Events

January

New Year’s Day

Held:  January 1st

Location:  Downtown Philadelphia

215-336 3050

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Climaxing months of drill in a ritual dating to pagan times, some 15,000 Mummers parade along Philadelphia streets, codified into four divisions: Comic Clubs, Fancy Clubs, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades.

Chinese New Year

Held:  Chinatown

215-922-2156

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In Philadelphia’s Chinatown, the year starts with New Moon on the first day and ends on the full moon 15 days later with the Lantern Festival.

February

Philadelphia International Auto Show

Held:  early February

Location:  Pennsylvania Convention Center

800-999-6810 or 610-758-9691

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Sometimes starting in January, the Philadelphia International Auto Show cruises each year into the Pennsylvania Convention Center, produced by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia with more than 700 classic, luxury, and exotic vehicles.

South Street Mardi Gras for Fat Tuesday

Held:  February

Location:  South Street

215-965-7676

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South Street, Philadelphia's hip strip is where Mardi Gras is celebrated on Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

African American History Month

Held:  February

Location:  Various venues

215-289-6484

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Events throughout the city celebrate Africa American history.

Manayunk in Bloom

Location:  Cotton and Cresson Streets

Held: Easter holidays

215-482-9565

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Spring brings Manayunk in Bloom, an annual event with fun at Pretzel Park, at Cotton and Cresson streets for the annual Easter Egg Scramble. Merchants stock up with Easter finery and accessories.

Philadelphia Flower Show

Location:  Philadelphia Convention Center

12th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Held:  early March

215-988-8899

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One of North America’s largest collection of specimen orchids radiates color at the Philadelphia Flower Show, going strong for more than a century. Festivities surrounding the show start in January.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

215-965-7676

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Philadelphia's Irish community goes green with more than 100 floats and 10,000 marchers.

The Book and the Cook Festival

215-545-4543

Cooks share their books and recipes at different restaurants and at the convention center during Kitchen Aid’s “The Book and the Cook Festival”. 

April

Spring Splash on South Street

215-965-7676

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Celebrants parade down South Street in Easter bonnets.

Baseball Season Opens

215-965-7676
When the Phillies were formed in 1883, the team was on its way to becoming the oldest, continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of the professional sports.

May

Broad Street Run

215-235-7481

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The venerable Broad Street Run’s 10-mile course starts at Broad Street and Somerville Avenue, ending in the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. (Not for Runners Only Health & Fitness Expo is at the Cruise Terminal, Pier 1, near the finish line.)

Annual Canal Day

215-965-7676

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Attracting crowds along Main Street, this long-standing neighborhood event celebrates the 1823 opening of the Schuylkill Navigation System, part of the Manayunk Canal.

Dad Vail Regatta

215-886-1123 or 215-483-2909

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The second week of May brings crew teams from schools across the U.S. to compete on the Schuylkill River in the nation’s largest collegiate regatta.

Jam on the River

Held late May

Location:  Penns Landing

215-965-7676

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Enjoy music on the banks of the Delaware River on Memorial Day weekend.

Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival

215-965-7676

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The Rittenhouse area celebrates spring with music, dance, outdoor and indoor sales and displays by area retailers, gallery exhibits, and more on Walnut Street from Broad to 19th, and within Rittenhouse Square.

June 

Manayunk Arts Festival

Held:  end of June

Location: Main Street, Manayunk

215-482-9565

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Philadelphia Magazine Manayunk Arts Festival is possibly the largest outdoor arts and crafts show in the Delaware Valley. This juried show features over 250 artists from across the entire country. The festival typically attracts over 250,000 people to see one-of-a-kind work displayed.

First Union U.S. Pro Cycling Championship

215-482-9565

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The First Union men’s pro cycling championship claims to be the nation’s longest running, richest single-day race on the Pro Cycling Tour. The Amateur Wall Climb has cyclists pedaling up the Manayunk Wall, a stretch of road at a 45-degree angle. The race starts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

First Union Liberty Classic

215-482-9565

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International women cyclists compete in the First Union Liberty Classic, the only World Cup Cycling race event for women in the U.S.

