ArtPhilly Launches ‘What Now: 2026’ Festival Across Philadelphia

ArtPhilly Launches ‘What Now: 2026’ Festival Across Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s arts community is getting a major spotlight this summer with the launch of “What Now: 2026,” a new five-week festival organized by ArtPhilly that will run from May 27 through July 2 at venues across the city.

Created as part of the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary, the festival is designed to place artists at the center of the civic conversation. ArtPhilly Creative and Executive Director Bill Adair said the idea grew out of a belief that the city’s cultural scene deserved a larger stage.

“Philadelphia has an incredible bunch of talented artists and they’re doing super thoughtful work,” Adair said. “As part of the 250th, we wanted to make sure everyone knew.”

According to Adair, ArtPhilly was founded a little more than three years ago after organizers noticed major anniversary planning was heavily focused on sports and history. “If you don’t see it, you’ve got to make it,” he said.

The festival will span five districts — West Philadelphia, Kensington, Germantown, Old City and Avenue of the Arts — and include dance, theater, music, visual arts and film.1 Organizers say they have commissioned 34 original works for the inaugural run.

“We’ve raised millions of dollars,” Adair said. “And we have 34 commissions of original works that we’re presenting in five weeks.”

Each participating artist was asked to respond to a simple but expansive prompt tied to the nation’s milestone anniversary: “We’re here 250 years later. What now?”

Among the featured projects are BalletX’s “The Four Seasons Reimagined” at the Mann Center on June 4 and 5, Roomful of Teeth’s “Root Song: Listening to the Wisdom of Trees” at Bartram’s Garden from May 29 to 31, and “In Case of Fire, Speak,” a new work by Tommie-Waheed Evans inspired by Martha Graham’s American Document. The festival also includes Colette Fu’s “Iron and Paper: Unfolding Philadelphia’s Chinatown,” an immersive pop-up-book installation, and a one-night patriotic sing-along by The Bearded Ladies at the Wilma Theater.

ArtPhilly hopes this is only the beginning. “We’re gonna do this project again, every two years, and create a Philadelphia Biennial,” Adair said. “We think Philly deserves to be known for the amazing talent that we have here in arts and culture.”

For a city preparing to celebrate its place in American history, the message of the festival is clear: Philadelphia is not just looking back. It is asking what comes next.