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  Wanamaker organ, Photo by Eric Miller

Philadelphia, PA– The publishers of the popular destination website PhiladelphiaAntiquesWeek.com, which targets cultural travelers and antiques collectors planning to take in the events of Philadelphia Antiques Week, March 27 – April 1, offer five ways to maximize enjoyment of the week’s events. Scheduled activities include the Philadelphia Antiques Show and the 23 Street Armory Antiques Show, plus a host of gallery openings and museum exhibits.

“This year there are more reasons than ever to come to Philadelphia Antiques Weeks,” says Eric Miller, Co-Founder of Antiques Weeks Media, LLC, the publisher of PhiladelphiaAntiquesWeek.com and other antiques weeks destination websites. “Two big shows are just the tip of the iceberg, so it’s best to plan now.”

Philadelphia Antiques Show. The show moves from the Naval Yard to the downtown Convention Center. The change in venue offers convenience and space, both luxuries when shopping for antiques.

Special Exhibit at the 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show. The loan exhibit, “Bucket Brigades: A Collector’s Passion,” features a selections from the Joe Baczewski Collection of fire fighting equipment, including historic helmets and practical fire fighting items from days past.

The New Home of the Albert C. Barnes Collection. In celebration of the debut of the Barnes Foundation in its new home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) presents works from the permanent collection that relate to Barnes’s tastes and philosophy, as well as works by his friends (such as William J. Glackens), and items from the PAFA Archives.

Wanamaker Organ Performances. The world’s largest operational pipe organ pumps out an astonishing array of musical delights at mostly free concerts, Monday-Saturday 12 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday at 5:30 p.m, and Wednesday, and Friday at 7 p.m. The organ itself is a wonder of engineering, buitl for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Commissioned by John Wanamaker, the pipe organ is National Historic Landmark and is valued in excess of $57 million.

Philadelphia Museum of Art. New acquisitions include a rare portrait of Yarrow Mamout by Charles Willson Peale and Rubens Peale’s exuberant arrangement of cut flowers, excerpted “From Nature in the Garden” documents, the botanical bounty he culled from his greenhouse and garden between January 7 and December 23, 1856. Wall Streeters will want to see the silver vase presented to New York City District Attorney Hugh Maxwell for his prosecution of corrupt directors of the New York Stock Exchange. Made by silversmith Thomas Fletcher, the vase is one of the largest and most spectacular statements of the Classical Revival style.

For more about the events and exhibits of Philadelphia Antiques Week, including a day-by-day schedule of events and openings, visit http://www.philadelphiaantiquesweek.com