Visit Philadelphia Launches Philly Arts Event Finder
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 16, 2026 — Today, Visit Philadelphia launched the Philly Arts Event Finder, a free, searchable tool on visitphilly.com that brings together arts events from more than 180 venues and organizations across Greater Philadelphia. From live music and theater to exhibitions, comedy, dance, film and festivals, the new tool gives residents and visitors one place to explore what’s happening across the region’s arts scene.
The Philly Arts Event Finder is the first initiative to emerge from qualitative research commissioned by Visit Philadelphia in 2025 on the needs and challenges facing the city’s arts and culture sector. Led by Caralyn Spector of the Philly Leadership Lab and Frank Luzi of Luzi Media, with support from cultural curator James Claiborne, the research included interviews and roundtable discussions with more than 50 independent artists and creative entrepreneurs. The findings pointed to a need to make arts programming across disciplines easier to discover, leading Visit Philadelphia to develop a centralized resource.
“Philadelphia has an incredible arts scene, but discovering everything that’s happening can take some work,” said Dan Wisniewski, vice president of web at Visit Philadelphia. “We built the Philly Arts Event Finder to make discovery easier. Whether you have a free night, are looking for something to do with your kids or simply want to try something new, the Arts Event Finder gives you one place to start. And along the way, you might discover an artist, venue or experience you didn’t know about before.”
Visit Philadelphia partnered with Philadelphia-based tech company OmbuLabs.ai to develop the tool, which uses AI-powered technology to gather and organize event information from across the region. Visit Philadelphia staff members lend necessary human oversight by inputting events that can’t be gathered by AI, editing event information and replying to feedback from arts organizations. Users can browse with traditional filters or use natural-language search to describe what they’re looking for in their own words.
The Philly Arts Event Finder brings together programming from across Greater Philadelphia’s arts community, from galleries and community organizations to museums, theaters, music venues, universities and festivals. That range gives audiences more opportunities to find artists, venues and experiences beyond those they already know.
“The Philly Arts Event Finder is a wonderful addition to the growing ecosystem of resources supporting Philadelphia’s arts and culture community,” said Valerie Gay, chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia. “We know there is no single solution to increasing access, visibility and participation in the arts. It takes all of us working together to make sure people can find and experience the extraordinary creativity that exists throughout our city. This new resource helps make those connections easier, giving residents and visitors another way to discover Philadelphia’s artists, organizations, neighborhoods and cultural experiences.”
The Philly Arts Event Finder launches as a pilot and will evolve based on how people use it and feedback from the arts community. Visit Philadelphia will use the pilot to identify gaps in the organizations and events represented, evaluate how people navigate the tool and make improvements over time.
The Arts Event Finder builds on Visit Philadelphia’s efforts to help more people discover and access the region’s arts and culture. In 2024, Visit Philadelphia partnered with the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation and Theatre Development Fund to launch TKTS Philadelphia, making performing arts more affordable and introducing theater to wider audiences through discounted tickets at the Independence Visitor Center.
Find your next Philly arts experience at visitphilly.com/artsfinder.
About Visit Philadelphia:
Visit Philadelphia® is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy. On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website, visitphilly.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages.
Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the site an effective trip-planning tool. Visitors can also find loads of inspiration on Visit Philly’s social media channels.
Note to Editors: For high-resolution photos and high-definition B-roll of Greater Philadelphia, visit the Photos & Video section of visitphilly.com/mediacenter.
Visit Philadelphia’s work is supported by multiple funding partners, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. VisitPA.com.
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