Talk about a great kick off to the holiday shopping season.
“I’m honored, proud, and excited,” Ellen Shepp said Monday morning. “I mean … I’m really over the moon.”z
Walking into a great clothing store, New York Times cultural trend reporter Steven Kurutz said, is like being “transported to a different world.” It “will make you think about who you are — and may change that perspective in real time.”
The interior of Joan Shepp at 1905 Walnut St. The 53-year-old store made the New York Times’ list of “50 Best Clothing Stores in America.”
And yes, walking into Rittenhouse Square’s Joan Shepp does feel like stepping into a sartorial fairytale, which you can leave holding a Yohji Yamamoto hoodie that doubles as a dress, or a perfectly tailored asymmetrical shirt dress from Sacai New York.
Everything is dreamy, but nothing comes cheap.
Back in the 1970s, Shepp opened her store to challenge the way the suburban career woman dressed in Philly and introduced her to designer wear, from Yohji Yamamoto to Maison Margiela. One of the earliest entrepreneurs to embrace the store-within-a-store approach to retail, Shepp made space for collections like Yamamoto’s Y-3 and Donna Karan’s Urban Zen.
The clothing sold alongside furniture, bedding, and candles, making Joan Shepp one of the region’s earliest concept boutiques.
Joan Shepp founded the store in 1971. She was a 30-year-old single mother of two young children in need of a flexible work schedule that allowed her time for school pickup and drops, to help her daughters with homework, and make them dinner.
Joan Shepp and her daughter Ellen Shepp, shown here in their Center City store.
“I have so much fun finding things that are new,” she said to The Inquirer in 2022. “I listen to everyone who comes into my store. I watch them go through the racks. And whether/if they are a customer or a person who wants to open a store down the street, I can pick up on it.”
Hers is the only store on the Times list from the Philly region.
The closest is 7017 Reign in Fort Lee, N.J., described by the Times as an “under the radar, street and high fashion” specialty store. There are a handful of stores from downtown New York, but most are in the Midwest and California.
To produce the list, the Times team selected 120 stores, and then sent reporters, editors, and contributors to visit each of them, sometimes more than once.
A videographer visited Joan Shepp in early fall, shortly after the store moved to its new home at 1905 Walnut St.
Noting that Joan Shepp has been in business for more than 50 years — the specialty boutique is in the midst of celebrating its 53rd year — Kurutz wrote “Shepp has flavors of Barneys New York in its heyday.”
The Barney comparison wowed Ellen Shepp. Christmas had no doubt arrived early for the boutique owner and her team.
“The whole time they were like, ‘Listen we don’t know whether/if you made this list,’” she said. “They kept it a mystery until right this second.”
The biggest question of Christmas isn’t whether Santa Claus exists. It’s whether to display a real or a fake Christmas tree.
Though many households in the United States have switched to artificial ones, for the purists who splurge each year on the real thing, it’s time to start shopping.
The Philadelphia region offers a number of farms where you can cut down your own tree or find a wide selection of pre-cut varieties — including delivery.
We’ve found farms across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, all within about an hour of Center City. And we’ve included a couple of options where you can buy a fresh-cut tree right in Philadelphia, too. Here’s where to get a real Christmas tree in the region.
Rocky Yo-Mo of South Philadelphia, owner of Rocky YoMo’s Christmas Trees, takes a photo with Britni Volkman of South Philadelphia, with the tree she purchased in 2019.
Looking for fresh-cut Frasier firs in Philly? Check out Rocky YoMo’s selection in South Philly at Front Street and Washington Avenue. Payments are done in cash. If you don’t have a car, you can still pick a tree and get it delivered to your home for free.
While most people buy their Christmas trees from nearby farms, this pop-up tree seller sources them from the places they’re native to. For instance, Trev’s Trees gets its Douglas firs from places like Oregon and Pennsylvania, its Fraser firs from North Carolina, and its balsams from near Lake Erie. This means you get high-quality pre-cut trees with ease. Typical sizes cost around $120 or less, but Trev’s also offers trees reaching 13- or 14-feet tall for up to $350.
The Christmas Tree Stand is a family business known for its delivery and setup services. They specialize in premium Fraser and Douglas firs, from cozy 3-foot apartment-friendly options to grand 15-foot showstoppers. Visit the Fishtown or West Chester locations to select your perfect tree, or schedule a Christmas tree delivery on the website. Next-day delivery options are available in most areas for orders placed by 4 p.m.
💵 $75 and up,📍Fishtown: 1727 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122 or 📍West Chester: 62 E. Street Rd., West Chester, Pa. 19382, ⌚ West Chester: Mon.-Fri., 1 p.m.-7 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m.-7 p.m., or ⌚ Fishtown: Mon.-Fri., 4 p.m.-8 p.m., Sat.-Sun., noon-8 p.m. 🌐 thechristmastreestand.com
This Yardley farm offers a dozen varieties of trees. Swing by any day of the week, before 4:30 p.m., to choose your own tree for staff to cut, or select a pre-cut option. And if you need delivery, call to schedule. The farm makes fresh wreaths daily, too.
This Buckingham farm is entering its 62nd holiday season with a wide variety of trees. Visit the farm to pick a pre-cut tree or balled and burlapped tree and claim a free holiday mug while supplies last. Cut your own blue spruce, Fraser fir, white pine, or Norway spruce on the first two weekends of the season. There is also a holiday shop.
An hour west of Philadelphia is Clark’s Christmas Tree Farm, a 25-acre family business offering Douglas, Canaan, and Fraser firs, pre-cut or take a wagon out to cut one yourself. Prices are based on the tree height. Once there, you can check out the 3,000-square-foot gift shop, with more than 100,000 items including decorative ornaments like bearded dragons, horseshoe crabs, and dinosaurs.
