What's New in Baltimore - September/October 2008

Contact: Moneé Cottman at 410-659-7301/mcottman@baltimore.org

Baltimore is an ever-evolving destination. In fact, there is more growth and change taking place right now in Baltimore than at any other time since the world-famous Inner Harbor began welcoming visitors over 25 years ago. With nationally recognized restaurants, museums and attractions, Baltimore is a must-see destination.

STORY STARTERS:

1. Art-Full Travel

With over 20 museums and galleries located in the heart of Baltimore, arts and culture lovers might have to add an extra day to their trip. In October, Free Fall Baltimore allows visitors to experience free performances in music dance and theater; museum exhibitions; lectures; classes; workshops and more throughout Baltimore! Plus, visitors can experience new exhibits at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, American Visionary Art Museum and Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.

2. Festi-Fall

Fall in Baltimore means festivals, neighborhood excitement and lots of fun! The Baltimore Book Festival takes over historic Mount Vernon as it hosts national authors in four parks surrounding the Washington Monument. From the Fell's Point Fun Festival to Federal Hill's Street Beat Festival, visitors can enjoy live music, strolling entertainment, boutique shopping and more with Baltimore's Inner Harbor skyline as a backdrop.

3. Deal Driver

Stretch your vacation dollars with a new online program offering hotel, restaurant, shopping and attraction discounts. Regional visitors to www.baltimore.org can enter the location of their hometown and the Deal Driver will calculate the cost of gas to drive to the Visitor Center in downtown Baltimore. Deal Driver then provides exclusive offers for Baltimore attractions, restaurants, hotels, parking and shopping in a monetary value equal to the calculated gas cost to offset the expense of getting to Baltimore. Featured discounts include a complimentary dessert with a purchase of an entrée at a participating restaurant and buy one, get one free admission at popular attractions.

  

COMING SOON:

From a month long free arts celebration to new exhibits at world-class museums, here is a look at what's taking place in September and October 2008!

Baltimore Book Festival
September 26 - 28, 2008 | Mount Vernon (600 block of Charles Street)
The mid-Atlantic's premier celebration of the literary arts offers well-known authors, local bookstores, publishers, children's writers, storytellers, author signings, crafts, refreshments and entertainment. In 2008, the roster of 150+ author appearances includes Dr. Cornel West, Naomi Wolf, Walter Mosley, T.D. Jakes, Martin Yan, Iyanla Vanzant, Daniel Mark Epstein, Omar Tyree, Congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sanchez, Dr. Randal Pinkett, Farnoosh Torabi, Laura Schlitz, Ron Suskind, Hudson Talbott, Adam Roberts and many more! www.BaltimoreBookFestival.com

How People Make Things
September 27 - January 3, 2009 | Port Discovery Children's Museum
How People Make Things, inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes - molding, cutting, deforming and assembly. Many common manufactured products help tell the story of how people, ideas and technology transform raw materials into finished products. www.PortDiscovery.org

K'NEX: Building Thrill Rides
September 28 - January 4, 2009 | Maryland Science Center
The K'NEX: Building Thrill Rides exhibit offers hours of entertainment and exciting building fun for the entire family. www.MDSci.org

Street Beat Festival
September 28, 2008 | Federal Hill (S. Charles & Cross Streets)
Always the biggest festival of the year, 15 bands will play on three stages throughout the day, featuring an eclectic mix of music and an exciting headliner. Stroll along the tree-lined streets of historic Federal Hill, eat, drink, browse among the many booths in a celebration of city living. Free admission. www.HistoricFederalHill.org

Legally Blonde, The Musical
September 30 - October 12, 2008 | Hippodrome Theatre
The hilarious MGM film is Broadway's new smash hit musical, and now "Legally Blonde The Musical" is coming to Baltimore. "Legally Blonde" follows sorority star Elle Woods, an underestimated blonde who doesn't take "no" for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more "serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com

Free Fall Baltimore
October 1 - 31, 2008 | Citywide
Baltimore residents and visitors can enjoy the excitement of live music, dance, theater, museum exhibitions, classes, lectures and more, for free, in venues throughout Baltimore. In 2007, more than 85 arts organizations presented over 300 free events including performances, lectures, workshops and hands-on creative experiences. www.FreeFallBaltimore.com

Fell's Point Fun Festival
October 4 - 5, 2008 | 812 S. Ann Street
The Fell's Point Fun Festival showcases the nautical history, enduring charm and vibrant spirit of one of Baltimore's oldest downtown neighborhoods. Join locals and visitors alike as they peruse the flea market and crafts vendors, enjoy live music and entertainment, and patronize Fell's Point's eclectic collection of taverns, shops and merchants. Five stages featuring music, dancing, and entertainment and activities for children of all ages are set up throughout the neighborhood, and delicacies and libations from all over the world are available on every corner. Don't miss one of Baltimore's largest and most popular fall festivals! www.PreservationSociety.com

The Marriage of Art, Science & Philosophy
October 4, 2008 - September 6, 2009 | American Visionary Art Museum
The American Visionary Art Museum's 14th original mega art exhibition, the Marriage of Art, Science & Philosophy, is a wedding of playfulness, imagination, intuition and desire - partners common to creative invention and understanding. The exhibition's 50 visionary artists take a fresh look at the very notion of sound, color, number and scale in their pursuit of wonder. From fractal quilts to extolling the role sci-fi plays in inspiring real science, this is a nuptial dance fit for adults and children of all ages. www.avam.org

Lift Every Voice: Portraits of African American Musicians by Russ Moss
October 7, 2008 - January 25, 2009 | Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
This exhibition features black-and-white photographs of Baltimore's African American musicians. The selected photographs were originally created for "Sounds & Stories: The Musical Life of Maryland's African American Communities," an oral history project developed by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Moss's candid portraits present a visual legacy of their lives in music. www.AfricanAmericanCulture.org

