September 26, 2022
Courtesy of/Kory Aversa
Old City Fest returns on Sunday, Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Third Street from Market to Race streets, and Arch Street from Second to Fourth streets. The event features a wine garden, food from the Bourse and activities with Adventure Aquarium.
The Old City District is preparing for the return of its annual street party that will feature the best food, drink, culture, art, and architecture that the historic neighborhood has to offer.
Old City Fest is taking place on Sunday, Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. The event will take over Third Street from Market to Race streets, as well as Arch Street from Second to Fourth streets.
Adventure Aquarium will be providing family-friendly activities on Arch Street for the day in its "fun zone." Check out performances by jugglers and the Philadelphia Dance Academy, while watching for an animal appearance. Families also can sign up for kids passes to the Camden aquarium.
Take a seat and relax in a wine garden at Cherry Street Garden, presented by City Winery. The winery will be serving wine on tap and small bites of popular food items. There will also be some local performers to enhance the experience.
The Bourse Food Hall will serve food from its vendors, including Scoop DeVille, Freebyrd Chicken, Grubhouse, and Rebel Taco. Look out for The Philly Keys, a dueling piano band that will perform some interactive sing-alongs at the corner of Fourth and Arch streets.
"Old City Fest highlights our region's premier arts and design districts, showcasing local designers, creative firms, restaurants, retailers, galleries, theater, culture, history, and architecture," Job Ishkowitz, executive director of Old City District, said. "Old City Fest was designed to be different. The city has many amazing neighborhood-based festivals with food, drink, and music. We wanted to take that one step further and celebrate all that makes America's most historic square mile unique. We curated the event to give Old City's merchants, artists, makers, and creative community a platform to shine for the region."
New this year, Old City Fest will showcase the most popular restaurants and bars in the neighborhood. More than a dozen food vendors will be setting up outside so visitors can try a little bit of everything.
Check out the full selection below.
• Buddakan: Edamame dumplings, Cantonese spring rolls, pork belly bao buns, red zengria, Sapporo Draught
• Campo's Philly Cheesesteaks: Celebrating 75 years of business in Old City selling cheesesteaks and hoagies
• Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar: Chicken empanadas, cinnamon sugar churros, signature mojitos
• Fork: Mini bratwurst, cocktails, beer, and huge cake to celebrate its 25th anniversary
• The Franklin Fountain: Vanilla, chocolate, and pumpkin ice cream, vanilla chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars, caramel corn, and Halloween candy
• ICI Macarons and Cafe: All 28 flavors of macarons and pastries including cruffins, Kouign-amann, croissants, and drinks including lavender lemonade, matcha lemonade, watermelon lemonade, coffee and espresso drinks
• Istanbul Cafe: Turkish coffee and pastries
• Khyber Pass Pub: Caramelized onion dip
• Kick Axe Throwing: Carne asada tacos, chicken tacos, and margaritas
• Las Bugamilias: Chips and salsa, chips and guacamole, pork tamales, regular and apple churros, Mexican hot chocolate, margaritas, and bottled beer
• Malooga: Hummus dip, falafel bites, vegan bowls, protein bowls, drinks, and rice pudding
• Oishii: Chicken satay, Korean meatballs, beef bao, grilled corn, Thai tea, vegetable spring rolls, shrimp tempura, funnel cake, fried ice cream, water, soda
• Riverwards Produce: Mulled cold cider, apple cake, cut apples with caramel, sampling of apple fennel fresh pressed juice
• Sassafras: Everything pretzels, cocktails, Dogfish Head IPA and pumpkin ale
Guests can take a stroll down Wedding Row and check out a handful of new businesses like Damari, Hitched, and SuitShop. Live dance performances and lessons throughout the day will be held at Fred Astaire Dance Studio.
Galleries and showrooms will be open during the festivities, including Claudia Mills Studio, Grossman Furniture, Millesime, More Than Old, Old City Jewish Arts Center, and Petit Jardin en Ville.
For more information about the event, as well as any of the participating businesses, check out the Old City District on Instagram.
Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022
11 a.m. until 6 p.m. | Pay-as-you-go
Various locations
Philadelphia, PA 19106