Hop onto a wagon to the cut-your-own (saws provided) tree section of this 200-acre Chester County farm, which is open Friday through Sunday. Choose from a variety of firs, like Douglas, Frazier, and Canaan, as well as blue spruce and Norway spruce. Wreaths, decorations, and other items are available at the gift shop. Tree bailing and help loading your vehicle also offered, and pets on a leash welcome.
Take a tour across 55 acres, pick your favorite pre-cut or cut-your-own tree, and warm up with free hot cocoa. At any given time, at least four varieties of trees are for sale, as well as a selection of wreaths.
This family-owned business has two locations to cut your own tree plus a pre-cut tree lot. The West Chester farm offers Douglas firs averaging 7-feet tall, and the Cochranville location has trees up to 10-feet tall. The pre-cut lot in West Chester has Douglas and Fraser firs up to 12 feet available daily (Pre-cut lot: Mon.-Fri., 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-9 p.m.) at 1301 West Chester Pike.
Cut your own Fraser, Douglas, Nordmann, concolor, or Canaan fir, or pick out a fresh-cut Douglas or Fraser fir at this Phoenixville farm. For folks looking for family-friendly activities, hayrides run every weekend 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Santa visits between noon to 3 p.m. on select weekends. Plus, enjoy a drive ($25-$30 per vehicle) or hayride ($15 per person) through the holiday light show a mile long across the 60-acre Christmas tree farm. There are so many lights that the owners lost count at well over 100,000.
Linvilla returns with free family hayrides to the Christmas tree fields, where you can cut your own trees daily (Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-4 p.m.). Most trees are Douglas firs ranging from 5- to 8-feet tall. Offering more varieties, Linvilla’s pre-cuts are also available daily with extended hours on Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. Be sure to stop by Linvilla’s Farm Market, where you’ll find baked goods, gift baskets, and more. Make it an all-day adventure by visiting the winter makers market (Fri.-Sun., through Dec. 21) and the ice-skating rink ($13 per person). Santa will also make appearances.
Corkum Tree Farm has delighted patrons for more than 30 years. Enjoy hot cider as you take your pick of cut-your-own Douglas fir, white pine, and blue and Norway spruce trees. There are four varieties of pre-cut fir trees to select from. Inside the barn, you’ll find fresh wreaths and holly and hand-knit hats, scarves, and mittens, and fair-trade ornaments. A second farm location offers choose-and-cut trees up to 14-feet tall.
💵 $13 per foot, $60-$200 for balled and burlapped trees,📍Main farm: 797 Bridge Rd., Collegeville, Pa. 19426, or 📍 Second farm: 3934 Mill Rd., Collegeville, Pa. 19426 ⌚ Main farm: Mon.-Tues., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Wed.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., or ⌚ Second farm: Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 📞 610-715-4640, 🌐 corkumtreefarm.com
About 30 miles from Center City, Hague’s offers cut-your-own Nordmann fir, Scotch pine, white pine, Eastern red cedar, white spruce, or blue spruce trees, and a variety of pre-cut trees. (Cut-your-own ends before 4:30 p.m. each day.) Be sure to shop the award-winning handmade wreaths and check out wreath-making and tree-decorating classes in the heated barn.
A fourth-generation, 160-acre farm, Westlake offers pre-cut and cut-your-own Canaan or concolor firs. Afterward, check out the Christmas Barn, where families can enjoy a complimentary visit with Santa (through Dec. 7), watch trains, and browse an assortment of ornaments and gifts.
You’d have to walk 13 miles to see every tree in this farm’s 16-acre field in Gloucester County. Cut your own with a provided saw or bring your own. All trees on the farm are available for purchase — all priced at $60 no matter the size. The farm strongly recommends that you arrive before 4 p.m.
Offering pre-cut and cut-your-own trees, Exley’s welcomes families to two locations for Christmas trees and holiday activities. On weekends at the Sewell farm, you can hop on a hayride to Santa Land and see holiday-themed houses. The Monroeville farm has a gingerbread house and other holiday attractions perfect for photo opportunities. Both farms feature visits with Santa on weekends.
💵 Depends on the size,📍 1535 Tanyard Rd., Sewell, N.J. 08080 or📍1512 Monroeville Rd., Monroeville, N.J. 08343, ⌚ Tues.-Sun., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for pre-cut; Fri.-Sun. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. for cut-your-own, 📞 856-468-5949, 🌐 exleyschristmastreefarms.com
Pick a tree and enjoy a sleigh ride along a decorated path toward the Christmas trees at this small, family-owned farm in Gloucester County. Blue and Norway spruces and concolor and Canaan firs are available to cut yourself or get a pre-cut, with no tree more than 9 feet. Cash and Venmo only.
💵 $80 and under,📍 101 Idle Lake Rd., Franklinville, N.J. 08322, ⌚ Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 📞 609-685-6234, 🌐 facebook.com
This article has been updated since it was first published. Former staff writers Grace Dickinson and Jillian Wilson contributed to this article, as did Steven White.
Patti Smith stood onstage at the Met Philadelphia on Saturday during her 50th anniversary tour for her 1975 album Horses. She recalled her elementary school report cards when she was growing up in Germantown in the 1950s.
“They would always say, ‘Patti Lee shows a lot of potential, but she daydreams too much,’” she said. “‘Will she amount to anything?’”
The revered punk poet and undiminished life force, who will turn 79 on Dec. 30, smiled and looked out at the cheering sold-out crowd, mirroring their affection.
“You are my answer,” she said.
