NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Get Outdoors

Apple-picking, hayrides, leaf-peeping and more 🍁

For the ultimate autumnal experience, travel outside the city to visit some farms and villages throughout the region.

Pumpkin- and apple-picking, hayrides and more await at Pumpkinland at Linvilla Orchards (Sept. 11–Nov. 7).

Later on, from November 6–7, enjoy all the benefits of the fruit-picking season at Peddler’s Village’s Apple Weekend, which feeds visitors with all the apple-based things you can imagine: apple pies, apple fritters, apple cider, apple butter and the list goes on and on … 🍎

Fairmount Park is an idyllic spot to spend a warm Saturday or Sunday afternoon this fall. You could just show up and set out on one of its many hiking trails, or plan your day around some events. Here’s an idea: Veteran hike leader Brad Maule leads a once-monthly Morning on the Meadows hike to view the sunrise over Philly from the Belmont Plateau. This digital guide will tell you all you need to know to get the most out of the park.

You could live in Wissahickon Park for an entire year and never run out of things to do—whether it’s hiking one of its 50 miles of rugged, breathtaking trails, biking along Forbidden Drive, horseback riding, spin and fly fishing in Wissahickon Creek, or trying to find as many of the 200 species of birds that live in the park as you can. We also recommend Sunday brunch at the oh-so-homey Valley Green Inn, which sits at the base of several hiking trails and streams to explore.

For even more, Philadelphia is surrounded by breathtaking places to get out around trees, open land, rivers and streams. Check out this guide by local nature hound Jared Brey for ideas on where to go hiking near Philadelphia—including Tohickon Valley Park, Hickory Run State Park and that place where the rocks actually sing to you.

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Fall in Philadelphia

Fall in Philadelphia

The biggest and best fall festival, arts openings, concerts and more happening this fall in Philly

BY Josh Middleton

with help from Christina Griffith and Lauren McCutcheon

Oct. 25, 2022

Print

Fall in Philadelphia is lots of things. It’s back to school, and weekends back in the city. It’s the Birds. It’s the Phillies. (Let’s go, baby!) It’s your last best chance for the very best food from your local farmers market. It’s the start of the season for major arts and cultural institutions: The Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Ballet, Philadanco.

In Philly, as everywhere across America, autumn also means pumpkin spice and pumpkin picking (just outside town), maybe a haunted penitentiary or two. To us at The Philadelphia Citizen, it means getting ready for our big, amazing, signature Ideas We Should Steal Festival on December 15 (more on that soon).

Scroll down for all of this and more. But first, a word from our collective conscience:

If you do only one thing at all this fall, make it be voting on Election Day on November 8, 2022. (Or, if it applies, the last day to register to vote, October 24, 2022.)

Our city depends on it. Our democracy depends on it.

Now, onto the fun stuff:

THINGS TO DO THIS FALL IN PHILLY

MAJOR ART EXHIBITS IN PHILLY THIS FALL

Back in the day, we called exhibitions like the ones opening soon at the Barnes and the Philadelphia Museum of art blockbusters.

This photo accompanies a writeup in a guide about what to do this fall in Philadelphia about where to go hiking outside the city.
Looking to go hiking outside of Philadelphia. Your options are nearly limitless. | Photo by Jon Flobrant / Unsplash

Go for a hike to enjoy nature and peep some leaves, all season long
Philadelphia is surrounded by breathtaking places to get out around trees, open land, rivers and streams. Check out this guide by local nature hound Jared Brey for ideas on where to go hiking near Philadelphia, including Tohickon Valley Park, Hickory Run State Park and that place where the rocks actually sing to you.

Neighborhood residents rake leaves at a park in Cobbs Creek on Love Your Park Fall Service Day.
Do something nice for your community this fall, like organizing a street cleanup or raking leaves at your local park. | Photo by Steve Belkowitz / Fairmount Park Conservancy

Step up your citizenship this fall, all season long
Commit to doing something for your community to boost your citizenship this fall. You could start one of those cute little free libraries in your neighborhood, or establish a community fridge to help feed those in need. You could also organize a street cleanup. We have lots of other ideas about how to be more civically engaged here.

Bikers ride through the Wissahickon Park in Philadelphia
Forbidden Drive in Fairmount Park’s Wissahickon | Photo by J. Fusco / Visit Philadelphia

Take in endless nature in the Wissahickon
You could be in the Wiss for an entire year and never run out of things to do. Hike one of its 50 miles of rugged, breathtaking trails. Bike Forbidden Drive. Or ride a horse there. Spin and fly fish in the creek. Watch 200 species of birds that live in the park. Also recommended: Sunday brunch at the Valley Green Inn, at the base of hiking trails and streams to explore.

The Trolley Trail in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park
Wanna escape the city? Fairmount Parks lush trails give you that opportunity without having to wander too far away.

Explore fall foliage and a Philly sunrise in Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is an idyllic spot to spend a warm Saturday or Sunday afternoon this fall. You could just show up and set out on one of its many hiking trails, or plan your day around some events. Here’s an idea: Veteran hike leader Brad Maule leads a once-monthly Morning on the Meadows hike to view the sunrise over Philly from the Belmont Plateau. This digital guide will tell you all you need to know to get the most out of the park.

NOVEMBER 2022

Here before we knew it: Winter stuff.

  • November 1: The Wintergarden on the Greenfield Lawn opens at Dilworth Park
  • November 4: Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink and Cabin open at Dilworth Park
  • November 20: The Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market starts at Dilworth Park
  • November 21: The Deck the Hall Light Show starts glowing up City Hall
A whole weekend of events surrounds the 2022 Philadelphia Marathon | Photo by M. Edlow / Visit Philadelphia

Hoof it during Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, November 18–20
One of the country’s premier — and most scenic — running events typically sends 30,000 athletes through historic Center City, past the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Boathouse Row. The weekend includes an 8K race, half-marathon, a Kids Fun Run and the Health & Fitness Expo.

The Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade rolls through town on November 24 | Photo by J. Fusco / Visit Philadelphia

Welcome the holidays @ the Thanksgiving Day Parade, November 24
The nation’s oldest continuous Thanksgiving Day parade — originally founded in 1920 — brings larger-than-life floats, spectacular marching bands, dazzling dancers, a smattering of celebs, and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

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