Philadelphia Events 2026–27

Philadelphia’s holiday season centers on City Hall and the big public squares around it. Before it starts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show brings 195 artists to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on November 6–8, and the Philadelphia Veterans Parade and Festival steps off on the Ben Franklin Parkway on November 8 and ends at Eakins Oval.

On November 13, Dilworth Park, beside City Hall, opens the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink and its Wintergarden, and the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market sets up there with local makers through New Year’s Day. Two light shows open on November 19: LumiNature at the Philadelphia Zoo, with 14 glowing stops and a 40-foot penguin, and the Electrical Spectacle in Franklin Square. Christmas Village in Philadelphia follows on November 21 with more than 120 vendors across Love Park and City Hall and a two-tiered carousel in the City Hall Courtyard.

Thanksgiving week brings two parades. The Mayfair-Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade strolls down Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia on November 22, and the 6abc Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade, billed as America’s oldest Thanksgiving Day parade, marches the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on November 26. Philadelphia Marathon Weekend brings more than 30,000 athletes on November 20–22, and RiverRink Winterfest opens on the Delaware River waterfront the day after Thanksgiving.

The new year starts with the Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day, known for string bands that allow no brass, followed by the Philadelphia Auto Show in January and a Lunar New Year celebration at Dilworth Park in February.

For Christmas Village, the closest SEPTA stops are Suburban Station and 15th St/City Hall.

Dates can change, so check the event’s website before you go.