Philadelphia was the final stop on the Horses tour, commemorating the majestic John Cale-produced album with an iconic cover photo by Robert Mapplethorpe that lit the fuse for a punk rock conflagration to come.
Smith came onstage dressed in black jeans and a suit jacket, accompanied by her band, with original 1970s members Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty on guitar and drums, joined by her son, Jackson Smith, on guitar, and Tony Shanahan on bass and keyboard.
They started with “Gloria,” Smith’s reworked version of the 1964 Van Morrison-penned Them hit that began, as always, with the still startling declaration, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” She then went on to take responsibility for her own actions, seeking rock and roll salvation on her own terms.
“My sins, my own,” she sang in a voice that has lowered in register in the last half century but lost none of its power. She often sounded as if she were channeling otherworldly spirits.
“They belong to me,” she sang.
Patti Smith and her band perform “Horses” on its 50th anniversary at the Met Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
The band steadily built to a roar, with Kaye and Shanahan chiming in along with the crowd on chanted vocals.
Track one, side one. “G-L-O-R-I-A!” — catharsis was already achieved.
The eight-song Horses was performed in its entirety, essentially straight through but with a few songs flip-flopped in order. “Free Money,” about dreaming of hitting the lottery and lifting her family up financially, preceded the epic improvised-in-the-studio “Birdland.” For that song, Smith put on glasses to read out the rapid-fire incantatory lyrics from one of her own books, as the song built to a crescendo.
There was little chitchat during Horses itself, save for a dedication of “Elegie” to Jimi Hendrix and a story about hanging out in the 1970s with the late Television guitarist Tom Verlaine at a Manhattan magazine shop called Flying Saucer News. The duo teamed to write “Break It Up,” a song inspired by Smith’s dream of coming upon a marble statue of Jim Morrison, “like Prometheus in chains, with long flowing hair,” lying in a clearing in the woods.
Horses built to a climax with “Land,” complete with its ecstatic “Do the Watusi” romp through Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1000 Dances” and a reprise of “Gloria.” Then, Smith took a break.
While offstage, the band served up a treat: a three-song tribute to Television, the Smith group’s “sister band” with whom it shared a four-nights-a-week residency at CBGB in New York in 1975. Kaye and Shanahan took turns on vocals on “See No Evil,” “Friction,” and “Marquee Moon,” and Kaye and Jackson Smith (who shone throughout the evening) paid aural homage to Verlaine and Richard Lloyd’s guitar interplay.
Patti Smith and her band perform “Horses” on its 50th anniversary at the Met Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
The second half of the two-hour-plus show surveyed Smith’s five-decade post-Horses career, with ‘70s rock radio hits like “Dancing Barefoot” and her Bruce Springsteen co-write “Because the Night.” That was dedicated to her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith, and included an exultant, crowd-pleasing declaration that she was back onstage in the city that shaped her “because the night belongs to Philadelphia.”
“Ain’t It Strange” and “Pissing in the River,” two songs from 1976’s Horses follow-up Radio Ethiopia were included, both holding up well in stately versions. The latter included an origin story about Smith walking to school with her sisters and being afraid of high winds blowing them into Wissahickon Creek.
Smith explained that “Peaceable Kingdom” — a song that shares a title with a painting by Quaker artist Edward Hicks at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts — was written “for the Palestinian people” with Shanahan “with great hope” in 2003.
“Now,” she said, “we sing it with great sorrow.”
A slowed, and somber, segment of “People Have the Power,” her populist anthem penned with her late husband, was added onto the end of the prayerlike song.
For an encore, Smith brought out her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith — who will join the singer and author, Jackson Smith, and Shanahan at Marian Anderson Hall on Monday for a “Songs & Stories” performance that kicks off a book tour for her new memoir, Bread of Angels.
Together with Kaye, Smith sang “Ghost Dance,” a song from 1978’s Easter that she said the two wrote “with great respect and love for the Hopi tribe.” She urged that “we need to be diligent” in resisting “our present administration who show no empathy, respect, or love for our Native Americans.”
That was followed by the full-on, rocked-out “People Have the Power,” for which the band was joined by New Jersey guitarist and longtime Smith associate James Mastro.
But before leaping into her testament of faith in democratic ideals that name-checked the Declaration of Independence and Independence Hall, Smith had a few more words for the city where “I discovered art, and battled bullies.”
“I’m just so happy to be in Philadelphia,” she said. “In 1967, I had to leave Philadelphia to look for a job. I got on the Greyhound bus and went to New York City. I was 20 years old and I built a new life, … but it all began with that decision to get on that bus. And I might have left Philadelphia physically, but it’s always been in my heart.”
“People Have the Power” was reliably inspiring, stirring the heart with marching music fit for taking to the streets. But Smith took the extra step of adding a closer that she often covered in her mid-1970s Horses era: the Who’s “My Generation.”
“Hope I die before I get old,” she sang, gleefully echoing Pete Townshend’s 1960s youth culture mantra. But then, she added her own in-song commentary that playfully raised the possibility of future Horses anniversary tours just as thrilling as this one.
“And I am old!” Smith shouted. “And I’m going to get older! I’m going to live to a hundred and two!”
Songs & Stories with Patti Smith: Bread of Angels Book Tour at Marian Anderson Hall, 300 S. Broad St. at 7 p.m. Monday. ensembleartsphilly.org.
Jake Weinstein and his dad, Gregory Weinstein, both spend a lot of time thinking about robots.
Jake, an art student, has been drawing robots since he was young, inspired after watching Star Wars films like A New Hope and Return of the Jedi with Gregory, an avid sci-fi fan. The idea of a friendly robot like C-3PO or R2-D2 stuck with the curious kid who was constantly doodling.
