Billy Penn at WHYY’s Billies Awards are back this December, with our latest celebration at WHYY to honor standout Philadelphians profiled by the city’s hyperlocal news site. 

The 2025 event continues Billy Penn’s tradition of recognizing dynamic artists, activists, entrepreneurs, and cultural icons whose stories have shaped civic life and inspired their neighbors.​

The event will be held Wednesday, Dec. 10, with the ceremonies beginning at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m., at WHYY Studios, 150 North 6th Street. It will include light food and drink, and is free with your ticket reservation​.

Terrill Haigler, aka Ya Fav Trashman, accepts a Billie award at the 10th anniversary celebration at WHYY on October 23, 2024. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Awards and atmosphere

The Billies shine a spotlight on those embodying the spirit of the City of Brotherly Love – from community leaders and creative innovators to local characters who made news headlines. The event brings together fans, past awardees, and the Billy Penn newsroom to celebrate meaningful storytelling and the individuals behind the stories.​

Last year’s awards marked BP’s 10-year anniversary and featured some of the most popular Billy Penn story subjects from the previous decade — Chinatown community booster Albert Lee, social-media sensation Terrill Haigler (Ya Fav Trashman), artist entrepreneur Conrad Benner, coworking pioneer Alex Hillman, viral “Chickenman” Alexander Tominsky, cheesesteak biz leader Nancy Schure Olivieri, and billboard-dating adventurer Dave Cline.

Billy Penn editor Kevin Donahue (right) presents Dave Cline (left) with a Billie award for his billboard advertising himself for a date at the 10th anniversary of WHYY’s Billy Penn on October 23, 2024. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

This year’s event will mix the serious and the quirky, with winners who inspired, educated, protected, amused and fed us. Fans of Billy Penn’s reporting, past awardees, and anyone interested in celebrating Philadelphia’s everyday heroes will find the Billies Awards a spirited capstone to the year. So please register and then come, meet the Billy Penn team (including two new reporters this year), and help us celebrate another year of serving you.