Capture the Instagrammable moments at the Visit PA New Year’s Eve Fireworks on the Waterfront. Photo by Cathie Berry courtesy of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
FunTimes Magazine: ‘Culture & Entertainment’ column, week of December 29, 2025.
When the clock strikes midnight in the new year, Philadelphia will turn into a super party city. The phrases America250 and Philadelphia 2026 will be everywhere in the news and online. New Year’s Eve officially will signal the kick-off of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence and the launch of countless activities showing off the unstoppable pride, patriotism, culture, and history of the nation’s birthplace. The introduction of America250, Philly-style, drops with a party on the Parkway complete with a big outdoor concert and fireworks show at Eakins Oval on New Year’s Eve and the century+ Philadelphia Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day on Broad Street. Here is a look at these events, plus other non-America250 entertainment options such as ongoing Kwanzaa celebrations citywide. Pass the baton to January, please!
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”—Oprah Winfrey
An L.L. Cool New Year’s Eve Concert
Wednesday, December 31, 2025. To kick off Philadelphia 2026’s year-long activities celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, welcome in the new year at the New Year’s Eve Concert and Fireworks on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway featuring two-time Grammy® Award-winning LL Cool J. Emmy Award-winning music director and Grammy Award-winning writer Adam Blackstone will join the hip-hop icon. History and music go together in Philly like soft pretzels and salt. Philadelphia 2026, in partnership with Mayor Cherelle Parker, will host the event. The New Year’s Eve Concert will be followed by a fireworks display over the iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway. If you like the city’s annual Wawa Welcome America July 4th festival concerts, you will enjoy this show. Free (general admission) on a first-come, first-served basis. Concert: 8 p.m. EST (Gates open at 6 p.m. EST); fireworks: Midnight. Eakins Oval/ Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Enter at security check-in locations: Binswanger Triangle at 2300 Benjamin Franklin Parkway; Pennsylvania Avenue and Spring Garden Street. Arrive early to avoid heavy motor and pedestrian traffic delays. For free weather and event updates, text “NYEPHL” to 888-777. www.phila.gov
Photo by Maria Young courtesy of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
New Year’s Eve Fireworks On Delaware River Waterfront
A great place to ring in 2026 will be at the Visit PA New Year’s Eve Fireworks on the Waterfront. It will be sort of a double header. Check out either an early-evening or late fireworks show. Or see both! The spectacular display will be more illuminating this year, with fireworks lighting up the skies from three areas stretched along the waterfront. The National Liberty Museum will bring the Liberty Bell’s kid sister – a 2,000-pound, fully operational Liberty Bell replica, cast at London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry – to ring in the new year, Philadelphia style. The bell will honor 2026’s America’s 250th anniversary celebration highlighting the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Families can check out the Cherry Street Pier’s New Year’s Eve Kids Countdown with PopUpPlay. Celebrate New Year’s Eve early with front-row views of the Visit PA New Year’s Eve Fireworks on the Waterfront with a balloon drop, music, crafts, and warming stations. Single tickets:$27; Free for kids age 2 and under (cash bar for adults 21+); 5 p.m. EST to 7 p.m. EST. The bell will be located at one of the ticketed parties at the Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Columbus Blvd. in the Garden area closest to the waterfront. Two free fireworks shows at 6 p.m. EST & midnight. Also: you can attend various paying parties on the waterfront including at Cherry Street Pier and Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest, 101 S. Columbus Blvd. Individual tickets ($32) can be purchased here or from the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
Photo courtesy of Please Touch Museum.
Join New Year’s Eve Countdown For Kids
Wednesday, December 31, 2025. Please Touch Museum knows its clientele very well. So, for all families wishing to ring in the new year but are on a nap or an early bedtime schedule, check out the museum’s performances, activities, and New Year’s Eve countdown/ ball drop complete with confetti. Enjoy the jams of DJ Neeek Nyce. And there’ll be a lot of clowning. Yes, Jazzy the Clown and the Dance Shakers will present interactive performances. Miss Margaret and the Electric Whimsy will bring clapping and dancing to the Museum’s Wonder Theater. Create your own time capsules to seal and revisit next year, and share New Year’s wishes on the Wish Wall. Free street parking in front of the museum. Pre-registration required. Individual tickets: $30 (for adults); $30 (for kids). Two sessions: 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. Please Touch Museum/ Hamilton Hall, 4231 Avenue of the Republic, (Fairmount Park). Email: info@pleasetouchmuseum.org, 215-581-3181 or https://ptm.ticketapp.org/
Mummers string band near City Hall on Broad Street.