His parents were “signing me up for arts classes as soon as I could walk,” said Jake, who grew up in Gladwyne. Robots were a frequent subject in his drawing, sculpture, and illustration pursuits.
That passion may have developed partially through osmosis.
Gregory Weinstein is a pioneer of robotic surgery for addressing head and neck cancer at the University of Pennsylvania. He regularly operates an advanced machine’s tiny, precise arms to remove tumors from patients’ throats.
“Jake heard about robots from the very beginning because my wife [Penn radiologist Susan Weinstein] and I were constantly talking about it,” said the surgeon, who now lives in Wayne.
Jake Weinstein and his father Gregory Weinstein at Works on Paper Gallery in Center City.
By the time Jake got to high school, he couldn’t wait to try robotics to see if the technology he imagined matched up with reality. But the experience was deflating.
“I was a little annoyed that the robots didn’t look pretty enough, and the goal was to shoot a ball into a net. Who cares?” said the now 24-year-old Penn student who lives in University City. “I want to see something walking and talking. It was an arm on wheels and no personality. They put me to sleep.”
Enrolling in a joint program with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Jake designed his own machines on paper. They were humanistic and expressive; a tender dome-headed machine holding a purple flower or a goofy dancer squatting as if mid-“Thriller.” Another appears with one green eye, surrounded by industrial clouds of meticulous, minimalist lines — the giant may seem intimidating, but it’s focused on the smaller robot in its palm; Jake named the piece The Caretaker.
CR4DL3-11 is artist Jake Weinstein’s favorite. It is an ink, pencil and marker on paper, in a “Cradle” frame made from wood, paint and objects mounted to a painted wood base.
His work soon caught the attention of Evan Slepian, who runs the Works on Paper Gallery in Rittenhouse and often features PAFA students. (Robots have also been a subject of his previous shows.)
The gallerist has served as a mentor to Jake over the past four months as they developed his first solo exhibit “Clanker,” running through Dec. 31. (The derogatory term for robots — derived from Star Wars, too — has become a frequent punchline across the internet.)
The show spotlights Jake’s sculpture work, too, with elaborate frames made from found wood and recycled objects that frame his drawings as well as toddler-size painted wooden and aluminum robots. Slepian says the show is performing well, with sculptures selling around $1,300 and framed ink drawings, around $2,100.
A few of Jake’s drawings pull directly from his dad’s surgery work, depicting centimeter-long metal arms conducting surgery to replace the lungs and brain with machines.
Weinstein uses found wood and recycled materials to frame his ink drawings like a cradle.
Gregory finds his son’s creative visions delightful. The surgeon — a third-generation doctor from Staten Island — has fond memories of his own art classes in youth. He even contributed his own artistic efforts along his medical career: His first academic paper featured his own illustrations of an operation his colleague from Paris conducted on a cadaver.
“You would have been the fourth generation of doctors … but as you grew up, I thought, ‘Well, that’s a silly idea.’ I just want you to do work you’re going to be happy from,” Gregory said to Jake on a recent Thursday at the gallery, adding that his grandfather dabbled in art, too.
“My grandfather was an incredibly good artist. He wanted to study art when he and my grandmother met,” Gregory recalled, chuckling. “My grandmother said, ‘Unless you become a doctor, I won’t marry you.’”
Gregory, however, always encouraged his son’s artistry.
“We did lots of Legos together. That was like a father-son thing, so I guess he did introduce me to some form of sculpture,” said Jake.
Painted wood sculptured by Jake Weinstein.
Beyond his gallery show, Jake is also one of the artists helping to build a new arts venue in a historic bank in Old City called the Ministry of Awe, led by Philly muralist Meg Saligman.
Jake’s art has resonated at a time when artificial intelligence has become widely accessible and the prospect of advanced robotics seems to inch ever closer to the futuristic world of The Jetsons. Still, he remains optimistic about the future.
“Through this narrative [in the show], it’s like, ‘Let’s try and be friends with the robots. Let’s work with them. Let’s not work against them,’” he said.
His plans for the forthcoming holiday season? Another ambitious Lego project with dad.
“Jake Weinstein: Clanker” is on view through Dec. 31 at Works on Paper Gallery, 1611 Walnut St., Mezzanine, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 215-988-9999 or wpartcollection.com.
In northern Massachusetts, just below the Vermont border, the Berkshires have been a four-season destination for as long as tourism has existed in America. Over the last couple of decades, greasy spoons, summer camps, and old motor lodges have given way to trendier offerings across North Adams, Lenox, and Williamstown.
The region’s recent renaissance coincides with its rise as a cultural hub — and, more recently, an escape hatch for New Yorkers and Bostonians during the pandemic. Why should they have all the fun? At roughly four hours from Philly, the Berkshires make an easy late-fall weekend trip. You may still catch a few lingering leaves, and with any luck, an early dusting of snow. Dress warm — you’ll want plenty of time outdoors.
With its low-slung, mid-century silhouette, TOURISTS Welcome almost blends into the forested landscape behind Route 2. That’s intentional, since this property (reborn in 2018 from a 1960s motor lodge) is all about the outdoors, offering guided Appalachian Trail hikes, waterfall meditations, and a cinematic suspension bridge strung across the Hoosic River. Inside, Scandi-meets-rustic comfort reigns: fireplaces, worn-in leather, raw wood, and window nooks perfect for reading. It works just as well for families (skip the amaro cocktails) as it does for weekending stylists.
While the picturesque landscapes bring many to the Berkshires, MASS MoCA has functioned as the area’s other magnet since its debut in 1999. Located in a former industrial mill complex, it’s one of the most lauded contemporary visual art museums in the country, filled with (and sometimes seemingly constructed from) colossal installations you can literally get lost in. Don’t miss the immersive light works by James Turrell.
