspended from a flying chandelier, an adaptation of “Hamlet” with sheepherding, and a 24-hour retelling of American history through popular music.

June 1 – 10: Satisfy your thirst as venues across the city celebrate Philly Beer Week with special brews, food pairings, and panels — including one about the art and craft of beer label design.

June 1 – 3: The seventh annual Philly Latino Film Festival opens tonight with free short film screenings and a live performance, and it continues all weekend with documentaries and feature films. Topics range from the lives of DACA recipients to Puerto Rican towns recovering from Hurricane Maria to the African roots of Cuban culture.

June 2: The Divine Hand Ensemble, which prominently features the otherworldly theremin, brings a haunting concert to the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Tours, performances, and film screenings are planned in the cemetery all summer long.

June 2: Experienced and novice birders alike can help out at the Schuylkill Environmental Center’s Nesting Bird Census. Beginning birders will be paired up with experts who will teach them how to identify birds by sight and sound.

June 2 – 3: The Philly Art Book Fair at the 23rd Street Armory. There’s no charge to peruse books of photography and art, plus free artist lectures and book signings. One of my favorite photographers, Richard Renaldi, is giving a talk on Saturday.

 

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This article is part of a new effort recommending things to do in the Philly region. Tell us what you think.