What's on in Philadelphia, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Mummers Parade

  1 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

  String bands, feathers and sequins up Broad Street on New Year's Day, a tradition older than the city's independence and unlike anything else in America. Broad Street closes from the morning. Source ↗

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Philadelphia Flower Show, Spring break in United States

• Festival

  Philadelphia Flower Show

  1–22 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world, ten days at the convention centre in early March. It is what the city does instead of waiting for spring. Source ↗

• Rule

  Independence Hall timed tickets

  1 Mar – 31 DecBook early

  Entry to the hall is by timed ticket for most of the year, released a month ahead and gone within hours for spring and summer weekends. A small block is held back for same-day pickup. Source ↗

• Nature

  Cherry blossom in Fairmount Park

  28 Mar – 20 Apr · usually

  A couple of thousand trees around the Shofuso house and the Horticulture Center in West Fairmount Park, peaking in the first two weeks of April with a Japanese festival built around them. Source ↗

Busy — Penn Relays

• Festival

  Penn Relays

  22–30 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The oldest and biggest track meet in the country fills Franklin Field over three days at the end of April, with school teams and Olympians running on the same afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Cherry blossom in Fairmount Park (28 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — Broad Street Run

• Festival

  Broad Street Run

  1–7 May · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Forty thousand people run ten miles straight down Broad Street on the first Sunday in May, which shuts the city's main north-south road and the subway above ground until early afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Wawa Welcome America, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Wawa Welcome America

  19 Jun – 4 JulMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Two weeks of free concerts and museum days from Juneteenth to the Fourth, ending with a parade and fireworks on the Parkway. This is the city that gets to claim the date. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Summer heat and humidity

  25 Jun – 5 Sep · usuallyExtreme heat

  Rowhouse blocks hold the heat overnight and the mid-Atlantic humidity does the rest. The city runs cooling centres most summers and the walk round the historic district is a morning job. Source ↗

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Wawa Welcome America, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Wawa Welcome America (19 Jun – 4 Jul), Summer heat and humidity (25 Jun – 5 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Summer heat and humidity (25 Jun – 5 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Philadelphia Fringe Festival

  4–28 Sep · usuallyMajor festival

  Three weeks of theatre and performance in warehouses, churches and car parks across the city every September, most of it independently produced and cheap enough to gamble on. Source ↗

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Summer heat and humidity (25 Jun – 5 Sep (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Nature

  Fall colour

  18 Oct – 12 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  The Wissahickon gorge and Fairmount Park turn from the third week of October into early November, and the city has more park inside its limits than most places have outside them.

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Philadelphia Marathon, Christmas Village and holiday markets

• Festival

  Philadelphia Marathon

  15–24 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  A flat course past the museum steps and up Kelly Drive on a Sunday before Thanksgiving. Centre City and the river drives close from dawn and the hotels fill for the weekend. Source ↗

• Festival

  Christmas Village and holiday markets

  20 Nov – 24 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  The German market takes LOVE Park and City Hall from late November, with the light show at Macy's and the Dickens Village indoors. It is the city's most reliable December evening. Source ↗

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Fall colour (18 Oct – 12 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas Village and holiday markets, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Independence Hall timed tickets (1 Mar – 31 Dec), Christmas Village and holiday markets (20 Nov – 24 Dec (usually))