Philadelphia brings to thoughts many issues: cheesesteak, Rocky Balboa and the Liberty Bell, simply to call just a few. It additionally witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, making it an awesome place to rejoice America’s 250th birthday and certainly one of TPG’s 17 finest locations to go to in 2026.
Past celebrations for the nation’s anniversary, Philly can also be the place to be for sports activities followers this 12 months, with main occasions in basketball, golf, soccer and baseball coming to the town in 2026. And that is not together with Philly’s already-packed schedule of annual occasions, from music and meals festivals to carnivals and Christmas markets.
Here’s a season-by-season information to 12 occasions price planning a visit round in 2026 to the Cradle of Liberty.
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Spring 2026
March Insanity
When: March 20 and 22, 2026
March Insanity will kick off (or tip off) Philly’s spectacular calendar of main sporting occasions this 12 months. Six video games of the primary and second rounds of the NCAA Males’s Basketball Match will happen at Xfinity Cell Enviornment (previously Wells Fargo Middle) in South Philadelphia, hosted by Saint Joseph’s College.
If you happen to gather IHG One Rewards factors, the close by Vacation Inn Philadelphia Airport-Stadium Space has rooms ranging from $270 or 50,000 factors per night time that weekend.
“A Nation of Artists” exhibition
When: April 12 to Sept. 5, 2026
In mid-April, head to the Philadelphia Artwork Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Tremendous Arts for the groundbreaking “A Nation of Artists” exhibition, a set of over 1,000 works by American artists like Horace Pippin, Mary Cassatt and Mark Rothko.
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Spanning the 18th, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first centuries, this enormous exhibition throughout two museums consists of all the things from work and ceramics to wooden carvings and style.
Manayunk StrEAT Meals Competition
When: April 19, 2026
Philly’s riverside Manayunk neighborhood — christened with a Lenape phrase that means “the place we go to drink” — has lengthy been a preferred spot for meals lovers. However on Sunday, April 19, dozens of meals vans and different distributors will be part of Most important Road’s plethora of eating places, bars and cafes throughout the annual Manayunk StrEAT competition. Come for the meals, keep for the buying and dwell musical performances.
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PGA Championship
When: Might 11-17, 2026
This 12 months’s PGA Championship might be held at Aronimink Golf Course in Newtown Sq., Pennsylvania, lower than an hour’s drive exterior of Philadelphia. It is solely the second time the placement has hosted the lads’s occasion (the primary was again in 1962); it hosted the Girls’s PGA Championship in 2020.
Tickets can be found on StubHub (amongst different locations). If you happen to maintain the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and charges), you may use your $150 biannual StubHub credit score to avoid wasting on tickets (activation is required; this credit score is accessible via Dec. 31, 2027).
Summer season 2026
Summerfest
When: Might 23 to Sept. 1, 2026
Certainly one of Philadelphia’s perennial favourite festivals, Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest brings the Delaware River waterfront to life from Memorial Day to Labor Day. You may discover family-friendly actions like rides, curler skating, arcade video games and minigolf, plus the standard sips and snacks you’d anticipate from a carnival.
Summerfest is open each day all through the summer time. Admission is free; actions and concessions are pay-as-you-go.
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Odunde Competition
When: June 14, 2026
Odunde Competition, the nation’s largest avenue competition celebrating African and African-American tradition, is held in South Philadelphia on the second Sunday in June. Annually, lots of of hundreds of tourists flock right here to immerse themselves in African artwork, music, meals and extra.
Highlights embody an genuine African market that includes distributors from throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil, in addition to a colourful parade culminating with an providing of fruit and flowers to Oshun, a Nigerian river goddess, within the Schuylkill River.
Wawa Welcome America
When: June 19 to July 4, 2026
Wawa Welcome America, the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration, is again and higher than ever for America’s 250th anniversary.
This citywide competition celebrates freedom in all its kinds from Juneteenth to July 4th. You’ll be able to anticipate 16 days of free, family-friendly actions like fireworks, block events, dwell music, Wawa Hoagie Day and an enormous July 4th parade representing each state and territory.
FIFA World Cup
When: Varied dates in June and July
The Metropolis of Brotherly Love will host six matches of this 12 months’s FIFA World Cup at Philadelphia Stadium (often known as Lincoln Monetary Subject). That features 5 group matches in June and a knockout-stage match on Independence Day:
- Sunday, June 14: Côte d’Ivoire versus Ecuador (Group E)
- Friday, June 19: Brazil versus Haiti (Group C)
- Monday, June 22: France versus Intercontinental Playoff Winner 2 workforce (Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname, to be decided in March) (Group I)
- Thursday, June 25: Curacao versus Côte d’Ivoire (Group E)
- Saturday, June 27: Croatia versus Ghana (Group L)
- Saturday, July 4: Spherical of 16
Is it too late to get tickets? Not precisely.
The latest ticket lottery ended on Jan. 13; profitable candidates might be notified on or after Feb. 5. If you happen to do not handle to snag tickets throughout this part, you will have one other shot throughout the Final-Minute Gross sales Section and on resale platforms, although costs could also be exorbitant.
MLB All-Star Week
When: July 11-14, 2026
The sporting occasions proceed with MLB All-Star Week, to be held at Philly’s Residents Financial institution Park. The MLB Draft’s first spherical will happen on Saturday, July 11 — a primary for the occasion, which has traditionally been held on a Sunday — adopted by the All-Star Futures Recreation on July 12, the Residence Run Derby on July 13 and the All-Star Recreation on July 14.
Rooms on the nearest lodges are already reserving up, so you might need to keep farther out and catch a journey to the stadium. When you have the correct bank card, you should utilize your Amex Uber advantages or Chase Sapphire Reserve Lyft credit to offset among the price of a ride-hailing service.
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Fall 2026
Philly Music Fest
When: October
In line with this competition’s web site, “Our Style is Philly.” Not like most music festivals, Philly Music Fest is a homegrown, nonprofit occasion that circumvents producers and promoters in favor of supporting the native music group. Over the week-long competition, you may see roughly two dozen native artists at independently owned venues across the metropolis, understanding your ticket {dollars} will go on to the musicians and venues — and the earnings might be donated to native music applications to teach Philly’s subsequent technology of artists.
This 12 months’s dates have not been introduced but, however Philly Music Fest is often held in October.
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Winter 2026
Christmas Village
When: Late November to Dec. 24, 2026
Philly’s Christmas Village in LOVE Park is among the many finest vacation markets within the U.S., providing conventional timber cubicles with each regionally made and European merchandise.
You will get nice worth on your factors at Hyatt Centric Metropolis Middle Philadelphia, a 10-minute stroll from the Christmas Village. Room charges begin at $223 or 12,000 World of Hyatt factors per night time in December.
Winterfest
When: Late November via February
The Delaware River waterfront will get a cold-weather makeover every November for Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest. Guests can skate on the large ice rink in entrance of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, then heat up and refuel inside a ski chalet-style lodge. Keep tuned for the 2026 dates.
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