Just a short walk from MASS MoCA, Steeple City Social lures visitors with the scent of cinnamon and coffee — and a menu that runs from thick biscuit sandwiches and sticky buns to savory cheddar-and-pickle scones. The pies by the slice are excellent, and a rotating selection of vintage housewares lines one wall. At night, the café shifts to spritzy cocktails and potatoes with caviar dip.
📍 5 Eagle St., North Adams, Mass. 01247
Walk: The Clark Institute Sculpture Park
Not to be outdone by MASS MoCA, the Clark Institute is the other destination museum of the Berkshires, with a collection of American and English art that includes a striking bronze cast of Degas’ Little Dancer. But the real magic — especially for families — lies outside. Its 140-acre sculpture park is free, filled with meadows, storybook woods, and walking trails that are especially enchanting with a little snow on the ground. The museum provides snowshoes.
Pop a bottle of sour quince, crabapple-and-McIntosh pét-nat, sparkling rosé, or one of the other exciting ciders at Berkshire Cider Project. The young cidery’s tasting room is open on Saturdays and Sundays at Greylock WORKS, a former textile mill-turned-artisan hive.
📍 508 State Rd., North Adams, Mass. 01247
Splurge: Miraval Berkshires
A Relax & Renew day pass at Miraval Berkshires — a nationally respected spa retreat in Lenox — isn’t cheap ($509 Sundays–Fridays; $539 Saturdays). But it includes $230 in credits for treatments (mineral body peels, birch-and-juniper foot massages), fee-based activities (falconry, golf), scheduled classes (yoga, rock climbing), full access to spa amenities, lunch, and gratuities. You can easily spend the entire day here. Consider it an early holiday gift to yourself.
If you love a cozy pub, you’ll love Water Street Grill. Historic building? Check. Friendly hospitality that makes you feel like a regular? Check. Creamy clam chowder you’d be happy to drown in? Check. At WSG, which lives in a wood-clad, century-old building, the 21 taps spout craft beers from here and away, the wings wear eight different sauces, and the meatloaf comes smothered in bourbon-kissed mushroom gravy.
On a recent Thursday evening, Philadelphia art collector William Skeet Jiggetts sat in the foyer of Awbury Arboretum’s Francis Cope House surrounded by grand collages taken from the walls ofhisEast Falls home.
The art — all made by living artists and friends of Jiggetts — is striking. A framed paper and antique lace dress by textile artist Rosalind “Nzinga” Vaughn-Nicole sits next to portrait-size cameos that mixed media artist Danielle Scott fashioned from newspapers and other found objects.
A guest looks at artwork collected by William Skeet Jiggetts during the Museum of African American Art Collections’ inaugural exhibit at the Awbury Arboretum in East Germantown.
Jiggetts, 57, an art collector for more than 30 years, has had pieces from his collection on display in small shows, but never in his wildest dreams did he think that they would anchor an exhibition — in a traveling museum that he founded.
While the Barnes Foundation houses the late chemist and art collector Albert C. Barnes’ collection, there are very few other — if any — museums whose walls are solely dedicated to the collections of collectors. Nomadic, traveling museums, at that.
“It got to the point where I had more art than walls,” Jiggetts said looking over his black-framed glasses. “Nobody saw it … I didn’t even see it. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool for a bunch of collectors to get together and create a space to show our work. Tell our story?’”
Guest look at art work during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
Jiggetts got the itch to show his collection in the early 2020s after talking with colleagues who wanted to show theirs, too. In 2023 he set up a foundation, started approaching collectors, and began nailing down locations.
“There is a treasure trove of African American art in our living rooms, in our reading rooms, and in our dens that need to be shared,” Jiggetts said. “The Museum of African American Art Collections is a forum to host these collections and tell the stories that come with them.”
That’s how the Museum of African American Art Collections began.
A $200 frame and an obsession
Jiggetts, who works as a tax accountant, grew up in Germantown and spent Sunday afternoons at the Philadelphia Art Museum gazing at the impressionist works of Manet and Monet.
When he was in his 20s, he bought a poster of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. “I spent $200 of 1989 money on that frame,” he said with a laugh. That purchase marked the beginning of an obsession. He bought his first piece of original art from Germantown painter Lucien Crump Jr., who, according to a 2006 Inquirer obituary, owned the first gallery in the city dedicated to Black art.
Jiggetts scoured galleries and festivals for original art, buying any piece that tickled his fancy for under $500. In the early 2000s, his mentors — well known Philadelphia appraiser Barbara Wallace and the late African American collector Ronald Ollie — urged him to start evaluating his choices and he became a serious art collector.
“I figured out what it was I really liked,” Jiggetts said, describing his favorite pieces as ones that marry impressionist and abstract art, like the ones on display at Awbury Arboretum. “I realized I enjoyed the experience of buying art as much as the art. I like the company of artists.”
His collection is comprised of mostly living artists like the mixed media artist Danielle Scott; abstract painter Ben F. Jones; and Paul Goodnight, who is known for his colossal oil paintings featured in the backdrops of TV shows like Seinfeld and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. (Although Jiggetts does have a pencil sketch by the late Bahamian artist Purvis Young.)
Graphic designer for the Museum of African American Art Collections, Staci Cherry, places labels for the art collection from Stephanie Daniel during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. The piece in the center is the Dox Thrash mezzotint.
Keepers of history
Collectors are the glue that keep the fine arts ecosystem — artists, patrons, buyers, gallerists, and museum creators — connected and running.
