A festival of music, art & yoga unfurls aboard the Gazela

AHOY, ARTS lovers. The tall ship Gazela is sounding its siren call.

This week marks the first Mercantile Extravaganza aboard the Gazela, a 177-foot long, 110-year-old former Portuguese fishing vessel. The festival - 70 Rupees to Paradise Road - runs until Saturday and features concerts, yoga, an art gallery and Naughty Nautical Nite, featuring pirates, mermaids and Madonna covers. It's all designed to bring attention to the Gazela.

"It's one of Philadelphia's best- kept secrets," said Patrick Flynn, superintendent of ships for the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild.

To curate the festival, Flynn turned to volunteer Becky Goldschmidt, who owns the Random Tea Room in Northern Liberties.

Goldschmidt added nightly concerts by the likes of Birdie Busch (Wednesday), instructions on how to make a bog by man-about-town Lord Whimsy (Thursday) and a daylong Craft of Craft market (Wednesday) that includes vendors and local cultural organizations hawking their goods.

Then there's the Naughty Nautical Nite on Thursday and Friday. Re-creating their long-running NYC cabaret, Dame Darcy and Jessica Delfino (who matriculated in Philadelphia) perform burlesque, comedy and sea shanties.

The art gallery is still the anchor of the festival; each day has time allotted when people can board to see the art for free. The gallery is located in the hold (think: basement) of the Gazela. "There are these massive expanses of really old and character-filled wooden walls," Goldschmidt said. Each of the artists, most of whom are from Philly, will show two pieces: One will be for sale, the other will be raffled on Friday.

The theme of the show is "How you got here."

"I'm the type of person who wonders how things happen and how things come to be," Goldschmidt said. "That's more important than the type of job you have or the numbers you have in your bank account. It's what you do and how you do it, the effort to get where you are is what's important. We're all wondering how to get there."

Most of the artists are local, so the show has a decidedly Philly feel. "It's what's around us," Goldschmidt said. "It's what makes Philly Philly."

Gazela, Penn's Landing, 211 S. Columbus Blvd., through Saturday, $5-$25, gazelasummerfestival.org.