Hosted by the Fashion Center BID, the event promises to have the Fashion District (the area from 35th to 41st Street between Fifth and Ninth Avenues) buzzing with Off-Broadway shows, gallery exhibits, presentations of avant-garde performance art, and behind-the-scenes visits to artists' studios.

  "The fashion district is a growing center of artistic creativity," said Barbara Blair Randell, executive director of the Fashion Center BID, in a statement. "Historically, one would only come to this district to work or do business. Now, with galleries, Off-Broadway theaters, better restaurants and other performance spaces, an entirely new destination for entertainment is springing up. This festival celebrates these new uses."

  Shows associated with the festival include War in Paramus at the Abingdon Theatre Company (312 W. 36th St, 1st Fl), The Green Scent of Pink at chashama (226 W. 37th St), and Just 45 Minutes from Paradise (315 W. 39th St).

  Theaters that lie in the Fashion District include Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, American Place Theatre, Arthur Seelen Theatre, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Barrow Group, Belt Theatre, Nederlander Theatre, Revelation Theatre, West 37 Street Arts, Where Eagles Dare, Workshop Theater Company, and Zipper Theater.

  Fashion designers including Isaac Mizrahi, Ralph Yeohlee Teng and Bryan Bradley are slated to participate in panels discussing the intersection of the arts in the fashion world as well as their creative process.   Events, unless otherwise noted, are free. For schedule information visit www.fashioncenter.com/arts.