Fishtown Fall Feastivale returns with double the food vendors, local celeb dunk tank, and family fun

Fishtown’s annual fall festival brings out the river ward’s rich, bustling corridor of businesses and restaurants onto the streets for an end-of-summer celebration and food “feast”-ival.

On Sept. 28, more than 125 restaurants, breweries, and artisans will set up shop along Frankford Avenue from noon to 8 p.m. for the third annual Fishtown Fall Feastivale. This free public event typically draws 30,000 attendees to the neighborhood.

Before it became Fishtown’s food festival, it ran for a decade as the FestivALE, focusing on the neighborhood’s craft breweries alongside Frankford Hall to coincide with Philly’s beer week in the spring. Three years ago it dropped the emphasis on “ALE” and relaunched in the fall with a more family-friendly food approach while continuing the boozy tradition with Frankford Hall’s Oktoberfest celebration, said Kae Anderson, director of operations at Fishtown District.

“We have more food vendors than ever before. We usually get around 25, maybe 30, when you include all the businesses along the festival’s footprint. This year we have over 40,” Anderson said. “We’re showing off a lot of new businesses to the area and the thriving, growing food scene here in Fishtown, which has definitely become the main focus of the festival and the part that we’re most excited about.”

“The local celebrity dunk tank is back and we also have expanded the carnival section for this year,” she added.

New businesses like Fishtown-based Gato Skate and Surf Co., founded by Fishtown natives and brothers Hector and Kenneth Ayala, will be unveiling its new clothing and merch line that offers a Philly Latino culture perspective to the local skate scene.

Inspired by their father’s passion for skateboarding and surfing, the Ayala brothers’ designs include a native Taino woman on the decks of skateboards and a mother with hair curlers talking on the phone for their “Girl Talk” T-shirt. They’ve also released a video to start conversations around the harmonious mix of Latino and skate culture.

“I love for our work to be about Philly, but not in the way that everyone else does Philly. We want to create it in a way that tells the story of the real people from Philly and this neighborhood,” said Hector Ayala, of showcasing their brand at Fishtown Fall Feastivale. “We want people to feel comfortable with the brand where you don’t have to be a skater or a surfer to wear our stuff because again, we’re not just representing skating and surfing — we’re representing all the Latinos in the community.”

The Fishtown Fall Feastivale is Sept. 28, from noon to 8 p.m., on Frankford Avenue from Girard Avenue to Palmer Street.

Frankford Avenue will kick the cars off the street, opening Fishtown’s corridor to thousands of attendees. The avenue will be lined with more than 125 vendors, including neighborhood and regional restaurants and independent businesses.

Families with young children can enjoy face painting and an entire section of the festival dedicated to carnival attractions. Adults 21 and over have the neighborhood’s craft beer and cocktails to peruse.

Three concert stages will be placed throughout the festival featuring DJs, including one at Johnny Brenda’s. A fourth stage at Frankford Hall will highlight Bavarian folk music and dancing in honor of the German beer fest Oktoberfest.

A record 40 food vendors will be on deck, including Stephen Starr-helmed Mexican restaurant LMNO, homemade Polish kitchen Mom Mom’s Kitchen, and Germantown’s halal chicken and seafood spot Cluck and Gills. Plus, a bevy of various drinks on offer from the likes of craft brewer Evil Genius Beer Company, canned cocktail and seltzer makers Two Robbers Spirits Co., fresh and healthy Mama Smoothies, and Front Street Cafe serving up spiked blood-orange sangria and strawberry lemonade.

The hometown flair doesn’t stop with food. There are vendors selling clothes, jewelry, health products, sports and recreation activities, and more.

Philly sports merch legends at Art History 101, whose clothing has been worn by Eagles coaches and players, will have a display. A swath of handmade jewelry artists, including Winola Jewelry, Cutie Pie Jewlery, Selah Jewelry Design, Everything You See Jewelry, will also have pieces on display.

Festival organizers strongly encourage attendees to walk, bike, or take public transit. Car parking in Fishtown is already tough, so organizers are asking for attendees to alleviate that struggle by taking a car-free route.

The closest SEPTA stop is the Girard Station on the Market-Frankford Line (MFL), which can be reached by transferring from the Broad Street Line (BSL) or Regional Rail lines when transferring from Fern Rock Transportation Center.

Plenty of bus routes run near the festival’s footprint on Frankford Avenue. The Route 5 bus that usually runs along Frankford Avenue will be detoured to Front Street. Indego Bike stations are located near the festival, including at the MFL Girard Station and at Frankford Avenue and Belgrade Street.

Cars parked on the footprint of the festival will be courtesy towed starting at 3 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. Here is The Inquirer’s guide on what to do if your car is courtesy towed.