Right this way, folks.
Hidden City Festival 2013 sites too spread out to cover in one day? Pish posh! Provided you have the wheels, you can hit all nine festival sites in a single day—we tested. While we strongly encourage immersing oneself at each festival site—observing the installations, exploring the site, interacting with the artists—the curious exploratory soul can indeed visit each site in one fell swoop, with time to Instagram to boot. (Don’t forget that #hiddencityfestival tag.)
Starting in Center City and working clockwise around Philadelphia, you can hit the Athenaeum, John Grass, Shivtei Yeshuron, Fort Mifflin, Hawthorne Hall, Kelly Natatorium, Germantown Town Hall, Historical Society of Frankford, and Globe Dye Works on less than a gas tank, and all on a single $20 day pass ($15 if you’re a Hidden City member). Of course for $40, you can space that out over the course of an entire weekend, making the same route much more leisurely. Or, best of all (and best bargain of all), for $70, an all-festival pass gains you access to each site for the duration of the festival: the full month of June.
“But what if I don’t have a car,” one might ask. Well, one, we answer, “no car, no problem!”
Or perhaps this way.
Again, with a single day pass, one can access five sites within walking distance of the Market-Frankford El. At a less than 10 minute walk from 40th Street Station (which includes a saunter through Saunders Park), Hawthorne Hall is an excellent starting point. (It’s worth noting that the Kelly Natatorium is but a 15 minute walk down Spring Garden Street across the river, so starting there and walking to Hawthorne gains you a bonus sixth site.) From Hawthorne Hall, walk back to the El and ride on down to 5th Street. The Athenaeum is a pleasant walk across Independence Square to 6th Street on Washington Square, which is then a short walk to John Grass on North 2nd Street. Hopping back on the El at 2nd, it’s a 15 minute ride to Margaret-Orthodox Station in Frankford. From here, the Historical Society and Globe Dye are each a short walk away. Piece o’ cake, all for the price of an Independence Day Pass.
But of course, these are only recommendations. Travel as you please, go your own way, and please enjoy the sites. Purchase your passes HERE.