This June, across center city Philadelphia, the performing arts festival known as Trade School will return. A one-of-a-kind collaboration between The Philadelphia Thing and Detroit’s A Host Of People, the festival will feature 10 different productions/works-in-progress — with the performing groups representing their cities in equal measure, five apiece.

Billed as “A City-to-City Exchange Platform,” Trade School is the signature program of The Philadelphia Thing, an “exchange festival” celebrating the work of Philadelphia performing artists, as well as creating connections with artist peers across the country. This event connects artists and audiences in each city, exploring how creators in each city make an artist's life for themselves. Trade School features fully-produced performances, work-in-progress showings, artist-driven conversations, and a hosted program for visiting performing arts curators from across the country.

The festival — which features some of both cities’ best-regarded performance groups, like Team Sunshine and Propelled Animals — is host to much-needed conversations among and between artists and members of the field about the mobility of work, the economics of independent art-making, and the specific strengths and assets that define art coming out of Philadelphia.

The full schedule, and tickets for it, just went on sale here. 

Transparency note: Trade School is a client of Philebrity’s side hustle, the branding & comms boutique called Doin’ Great.