Sunoco Welcome America

215-576-7125

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Events start a week before July 4th, with fireworks on the Delaware the Friday preceding the 4th of July fireworks celebration.

July

Fourth of July

215-576-7125

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The birthplace of the nation hosts more than 50 free events culminating in a 14-hour July 4th extravaganza.

Dragon Boat Races

610-642-2333

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Benefiting the Fox Chase Cancer Center, the International Dragon Boat Races feature eight lanes of action with up to 100 teams.

August

Eagles Football Opener

215-965-7676
Named the Eagles to symbolize the New Deal’s National Recovery Act, Philadelphia’s team first played the Chicago Bears in a 3-3 tie.

September

Labor Day Events

215-965-7676

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Concerts and more mark Labor Day weekend festivities.

Museum of Art Rodin Garden Party

Held early September

215-235-7469

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Early in September, Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art gather for the Rodin Garden Party at the Rodin Museum, with opportunity to win prizes in a raffle that funds museum initiatives.

Puerto Rican Week Festival Parade

Held late September

215-965-7676

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Running since 1964, Philadelphia's annual Puerto Rican Week Festival (Festival Puertorriqueño Fildelfia) includes Puerto Rican Day (the last Sunday of September), a grand parade (Desfile Puertorriqueño) and the Miss Puerto Rico-Philadelphia pageant.

Philadelphia Fringe Festival

215-413-9007
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Each September, the Philadelphia Fringe takes over with an extended festival of new art attracting thousands of onlookers to admire works of more than 1,300 artists in theater, dance, performance art, music, poetry, puppetry and visual arts.

Annual Sippin’ by the River

215- 965-7676

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Sippin’ By The River at Penn’s Landing, hosted by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America serves samples from more than a dozen vineyards and some two dozen breweries, along with tutored tastings.

Annual German-American Steuben Parade

Held late September

215-332-3400

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The event is held over a three day weekend; beginning with a gala banquet followed by an ecumenical service, a parade, a Strassenfest and Octoberfest.

October

Columbus Day Parade

215- 965-7676

Philadelphia celebrates Columbus Day with a parade on the second Sunday in October along Broad Street.

Philadelphia College Festival

Held mid November for one week

215-965-7676

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Events include College Day on the Parkway, a concert and expo. The College Day event is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It features eleven of the City's top arts & cultural centers including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Franklin Institute Science Museum, Free Library of Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences, Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design, Rodin Museum, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and The Fabric Workshop and Museum.

Manayunk Annual Antiques & Collectibles Festival

215- 965-7676

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The festival showcases goods of more than 250 professional dealers from across the nation.

November

Philadelphia Marathon

Held mid November

215-685-0054

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The annual Philadelphia Marathon starts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 26.2 mile race through Philadelphia and companion 8K race.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

215-965-7676

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Dating to 1920 as the nation's first Thanksgiving Day parade, Philadelphia’s spectacle now lasts three hours and features more than a dozen marching bands, floats, a youth choir and more. Santa shows up at the end, launching the Philadelphia Holiday Festival.

Holidays on Main

Held:  Friday after Thanksgiving

215-482-9565

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To kick off the holiday shopping season, shoppers will be greeted with unique gift-giving ideas at many retail locations, along with musical entertainment and Santa Claus strolling Main Street.
Free metered parking on Saturdays for the season.
 

December

Holiday Light Show

215-965-7676
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Since 1956, a multi-media holiday light show has unfolded with water fountains, organ music and more in the Grand Court at Center City.

New Year’s Eve

Held December 31^st

215-965-7676 

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Fireworks on the Delaware are a focal point of festivities.

Arts and Entertainment

Opera Company of Philadelphia
The Academy of Music
1420 Locust Street (at Broad and Locust Streets)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102

215-732-8400

Call for performance schedule

Season runs Oct – May

The opera company performs 5 productions annually.