Sultans of Strut Step Off At 125th Mummers Parade
Thursday, January 1, 2026. Check out the 2026 Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia Mummers Parade! America’s oldest folk parade is 125 years old. For those who are unfamiliar, it will be a mash-up of mardi gras, Broadway, and Rio de Janeiro – but with, fiddles, string band, and banjo instruments. Few parades equal the feathery pageantry and glittery color. The Mummers got their turn-of-the-century theme song, “Oh, Dem Golden Silppers,” from African-American minstrel James A, Bland, and their signature dance, the Mummers Strut, from Blacks in the South. Today, more than 10,000 costumed non-professional revelers march down Broad Street, the world’s longest continuous avenue. The competitive parade is judged on costuming, choreography, and music on the west side of City Hall and Dilworth Park. Entertainers will perform for the masses on the parade route, which accommodates mostly curbside standing room, but also includes designated viewing areas at 17th & Market streets and along Broad Street at Sansom, Pine, and Carpenter streets. Access to the parade is free but seats for the judging section near City Hall are ticketed and can be bought at the Philadelphia Independence Visitor Center, 6th & Market streets, or at www.phlvisitorcenter.com. Free along most of the parade route and $25 to $30 at reserved judging areas; 9 a.m. EST to 7 p.m. EST. Parade route: City Hall, Broad and Market streets, in Center City to Broad Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. https://allevents.in/philadelphia/125th-philadelphia-mummers-parade/80003522168076
A Salute To Soul Man Beverly
Friday, January 2, 2026. If you want to hear the silky soul jams of Frankie Beverly again live. Look no further than Tribute to Frankie Beverly featuring Lawrence “Weas” Newton. North Philly’s Newton, who performs with the Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston, will headline the beloved Beverly’s tribute backed by the Gerald Veasley Band, as part of the Unscripted Jazz Series at SOUTH. Enjoy Beverly’s hits Can’t Get Over You, Before I Let Go, and Joy and Pain. Beverly, a singer, songwriter, and producer is known for his recordings with the soul-funk band Maze, which he started in 1970. He died at age 77 in 2024. $45 per person; 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. shows. EST. South Kitchen & Jazz Parlor, 600 N. Broad St. 267-225-8018 or https://www.exploretock.com/south-unscripted-jazz-philadelphia/7
An Eye On Africa
Friday, January 2, 2026. The community opening of Ubuntu Fine Art Presents UNBOUND: A VISUAL STUDY ON THE NATURE OF FREEDOM continues Steven CW Taylor’s journey through the lens – an impassioned pursuit to chronicle Black liberation. Taylor calls UNBOUND “a quest to define freedom, and what it means for me to live liberated.” The exhibit in Taylor’s Germantown community gallery features about25 photographs produced from his keen eye and travels to Kenya in 2019 and 2020. It’s a deep dive into the theme of liberation. The exhibit, which tells the story of daily African life – the struggles and joys – runs through Sunday, January 25, 2026. It is sponsored by The Colored Girls Museum and the Museum of Black Joy. Free, noon. Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery, 5423 Germantown Ave. 908-966-6894 or https://ubuntufa.com
Kids To Learn About Kwanzaa
Friday, January 2, 2026. This Free Library of Philadelphia event will be all about Kwanzaa and kids learning all about Nguzo – the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa – honoring the legacy and values of the holiday. Participants will enjoy storytelling and cultural expression; they will find out how Kwanzaa connects to healing, identity, and unity in African-American communities. Kids will be introduced to Black American Sign Language. The event is part of the City of Philadelphia’s citywide festivities, which kicked off the Kwanzaa holiday at a unity celebration at City Hall on December 26. The celebration included remarks from City officials, singing, and performances from the Tyehimba African Drum and Dance Ensemble. An official Kwanzaa kinara will be lit on the south side of City Hall facing South Broad St. Each day, an additional candle will be illuminated to reflect Kwanzaa’s principles. Kids Kwanzaa library event: Free: 1:30 p.m. EST. Children’s Department at Parkway Central Library(Ground Floor, Rm. 22). 215-686-5369 or https://libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/event/154406