They are often patrons of the arts like James J. Maguire and his late wife, Frances, investing in artists and art institutions, building impressive art collections in their homes. Collectors Adrian Moody and Robyn Jones connect artists to buyers at Jenkintown’s Moody Jones Gallery, but their personal collection has more than 400 pieces.
Art collectors Adrian Moody and Robyn Jones during the Museum of African American Art Collections’ inaugural exhibit at the Awbury Arboretum in East Germantown.
“Collectors drive the market,” said Valerie Gay, chief cultural officer for the city of Philadelphia. “They have the power to catapult an artist from obscurity to a household name.”
It’s the Black collector who discovers artists at street fairs, off-the-beaten-path galleries, hair salons, and their friend’s basement.
Their interest — like mid-20th-century author Ralph Ellison’s enthusiasm for Harlem Renaissance-era oil on canvas master Romare Bearden — brings artists’ work to a wider audience that can lead to cementing an artist’s place in the fine arts canon. Their picks speak to the collective Black experience, shaping Black America’s historical image.
“They are the keepers of our history,” Green said. “Mediators who carry the work forward and continue the legacy.”
A guest walks past art collected by Diana Tyson during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. Artis Beverly McCutcheon created Dad (left) and a piece titled Untitled.
Setting value
The Black collectors’ library, Jiggetts says, is the first stop on living artists’ journeys to corporate boardrooms or the walls of major museums. “Our role is that of an economist,” Jiggetts said. “We set the value.”
Collectors shared their experiences over white wine and sweet potato cupcakes on opening night.
Daniel — whose collection features local masters — spoke effusively about her Dox Thrash mezzotint. She will never let the print by the important early 20th-century Black artist go, she said. Robyn Jones interpreted the Jesse Read and Antoinette Ellis-Williams vibrant abstracts. (This reporter thought both of those pieces were images of shoes.)
Art collector Stephanie A. Daniel with Samuel Benson’s.Gay Head Cliffs MV painting during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
The concept of a collectors museum is a new one. Black collectors are not.
“We’ve always collected our work,” Jiggetts said, stressing that these times require Black people to be stewards of their own stories.
“At the Museum of African American Art Collections, no one can tell us what to do, what not to do, and what we need to do differently. We don’t have to worry about having it being taken away. It’s ours.”
The Museum of African American Art Collections, through Dec. 31, Awbury Arboretum’s Francis Cope House, 1 Awbury Rd., Phila.Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.
The Eagles face the Chicago Bears on Black Friday still in the driver’s seat in the NFC East, but their magic number to clinch the division remains four games following the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving win against the Chiefs.
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Of course, the Eagles are playing for higher stakes than simply winning the division. Entering Friday’s game, the Birds hold the No. 2 spot in the NFC, with head-to-head wins against most of the conference’s top teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions.
The Birds can add the surprising Bears to that list today with a win, while a loss would knock the Eagles down to third place in the NFC with just five more games to go before the playoffs.
The Lions put themselves in a bad position with their loss against the Packers on Thanksgiving. At 7-5, Detroit is suddenly on the outside of the playoffs looking in with a tough schedule that includes games against the Cowboys, Rams, and Bears.
NFC playoff picture
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Week 13: Bears (8-3) at Eagles (8-3)
Where: Lincoln Financial Field
When: 3 p.m., Friday
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video (Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung)
TV: Fox29
Radio: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Devan Kaney)
It shouldn’t be hard to watch or stream Friday’s game. In addition to simulcasting on Fox 29 in and around Philadelphia, Amazon is streaming the game for free globally on its Prime Video platform.
Amazon’s Richard Sherman says Eagles play designs are ‘pretty pedestrian’
Richard Sherman called the Eagles’ offense predictable and “pedestrian.”
“[Eagles offensive coordinator] Kevin Patullo is probably a great dude, a great coach, but there’s an art to play-calling that not everyone has and it’s not showing up this year,” Foles said.
Richard Sherman agrees.
The five-time Pro Bowl defender turned Thursday Night Football analyst said during a conference call earlier this week the design of many Eagles plays are “pretty pedestrian,” allowing defensive backs to “determine route combinations and route concepts” based on how the Birds line up.
The Eagles have the 24th ranked offense in the NFL entering Friday’s game, among a handful of teams averaging less than 200 passing yards per game. Plus, Saquon Barkley isn’t coming close to repeating last year’s dominant 2,000-yard performance.
“Do I think they can repair their offense? No, I don’t,” Sherman said. “I think Kevin Patullo’s the issue, and unless they replace him, nothing’s going to change. They’re going to go home” early in the playoffs.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sherman’s colleague at Amazon who spent 17 seasons as an NFL quarterback, played with Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo during his time in Buffalo. Fitzpatrick said it’s up to Patullo and head coach Nick Sirianni to fix “some missteps,” with their receivers, including getting A.J. Brown ”on a few more out cuts” and “in the slot a little bit more.”
“They’ve got to start in the second half of the season here, breaking some of those bad tendencies,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because you do fall in love with certain routes, with certain guys, because they’re such good players.”
Patti Smith has been associated with New York for her entire public life.
In 1971, her first poetry and music performance was at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery with Lenny Kaye on the guitar. Along with the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, and Blondie, she was a vital force in the mid-1970s CBGB music scene.
And in 1975, she recorded Horses at Electric Lady Studios. That galvanic debut album made her an instant punk rock and feminist hero. On Saturday, she’ll celebrate its 50th anniversary at the Met Philly, with a band that includes Kaye, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, bassist Tony Shanahan, and her son Jackson Smith on guitar.
“People think of me as a New Yorker,” Smith said, in an interview with The Inquirer from her home in New York.
