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The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts lineup is made even richer by its many free events

Although some of PIFA's events are pricey (last night's opening gala tix were $750 - and you had to rent a tux) there are many free events during the monthlong festival. Here are some that are so good we'd be willing to pay for them. But you don't have to.

The Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble performs under the direction of Anthony Tidd at 1 p.m. May 1, Kimmel Center Plaza.
The Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble performs under the direction of Anthony Tidd at 1 p.m. May 1, Kimmel Center Plaza.Read more

Although some of PIFA's events are pricey (last night's opening gala tix were $750 - and you had to rent a tux) there are many free events during the monthlong festival. Here are some that are so good we'd be willing to pay for them. But you don't have to.

MUSIC

Happy hour jazz concerts in the Kimmel Center Plaza, 5 p.m. Tuesdays. You can buy food and drinks at the PECO bar. (Tuesday, 4/19, 4/26)

Late night entertainment by local bands, DJs and other performers at the Kimmel Center Plaza, 10 p.m.-midnight Wednesday through Saturday. Late night bar menu available. (4/13-4/29)

Lunchtime tunes: Students and pros play the piano from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the Kimmel Center Plaza. (4/11-4/28)

WXPN Wednesday night performances: Live music and an imaginative DJ set, 5-7 p.m. and 10 p.m.-midnight Wednesdays at the Kimmel Center Plaza. (4/13, 4/20, 4/27)

WXPN noon concerts offer the great music you love on the radio live from the Kimmel Center Plaza at noon on Fridays. (4/8, 4/15, 4/22, 4/29)

Gospel music from the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church Choir, 6 p.m. April 15, Kimmel Center Plaza.

Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble, middle school through 10th-grade students, under the direction of Anthony Tidd, show their chops, 1 p.m. May 1, Kimmel Center Plaza.

Puentes/Bridges: Musicians from North Philadelphia collaborate with the Philadelphia Orchestra for an outdoor concert from 8 p.m. April 29 at Taller Puertorriqueno, 2557 N. 5th St.

Settlement Music School's 103rd Anniversary Annual Concert, students of all ages perform, 7 p.m. April 19, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. Reservations required, 215-546-7432.

A Celebration of Music, Sunday Afternoon Concert, a wind trio from Curtis Institute of Music plays French composers to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Philadelphia Chamber Concert Society, 2 p.m. April 17, Artists' House Gallery, 57 N. 2nd St.

Chamber Series Part II: Wind Expressions, solo works and chamber ensemble arrangements and compositions by Allen Gardner Jr., inspired by ragtime and French composers of the 1920s, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Marian Anderson Music Center, Cheyney University.

FILM

"Fantomas," three episodes of this French silent film crime series, circa 1914, will be screened at the Philadelphia City Institute Library, 1905 Locust St., 2 and 4 p.m. Wednesday, 20, 27.

Precious Places Community History Project: 2010-2011, presented by Scribe Video Center and Art-Reach, this program includes a documentary about jazz pioneer James Reese Europe and eight community-made videos about the history of Philadelphia-area neighborhoods. (Spanish translation available.) 6 and 9 p.m. Monday, Innovation Studio at the Kimmel Center. (Reservations required, 215-545-7432)

DANCE

"The Perfect Flower: A Physical Meditation on Beauty and Solitude," by San Francisco based environmental dance troupe Capacitor, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. April 25, Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

THEATER

PIFA New Play Festival: Local playwrights compete by "baking" a play from the same ingredients. The Philadelphia Dramatists Center collaborates in this series of staged readings of the new plays. 6 p.m. April 20 and April 22 in the Rendell Room of the Kimmel Center and 6 p.m. April 21 and April 23 at Plays & Players Third Floor Skinner Studio, 1714 Delancey Place.

Hot Club of Philadelphia and PNC Grow Up Great collaborate with a musical telling of the story of Django Reinhardt and the beginnings of Gypsy Jazz, 11 a.m. April 16, Kimmel Center Plaza.

Paris Wheels and Ready Maids: This modern theater event includes puppets, dance, and storytelling to describe Paris and the avant-garde, 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. April 21-23, Hamilton Garden, Kimmel Center.

La Joie de Vivre, a new musical by Jann Ellis-Scruggs about African-American artists who left Harlem for Paris a century ago, 3 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. April 19-20, Dudley Theatre, Cheyney University.

FAMILY

Bilingual storytime, readings of popular French stories for children, followed by a reception with French sweets, 11 a.m. Thursday, Philadelphia City Institute Library, 1905 Locust St.

Kids Story Hour, with readings from Bonsour Lunne and Madeline, 6 p.m. April 15, Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave.

Calder Circus Creature: Kids make a creature inspired by "Calder Circus," the miniature circus that Philadelphia artist Alexander Calder made from wire, wood, cork and cloth. 6 p.m. April 22, Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave. (Mom and dad might want to check out the jazz program "Seine-sous Strings," at the same time, $10.)

Easter Egg Hunt, for children under 10 at the Kimmel Center Plaza, 11 a.m. Easter Sunday April 24.

Family programming, including origami classes, concerts, an Easter Egg Hunt, in the Kimmel Center Plaza, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through May 1.

FEED YOUR BRAIN

French in 10 minutes, learn key words and phrases from Alliance Française teachers, at 5 weeknights at the Kimmel Center Plaza. (4/11-28)

Beyond Romanticism: The art, commerce, and modernity of Lucile, a lecture on the life of Lucile, a/k/a Lady Duff Gordon, a French artist and entrepreneur who influenced fashion in the 1910s, 7 p.m. April 14, Nesbitt Hall at Drexel University.

Alexei Borovik, former principal dancer of the Pennsylvania Ballet, presents a lecture-demonstration about the Ballets Russes in Paris, noon April 20, Philadelphia City Institute Library, 1905 Locust St.

A Tale of Two Cities, art historian Daniel Miller's take on how Berlin and Paris influenced Modernism, 2 p.m. Sunday, Artists' House Gallery, 57 N. 2nd St.

Puppets: The Original Avatars, a scholarly discussion of the history of puppetry will be enlivened by a representative from the Jim Henson Foundation and by Robert Smythe, a local puppeteer. 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Houston Hall at the University of Pennsylvania.

ETC.

Free wine tastings, 5-7 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2-4 p.m. Sundays (except Easter) through May 1, at the Kimmel Center Commonwealth Plaza Wine Kiosk.

Eiffel Tower Light Show, 6,000 bulbs illuminate the 81-foot tower with accompanying music, Kimmel Center Plaza, 7 and 10 nightly through May 1.

Maudits Sonnants/The Celestial Carillon: Bell-ringing performers from La Compagnie Transe are lifted high above Broad Street, forming a human music-making mobile during the PIFA Street Fair, 7 p.m. April 30, Broad and Spruce streets.