22 must-do fall festivals, street markets, and celebrations in Philadelphia

Even though it’s not technically autumn yet, the Philadelphia fall festival season has already begun, bringing neighborhood street markets, a must-see film festival, and even celebrations of the weird and fringe.

Center City District’s Open Streets brought thousands to car-free West Walnut Street on Sept. 8, and Philly’s nearly three-decade-old Fringe Festival started last week, running through Sept. 29. Now begins a deluge of weekly events to explore the arts, patronize local makers, and celebrate the cultures that make Philly richly diverse.

Leaf peepers will rejoice come late October when trees reach their peak vibrancy and color, according to fall foliage prediction maps. In the meantime, peruse a list of some must-visit fall events in Philadelphia.

With the festival’s over 1,000 curated performances, there is a lot to choose from at Philadelphia Fringe. Check out The Inquirer’s guide to this year’s Philadelphia Fringe Festival to learn more about shows like Sarah Sanford’s one-person Love You Love You Love You or Alison Hyde Pascale and Crys Clemente’s Is This a Wedding?

💵 Price varies, 🕒 Sept. 5-29, 📍Various locations, 🌐 phillyfringe.org

Every Sunday in September, Walnut Street, from 15th to 19th Streets, is closed to car traffic and opened to pedestrians to dine, shop, and enjoy one of the city’s most cherished neighborhoods in a way rarely experienced.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 8, 15, 22, and 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 📍W. Walnut St. & S. 18th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 centercityphila.org

Find vintage tees, old vinyl, and punk junk during the three-day Fall Punk Rock Flea Market at the 23rd St. Armory, on Friday the 13th. The event kicks off with a night market.

💵 $5-$10, 🕒 Sept. 13, 4 p.m.-10 p.m., Sept. 14-15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 📍 22 S. 23rd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 phillyprfm.com

Dozens of vendors will display their wares among the historic tombstones inside Philly’s nearly 200-year-old Laurel Hill East cemetery.

💵 $5-$10, 🕒 Sept. 14, noon–5 p.m., 📍3822 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19132, 🌐 laurelhillphl.com

Chestnut Hill’s 40th fall arts festival returns to Germantown Avenue for an arts market, live music, and demonstrations of different crafts like glass blowing and pottery.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 15, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 📍8000 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19118, 🌐 chestnuthillpa.com

Don’t miss the chance to see Philadelphia’s best in opera, ballet, and classical music perform for free inside and outside the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus. Acts include BalletX and Opera Philadelphia.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 21, 11 a.m., 📍300 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 ensembleartsphilly.org

Asian Americans United is hosting its 29th Mid-Autumn Festival, an event celebrated in many Southeast and Northeast Asian cultures, honoring the moon, bountiful harvests, and unity. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival will be Sept. 21, right before the autumnal equinox.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 21, noon-8 p.m., 📍Arch St. & N. 10th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 aaunited.org/maf

NoLibs night markets only happen three times a year, with the final fall market taking place Sept. 25. It’s a family-friendly, dog-friendly event filled with local businesses, food and drink, and plenty of activities for the kids.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 25, 5 p.m.-10 p.m., 📍N. Second St. & Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 🌐 northernlibertiesnightmarket.com

One of Philly’s most expansive thrift stores for a good cause, the fight against HIV/AIDS, is throwing its annual block party with highlights being a pie-eating contest emceed by CBS 3′s news anchor Jim Donovan, and a local celeb dunk tank with the likes of the Streets Dept’s Conrad Benner and Stef Jolles, owner of the Crash Bang Boom shop.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 28, noon-6 p.m., 📍710 S. Fifth St., Philadelphia, Pa 19147, 🌐 phillyaidsthrift.com

Philly Beer Fest returns to the 23rd Street Armory on Sept. 28, showcasing the state’s top brewers, live music, and food trucks. Choose from one of two sessions and enjoy beer tastings from about three dozen breweries.

💵 $35-$49, 🕒 Sept. 28, noon-4 p.m., 5 p.m.-9 p.m., 📍22 S. 23rd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 phillybeerfest.com

Center City’s Midtown Village will be taken over by live music, merchant and vendor displays, and some of the best food and drink in Philly.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 28, noon-8 p.m., 📍Walnut St. & S. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 midtownvillagephilly.com

Join thousands of marchers taking part in Latino music, poetry, and dance along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Concilio’s annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.

💵 Free, 🕒 Sept. 29, noon-6 p.m., 📍2451 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, Pa. 19130, 🌐 elconcilio.net

This festival has been highlighting the daily impact of various design mediums to Philadelphians for 20 years, giving a platform to the design leaders that make the city’s visual landscape so popular. While there are multiple exhibitions, free and ticketed, don’t miss the free kickoff party at Cherry Street Pier on Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. (first drink’s on Design Philadelphia).

💵 Various prices, 🕒 Oct. 1-13, 📍Various locations, 🌐 designphiladelphia.org

Hundreds of animal lovers will flock to Philadelphia’s Navy Yard for the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society’s (PAWS) 18th annual fall festival and dog walk to raise money for rescuing animals across the region. Dock Street Brewery is creating a new pop-up beer garden alongside food trucks for the event.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 5, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 📍4747 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19112, 🌐 phillypaws.org

YèShì Chinatown Night Market, a one-night food and street festival, will take over Philly’s Chinatown with more than 40 vendors from the neighborhood’s best restaurants and craft makers.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 12, 6 p.m.-10 p.m., 📍N. 10th St. & Race St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 Chinatown-pcdc.org

To celebrate National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, the nonprofit Galaei is hosting a parade with floats on Oct. 12 and a Gayborhood festival on Oct. 13, with resource fairs, beer gardens, food trucks, and more.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 12, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.; Oct. 13, noon-7 p.m., 📍Fifth & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 🌐 galaeiqtbipoc.org/ourfest

From the city’s emerging auteurs to exciting films from the Sundance and Cannes film festivals, the Philadelphia Film Festival will stage 10 days of screenings across Philadelphia Film Society theaters.

💵 Various prices, 🕒 Oct. 17-27, 📍Various locations, 🌐 filmadelphia.org

City Hall’s public plaza will be transformed into an autumn hay maze for families with children’s story time and themed happy hours in the fall beer garden for adults. Plus visits from the Philly Goat Project and more.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 18-27, 📍1 S. 15th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19102, 🌐 centercityphila.org

East Kensington’s Weirdo Fest, an all-day festival with art, music, and food, is an ode to all things wacky in the world of arts. What better way to display the city’s oddities by Philly’s artists, amateur wrestlers, craftsmakers, and comedians?

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 19, 📍2400 Martha St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 🌐 weirdooddfest.com

For the last 25 years, the Center for Emerging Visual Arts has opened the doors to studios across Philadelphia, inviting the public to see the magic behind the city’s woodworkers, painters, sculptors, designers, and more. Enjoy two full weekends of studio tours this October. See the full list and map of participants at cfeva.org.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 19-20 & Oct. 26-27, 📍Various locations, 🌐 cfeva.org/philaopenstudios

Since Philadelphia is the rowing capital of the country, the city’s acclaimed Schuylkill plays host to the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, dubbed “America’s favorite Regatta.” Watch the races from the banks of the river along Kelly Drive.

💵 Free, 🕒 Oct. 26-27, 8 a.m., 📍1 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pa. 19130, 🌐 hosr.org

Watch some of the year’s best films from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander filmmakers presented right in Philadelphia theaters.

💵 Various prices, 🕒 Nov. 7-17, 📍Various locations, 🌐 paaff.org