Paris in Philadelphia

So this Sunday marked the end of the Philadelphia International Festival of Arts. It was a huge festival with tons of stuff going on around the city. Of course, I was only interested in stuff that was free. And even then, I pretty much only made it to a couple of things. But they were good. Oh so good.

I actually worked the opening gala for PIFA. At $750 a plate you can imagine what kind of people were at this event. The Philly elite. After dinner the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts (yes there is one) performed. Using sandbags as counterweights they scaled the facade of Kimmel's Verizon Hall and did neato things while swinging above the ritzy people in the lobby. That night was also the premiere of the Eiffel Tower light show in the Kimmel Center Lobby. I've seen it thrice at this point. It's a nice little show. Much different that I had expected. A bit more abstract. Last Saturday evening we (really the beau) led the campaign to actually lie down underneath the tower and watch the show from inside. It was a beautiful perspective, if not totally overwhelming at times.

The tower will remain in the Kimmel Center Lobby for some more weeks and I believe they will still be doing the light show Thurs-Sat evenings. Go see it for yourself.

And last Saturday was the street fair. I really love when streets get shut down. Not when I'm driving though. Or when there are so many people roaming around you want to start flailing your arms just to clear some air. Broad Street was so lovely on Saturday, minus the people, minus the traffic, minus the overpriced vendors. There were patches of grass, benches, street performers, fountains, live music...it was nice. There was even a Ferris Wheel with a longer line that the porta-potties. The thing that everyone was waiting for, of course, was the aerial performance promised. La Compagnie Trans Express would be putting on a show a mere 100ft above our heads just outside of the Kimmel Center. But, rather than attempt to convey how beautifully whimsical it was YOU CAN WATCH MY VIDEOS!!! Most of these were taken on my blackberry. Not too bad for a smartphone.

So this is one of the performers sent to entertain us while they waited for the sun to finish setting.

And the performance begins! In the middle of that net thing there was a liberty bell that this one dude just sat there ringing the whole time.

And more video!

Keep in mind that this whole thing was happening way up in the air. From our vantage point we didn't quite get the full effect of seeing just how high up they were. 

The best thing about this whole performance? We didn't have to pay a single penny for it. HOOAH!

All in all, a lovely day. The weather was just gorgeous, the price was right, and the company I kept was pleasant as well. If you missed it, I'm terribly sorry. At least with the power of smartphones and youtube you can see what you missed!