{"id":162510,"date":"2026-04-10T16:44:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/162510\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:44:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:44:06","slug":"franklin-square-celebrates-20-years-with-full-lineup-of-events-festivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/162510\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin Square celebrates 20 years with full lineup of events, festivals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Franklin Square is celebrating 20 years in 2026, and to mark the occasion, it’s throwing a season full of fun<\/a>, kicking off with its Opening Day on April 18. <\/p>\n

On that date (from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) locals can participate in Earth Day activities like eco-crafts and meet birds like a red-tailed hawk and an Eastern screech owl up close. The occasion will also feature games, giant bubbles, music, fitness fun and free carousel rides for the first 100 guests. <\/p>\n

But if you can’t make it out to the opener, the historic park is also cooking up some seasonal fun like Tai Chi in the Square (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.), Storytime in the Square (every other Wednesday through October besides Sept. 9, 10 to 11 a.m.) and Franklin Square Play Days (May 9 and 23, 1 to 3 p.m.). <\/p>\n

Locals can also mark their calendars for Bark in the Park (Saturday, May 16, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and Father\u2019s Day (June 21) where mini-golf is BOGO for the occasion. <\/p>\n

But the two biggest draws to the sunny season at the space are annually An Evening in Franklin Square and the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival.<\/p>\n

The former (June 2, 5:30 p.m.) offers a special preview of the Lantern Festival alongside a silent auction, dinner, dessert, dancing, and the crowd-favorite Parx Square Derby\u2014a playful carousel \u201crace\u201d where guests place bets and compete for bragging rights. Proceeds support the care, programming, and free community events at Franklin Square.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The latter (running June 5 through Aug. 16, sans July 4) will be in full swing from 6 to 11 p.m. every night throughout the summer. Celebrating the Year of the Horse and the nation’s 250th anniversary<\/a>, this year\u2019s festival will feature all-new, handcrafted lantern displays paired with glowing installations, live cultural performances, and a choreographed fountain show at the Rendell Family Fountain. <\/p>\n

The experience also includes a variety of food and drink options, including Asian specialties and classic bites alongside cocktails, plus discounted access to Philly Mini Golf and the Parx Liberty Carousel. Produced in partnership with Tianyu Arts and Culture, a portion of the proceeds will support Historic Philadelphia, Inc., helping sustain the Square\u2019s free programs and year-round community events.<\/p>\n

Franklin Squares 20th season will also participate in the city’s Red, White, & Blue To-Do with free crafts and an appearance from Wonder Woman (July 2, 2 to 4 p.m.), plus National Carousel Day with BOGO tickets (July 21) and the Dog Days of Summer with free activities for four-legged friends (Aug. 1, 10 a.m. to noon). <\/p>\n

July 25 will additionally mark the venue’s official Birthday Celebration with activities from 10 a.m. to noon (plus free cupcakes) among other surprises. And last but not least for the sunnier seasons, the city’s 52 Weeks of Firsts will host its First Selfie Firstival at the Square on Aug. 22.<\/p>\n

The celebration will honor Philadelphia innovator Robert Cornelius, who captured the world\u2019s first selfie in 1839 using a homemade camera in his own backyard. The celebration starts off with an opening ceremony at 11 a.m., followed by storytelling from Once Upon A Nation, family-friendly activities, live entertainment, and more. Guests can snap their own selfies at themed stations and alongside the \u201c#1\u201d sculpture by Alana Bograd, created with Mural Arts Philadelphia<\/a> for the occasion.<\/p>\n

To learn more information on Franklin Square\u00a0 historicphiladelphia.org<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: City expands \u2018Weeknights Live\u2019 to boost nightlife, support local artists<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tFranklin Square,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia events,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Historic Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philly family events,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t things to do in Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philly parks,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t summer events Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t lantern festival Philly,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Franklin Square anniversary\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Franklin Square is celebrating 20 years in 2026, and to mark the occasion, it’s throwing a season full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[20337,73336,32133,73335,69,73332,53163,71,70,73333,62164,73334,69783],"class_list":{"0":"post-162510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-franklin-square","9":"tag-franklin-square-anniversary","10":"tag-historic-philadelphia","11":"tag-lantern-festival-philly","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-chinese-lantern-festival","14":"tag-philadelphia-events","15":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","16":"tag-philadelphia-news","17":"tag-philly-family-events","18":"tag-philly-parks","19":"tag-summer-events-philadelphia","20":"tag-things-to-do-in-philadelphia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}