Courage: The Vision to End Segregation, the Guts to Fight for It
October 11, 2008 - March 1, 2009 | Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
This groundbreaking new exhibit tells the story of ordinary people - people outside the traditional power structure, without wealth and often with little classroom education - and how they worked together to begin the process that ended legal segregation of the races in America's schools. www.AfricanAmericanCulture.org

Franz West, To Build a House You Start with the Roof: Work, 1972-2008
October 12, 2008 - January 4, 2009 | Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art presents the first major U.S. retrospective on Franz West (b. 1947), an Austrian artist of international stature whose singular vision has resulted in one of the most remarkable bodies of work produced since the 1960s. The exhibition includes more than 120 objects that reflect his innovations in sculpture, design, and works on paper - ranging from early interactive works from the 1970s to recent giant aluminum and epoxy objects that dramatize their surroundings with bold colors and oversize scale. www.ArtBMA.org

Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry
October 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009 | The Walters Art Museum
Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry will highlight more than 200 pieces from the Walters Art Museum. The exhibition will feature some of the Walters' greatest masterpieces as well as many hidden treasures on view for the first time. Exhibit highlights include a Tiffany & Co. iris corsage ornament decorated with 139 sapphires, diamonds and other gems, which was a grand prize winner at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle; a gold bracelet from the first century B.C. encrusted with precious stones and multi-colored enamel inlay discovered in a tomb in the Greek colony of Olbia (present-day Ukraine); and nineteenth-century Imperial, ceremonial Chinese headdress with designs of phoenixes, butterflies and peaches and crafted of gilded silver, kingfisher feathers, silk thread, pearls, rubies and glass beads. www.TheWalters.org

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
October 22 - November 30, 2008 | CENTERSTAGE
Written by Edward Albee | Directed by Ethan McSweeny
It's 2 a.m. and the party just won't end. When George and Martha invite newlyweds Nick and Honey for late-night cocktails, the older couple becomes the host and hostess from hell as games and gossip give way to private grievances and painful secrets. Albee's harrowing masterpiece is a wickedly funny and shamelessly in-your-face look at marital cold war turned hot. www.CenterStage.org

NEW IN BALTIMORE:

Out of the Box | Through December 7, 2008 | Geppi's Entertainment Museum
Get hands-on with pop culture! Take an up-close look at the characters that are popular today with toys that you can actually touch and play within the Special Edition gallery. The future of pop culture collecting is out of the box and in your hands at GEM! www.geppismuseum.com

Wonders of Water | Permanent Installation; opened January 2008 | Port Discovery Children's Museum
Wonders of Water is the first permanent exhibit to be on display at the museum since it opened in 1998. Wonders of Water allows children to explore and understand everything that water can provide for the human body, environment, and economy. The 1,500-square-foot exhibit allows children a chance to load objects into water using a crane in an attempt to see if the objects float or sink and why. The exhibit features interactive water experiences for children ages 2-10. Port Discovery Children's Museum provides experiences that ignite imagination, inspire learning and nurture growth through play. www.portdiscovery.org

4D Immersion Theater | Opened December 2007 | National Aquarium in Baltimore
On December 1, 2007, the National Aquarium in Baltimore unveiled a new 4D Immersion Theater allowing visitors to get even closer to the sights, sounds, and smells of the action. The theater combines high-definition drama with special sensory effects that will bring on-screen images to life. "The Polar Express 4D Experience" was the first movie. "Planet Earth" is currently being screened. www.aqua.org

NEW RESTAURANTS:

Diamond Tavern | August 2008
Diamond Tavern, located in the newly opened Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel, boasts new American cuisine amid a sophisticated yet comfortable setting. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant also hosts 20 high-definition televisions ideal for catching any exciting sporting event throughout the year. www.hilton.com

FIN | May 2008
Fin Steak & Seafood is Fell's Point's newest dining experience. The restaurant specializes in certified Angus beef and fresh seafood selections. Chef Cohen has embarked on a mission to incorporate his extensive fine dining resume' and passion for creative recipes. House specialty items include a European bistro cut steak, grilled calamari, and grilled strawberry shortcake. www.fin-restaurant.com

Meli | February 2008
Meli, a new European-style café, recently opened in historic Fell's Point. The café, which is attached to the Admiral Fell Inn, will provide a fully operational restaurant and late-night menu for its guests. As the newest addition to Kali's Restaurant Group, Meli provides a great alternative to the bar scene, allowing those dining to sit, relax, enjoy a pastry and talk with their friends. Visitors to the café will also have the chance to choose from a fresh market that includes honey, cheese and other specialty items. Guests staying at the Admiral Fell Inn will be able to enter Meli through the lobby of the hotel and charge their food directly to their room. www.kalismeli.com

Woodberry Kitchen | December 2007
Located in a historic 19th-century foundry, Woodberry Kitchen is a green restaurant that features the seasonal best from local growers and emphasizes organic meats and sustainable agriculture. Using recycled materials whenever possible, the restaurant is dedicated to eco-principles and supporting local growers while delivering outstanding menu selections. www.woodberrykitchen.com

NEW HOTELS:

Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel | August 2008
The brand-new Hilton Baltimore Convention Center hotel, located downtown within a baseball swing of the Baltimore Orioles' home at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, opened in August 2008. Guests staying at the 757-room hotel will enjoy picturesque views of the ballpark and 10 hospitality suites directly overlooking the hallowed ground, providing panoramic balcony views of the playing field. www.hilton.com

To request media trips to Baltimore, contact Moneé Cottman at mcottman@baltimore.org.

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