“Well, I’ve lived in New York. But I was pretty much formed by the time I got to New York. The places that helped form me were Philadelphia and rural South Jersey.”
At the Met, Smith and her band will perform Horses in its entirety, starting with the take on Van Morrison’s “Gloria” that introduced her as a brash, provocative artist with one of the most memorable opening lines in rock and roll history: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins … but not mine.”
“It’s going to be a special night, because I hardly ever get to play with my son and daughter,” said Smith, who turns 79 on Dec. 30. “So I’m really, really happy about that, bringing my kids to Philadelphia.”
Bread of Angels, unlike her 2010 National Book Award-winning Just Kids, doesn’t zero in on a particular episode in the storied career of the enduring punk icon.
“Bread of Angels: A Memoir” by Patti Smith. MUST CREDIT: Random House
Instead, Bread takes the full measure of her life. It begins in Chicago where she was born before her parents moved back to Philadelphia while she was a toddler, and turns on a late-in-life DNA revelation that shakes up her conception of her own identity.
“I didn’t plan to do this book,“ Smith said. “Truthfully, it came to me in a dream.”
In her dream, she had written a book telling the story of her life in four sections. She wore a white dress, just as she does on the cover of Bread of Angels, in a 1979 photo taken by Robert Mapplethorpe.
“It was so specific, this dream, that it sort of haunted me. And I felt like it was a sign that perhaps it was a book I should write. …. It took quite a while.”
Bread of Angels is “a love letter to certain places.”
“Philadelphia when I was young,” she said. “I love Philly. And then down in rural South Jersey, and the places in Michigan I lived with my husband.”
Summaries of Smith’s life typically cite that she lived in Germantown before moving first to Pitman and then Deptford Heights in South Jersey, before moving to New York in 1967.
But Smith’s childhood was actually much more peripatetic.
“I think we moved nine times while we were in Philly,” she recalled, including stops in Upper Darby and South Philadelphia.
“My mother had three of us in rapid succession,” said Smith. It was after the war, and a lot of the rooming houses we stayed in absolutely didn’t allow infants, so my mother was always hiding the pregnancy or hiding the baby. And then we’d get found out and have to move again.”
Patti Smith at the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy in 2024.
Her coming of age Philadelphia stories in the book evoke a happy, lower middle class childhood.
Living in a converted soldier’s barracks in Germantown she calls “the Patch,” she once beat all the boys and girls in a running race, but tripped and landed on a piece of glass, leaving blood rushing down her face. She was treated at Children’s Hospital, and rode a bicycle for the first time the following week.
“I left the perimeter of the Patch, pedaled up toward Wayne Avenue,” she writes. “I was six and half years old with seven stitches, and for that one hour, on that two-wheeler, I was a champion.”
On her seventh birthday, her mother, who then worked at the Strawbridge & Clothier department store at Eighth and Market, took her to Leary’s, the Center City bookshop that closed in 1968.
“Oh my gosh it was a wonderful bookshop,” she said. “On your birthday, you had to show your birth certificate and pay $1, and you could fill your shopping bag.”
Her bag, she said, was filled “with some very good books that I still own.”
A copy each of Pinocchio, The Little Lame Prince, an Uncle Wiggily book.
Patti Smith and her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, as pictured in “Bread of Angels,” her new memoir. Smith and her band will play the Met Philly on Nov. 29 on the final date of their tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of her 1975 debut album “Horses.” She will also appear on Dec. 1 at Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center in a Songs & Stories event on her Bread of Angels book tour.
As a Jersey teenager in the early 1960s, she had a crush on a South Philly boy named Butchy Magic. She once got stung by a hornet outside a dance, she writes in the book, and he looked deep into her eyes and pulled the stinger out from her neck.
“This is what the writer craves,” she writes. “A sudden shaft of brightness containing the vibration of a particular moment … Butchy Magic’s fingers extracting the stinger. The unsullied memory of unpremeditated gestures of kindness. These are the bread of angels.”
As in the book, Philadelphia loomed large over Smith’s childhood, well after the family moved to Gloucester County.
“It was our big city. It was where I discovered rock and roll,” she said.
She discovered art when her father Grant and mother Beverly took her and her younger siblings Linda, Kimberly, and Todd to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (now Philadelphia Art Museum). There, she fell for Pablo Picasso, John Singer Sargent, and Amedeo Modigliani.
“Culturally, it was the city that helped form me,” she said.
“It amazes me that half a century has gone by and people are still greatly interested in the material,” she said. “It’s a culmination of a period in my life.”
In 2012, when Smith and her sister Linda took DNA tests, Smith had already begun writing Bread of Angels. The result of the test was a shock: Grant Smith was not her biological father.
Her birth was actually the result of a relationship between Beverly Smith and a handsome Jewish pilot named Sidney who had returned to Philadelphia from World War II.
Bob Dylan and Patti Smith at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in 1995.
“It was completely unexpected,” Smith said. “My mother was a great oral storyteller, but none of her stories gave any indication that I was fathered by a different man. … She certainly kept that a secret from everyone.”
Of the emotions Smith felt, one was “some sorrow,” she said. “Because I loved and admired my father. I felt sad because I didn’t have his blood. But I modeled myself after him so much. All of those things remain.”
She stopped work on Bread of Angels for two years.
“I didn’t know how to deal with it. Is this book false? Do I have to rewrite everything? And then I realized I didn’t have to rewrite anything. My father is still my father. But you can also show gratitude to the man who conceived with my mother. Who gave me life. So I figured it out. I have two fathers.”
Her mother, father, and biological father had all died by the time she learned the news of her parentage.