The Pennsylvania Ballet
1101 South Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215-551-7000

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Season run Nov – June

Pennsylvania Ballet has established itself as a cornerstone of Philadelphia's cultural life and Its annual audience of over 100,000 includes visitors from all over the country.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

The Kimmel Center
260 S Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-893-1999 (to order tickets)

215-893-1900 (performance schedule)

Designed and built especially for the Orchestra, the Kimmel Center hosts the Orchestra's home subscription concerts each year from September through May. The center includes two performance spaces, the 2500-seat Verizon Hall for orchestral presentations and the 650-seat Perelman Theater for chamber music concerts.

The Merriam Theater

250 S Broad St

Philadelphia, PA 19102

215-732-5446

The Merriam Theater has played an integral and entertaining role in the city’s cultural life. It has had some of the world's most famous stars grace its stage including Al Jolson, John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Katherine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, Sammy Davis Jr., Angela Lansbury and Mickey Rooney, just to name a few.

New Freedom Theatre

1346 N Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19121

215-765-2793

Since 1966, New Freedom Theatre, the nation's largest African-American theatre, has presented professional repertory productions specific to the African American experience in America. Today, New Freedom Theatre presents over 150 performances a year.

The Prince Music Theater

100 S Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19110

215-972-1000.

The new 450-seat proscenium theater features state-of-the-art theater technology, full fly loft, film-screen, black box theater, cabaret, cafe as well as rehearsal and audio/video recording facilities. In addition to Prince Music Theater productions, the facility will be utilized by numerous arts and entertainment companies including The Curtis Opera, The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema and Philadanco.

Mann Center for Performing Arts
123 South Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19146

215-546-7900

If you're looking for great music – or even a cultural arts adventure – look no further than The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Conveniently situated in Philadelphia's beautiful Fairmount Park, The Mann offers a diverse selection of internationally acclaimed artists and programs – from pops, jazz, gospel, and contemporary concerts to dance, classical performances and more.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Philadelphia, PA 19130

215-763-8100

Hours:  Tues – Su 10am – 5pm, Fri evenings through 8:45pm

Closed Mondays, Legal Holidays and Thanksgiving.

Admission Charged, free on Sundays until 1pm
This museum features over 200 galleries filled with treasures spanning continents and cultures, drawn from a collection of more than 400,000 works of art. The huge stone edifice of the museum, supported by majestic Doric columns, looks over the Schuylkill River. Scale the steps made famous in the "Rocky" movies.

Rodin Museum

Twenty-Second Street & Ben Franklin Parkway.

Philadelphia, PA 19019

215-763-8100

Hours:  Tues – Sun 10am-5pm; closed Mondays and holidays 

Housing the largest collection of Rodin sculptures and drawings outside of Paris, the Rodin Museum is home to the “Gates of Hell” and “The Thinker”. The most famous of Rodin's works, the Thinker, can be seen outside the museum, in the front yard.

Forrest Theatre

1114 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-923-1515

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The Forrest is a quintessential "road house", stripped to the bare walls and used primarily by touring theatre and dance companies. Many musicals, dramas and comedies have been launched from the Forrest Theatre. Yiddish Theatre, one man shows, dance programs, Gilbert & Sullivan productions and the Philadelphia Orchestra have all graced this stage.

Sports

Philadelphia 76ers-NBA

Wachovia Center

Wachovia Center Complex
3601 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA. 19148

215-339-7642

Season runs Oct - April

Philadelphia Phillies-MLB Baseball

Citizens Bank Park

One Citizens Bank Way

Philadelphia, PA 19148

215 463-1000

Season runs April - Oct

Philadelphia Eagles- NFL

NovaCare Complex

1 NovaCare Way

Philadelphia, PA 19145   

215-463-2500

Season runs Sept - June

Philadelphia Flyers-NHL Ice Hockey

Wachovia Center

3601 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148

215-336-3600

Season runs Sept - April

Philadelphia Phantoms- AHL Ice Hockey

Wachovia Center

3610 South Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19148

215-465-4522

Season runs Oct - April

Philadelphia KIXX -Soccer

Wachovia Spectrum
3601 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148

888-888-KIXX (5499) to purchase tickets

215-952-549—general information

Season runs Oct - April