Low-cost Options for Arts & Culture in Philadelphia

The grad student’s guide to Philly culture on a budget:
Tips from a native

Check out the Arts at Penn website to find what’s happening in arts and culture at Penn today and throughout the semester. Many campus offerings are free or discounted with your PennCard.

NEW!: Check out Gophila’s wonderful suggestions for all the free things to do in Philly! The list includes everything from the Liberty Bell to the City Hall tower to historical buildings, even graveyards. Under Itineraries, scroll all the way down and select “It’s Free!” Your stipend might not pay much, but you can’t say there’s nothing you can afford!

One of the best places in town for performing arts of all kinds -- and I do mean all, from classical chamber music to the Drummers of Japan -- is right here on campus! PennPresents offers an amazingly varied program of theater, music, dance and more. Student rush tickets are available on a limited basis and the GSC offers several groups of tickets each semester at highly reduced rates.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia currently has a subscription package with tickets as little as $5 each for full view and $2.50 each for partial view! This is for the amphitheater side seats, but actually, the amphitheater has the best acoustics in the house and the Academy of Music isn’t actually so big that you can’t see. You can always bring opera glasses. This is cheaper than a movie, so why not try it?

The Pennsylvania Ballet has a subscription series for students on Thursday nights and Saturday matinees where amphitheater seats are only $14.75 each, still a bargain. And when you subscribe to the ballet, you get the chance to buy Nutcracker tickets earlier than the non-subscribers. Besides, you’ll be visiting the historic Academy of Music, the oldest opera house in the United States.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, once the star of Walt Disney’s Fantasia under the leadership of the legendary Leopold Stokowski, has now settled into its new and long awaited home at the Kimmel Center. Even though the prices have gone up a bit, you can still get affordable tickets as a student. There is a Student Rush, Community Rush, Philadelphia Student Arts Sampler and more at the box office. Also, don’t be fooled by the massive Kimmel Center website, you can buy tickets direct from the Orchestra through the Student Understudy Program and save big time.

Great classical music can be even cheaper at the Curtis Institute of Music. This is one of the best music conservatories in the world and offers opera, symphony and chamber music performances. The student recital series is free and open to the public, as is the family concert series.

The wonderful Philadelphia Museum of Art is “pay what you wish” all day on Sundays. If you haven’t checked out the fabulous collections of French Impressionism, Early American furniture or the Pennsylvania Dutch sections, you’ve got no excuse!

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts houses the oldest art museum in the country and the student admission is only $4! Specializing in American Art, the museum features works by Eakins, Wyeth and Casset.

The University City Arts League, at 4226 Spruce Street, has something for everyone: stimulating and affordable classes and workshops for people of all ages; exhibits featuring emerging and established local artists; and special events -- field trips, concerts, summer camp, and the annual auction.

If you’re looking for something else, you should also check the PhillyWeekly, a free newspaper you can pick up all over the city & and the GSC on Wednesdays. Not only does it have the best apartment and real estate listings in the city, it’s also the place to get information on all the hottest cultural attractions in the city, especially the “fringe” stuff.

Presenting cutting-edge music, dance, cabaret, performance art, theater and more, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival runs from late August to mid-September each year in various venues mostly in Olde City. Students get $2 off each ticket with ID and there are also on-line specials. If you look for events by date, you’ll see that some are free!

And when you’re desperate to get away from the dissertation and have a decent bite out after the opera, I recommend you invest in a small book called 18 and Under: The Guide to Reasonable Dining and Entertainment in Philadelphia by Marc Kravitz. You can pick this up at any bookstore in Philly for about $9.95 and it’s really worth it. For a city with so many world-class restaurants that even New Yorkers have been known to make trips here for the food, it can be difficult for those of us on a less than average salary to find good eats. This book will help!

Don’t forget all the US History you learned about in grade school – most of the attractions in the historic district are free, like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. (Even though they’re free, you still need a timed ticket.) Go to the Visitors Center at 6th & Market! There’s an exhibit about the area and lots of information. Also, there are some Landmark Houses you can visit for $2-3 such as the Powell House and the Physik House downtown. Also check out the brand-new National Constitution Center, although at $6 it’s more expensive than the other suggestions.

This is only a brief list of all there is to do in the wonderful City of Brotherly Love. For more ideas – some cheap, some not – browse the site at http://www.gophila.com.