Some of Smith’s self-confidence — evident in the way she spells out “G-L-O-R-I-A!” — “might have come from the biological father I never knew,” she said. “He was a pilot. When he was young, he had this tough job. I’ve met a few people who knew him. They said he was very kind and good-hearted. He loved art, he loved to travel. He had not a conceited, but a self-confident air.
“I’ve always had that, and wondered where it came from,” she said. “I’ve always possessed that kind of self-confidence. I’ve never had trouble going on stage. So I think I have to salute my blood father, right?”
In Bread of Angels, Smith recalls her early life in Philly, and writes: “I did not want to grow up. I wanted to be free to roam, to construct room by room the architecture of my own world.”
Seven decades later, she’s still doing that, as she continues to create and perform for adoring audiences around the world.
“I have stayed in contact with my 10-year-old self, always,” she said. “I still carry around the girl that had her dog, and slept in the forest, and read [her] books, and got in trouble, and didn’t want to grow up.”
Patti Smith and daughter Jesse Paris Smith in Milan, Italy, in 2019.
She turns 80 next year.
“My hair is gray to platinum. I understand my age. I’ve had my children, and have gone through a lot of different things. But I still know where my 10-year-old self is. I still know how to find her.”
Patti Smith and Her Band perform “Horses” on its 50th anniversary at the Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St. at 8 p.m. Saturday, themetphilly.com.
“Patti Smith: Songs & Stories” at Marian Anderson Hall, 300 S. Broad St., at 7 p.m. Monday, ensembleartsphilly.org
Concert pianist Leon Bates, whose musical authority and far-reaching versatility took him to the world’s greatest concert halls, died Nov. 21 after a seven-year decline from Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
An articulate, charismatic presence, Mr. Bates was a Philadelphia born and educated pianist, and while growing up in Germantown, showed talent as early as age 6.
He started formal study at Settlement Music School and graduated from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music, where he studied under the legendary Natalie Hinderas. In his final student recital, Mr. Bates played Ravel’s fearsome Gaspard de la Nuit.
As a leading figure in the generation of Black pianists who followed the early-1960s breakthrough of Andre Watts, Mr. Bates’ dream-come-true career encompassed Ravel, Gershwin, and Bartok over 10 concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1970 and 2002. He played three recitals with Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and taught master classes at Temple University, where he also gave recitals at the Temple Performing Arts Center.
Though he maintained residency in Philadelphia with his wife and three children in Mount Airy, Mr. Bates toured the great concert halls of Europe, China, South Africa, and America, often playing 100 concerts a year. His forceful repertoire of Rachmaninoff and Liszt was partly enabled by his hobby — body building — and the stamina that came with it.
“What set Leon Bates apart was his genuine character and the way he focused on the music above all else. He impacted countless lives through his generosity, his example, and the depth of his artistry,” wrote his student of 10 years, pianist Dynasty Battles, on Instagram. Beyond that, added Battles, Mr. Bates showed him how every concert program could be “a journey” and that rich, “radical” elements in music were already there to be found.
Pianist Leon Bates in 2018
Mr. Bates’ sense of communication was illustrated by how he embraced outdoor concert settings. In such acoustically risky circumstances, he performed at Chicago’s Grant Park, played Rhapsody in Blue in the July 4, 1995 Concert on the Parkway at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and, with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, had an audience of 20,000 at Rome’s Olympic Stadium.
In less-recreational settings, Mr. Bates’ Philadelphia Chamber Music Society programs were a high-style mixture of the lesser-known and the familiar: Edward MacDowell and Samuel Barber, for example, were followed by the mighty Liszt Sonata in B Minor.
Most adventurous of all was his 2018 recital that he did not personally perform due to his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but had students and other associates step in to play Ives and George Walker. In his prime, Mr. Bates premiered new works by living Black composers such as Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 3 and the Adolphus Hailstork Piano Concerto No. 1, in performances acclaimed for the same commitment he brought to masterworks of the past.
“When you really are involved in the process of making music, it’s something that’s with you when you’re sleeping, when you’re awake, when you’re relaxing, when you’re truly focused on working at the instrument,” he told Chicago-based journalist Brice Duffie during an in-depth 1991 interview. “It is the sum total of all of that time together that really produces what people get when they see the performer come out on stage.”
Besides being a fine pianist, Mr. Bates was also a great talker. He traveled with two prepared lectures — one on the 1954 Brown v. the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional, and the other, titled “American Originals,” on modern American composers.
“Leon offered school shows where he often dressed in the local football team’s jersey. No suits or ties — just to connect visually with the students,” recalled his longtime agent Joanne Rile. In his WRTI-FM radio show titled Notes on Philadelphia during the 1990s, Mr. Bates was what Charles Abramovic, chair of the Temple University keyboard studies, described as “beautifully articulate and a wonderful interviewer. The warmth of personality came out. He was such a natural with that.”
And he was fun, says fellow-Philadelphia-born Lambert Orkis, now professor of piano at Temple, who was among the musicians interviewed on the show.
Even during interviews, the Bates body-building regimen didn’t let up with his squeezing a rubber ball for hand exercise, and inevitably exposing his impressive musculature.
When tapped to choose a Steinway piano to reside at the Temple Performing Arts Center, Mr. Bates “was looking for projection and power that were hallmarks of his playing,” recalls Abramovic. The Parkinson’s symptoms were noticed by others before he did — though he bore the onset of the disease with public dignity.
He declared, “My spirit is still there.”
Mr. Bates made numerous recordings and received an honorary doctorate from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., as well as the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award from the Greater New York Wallenberg Committee.
He is survived by his wife of many years, Jocelyn; his three sons, Christopher, James, and Jock; and five grandchildren.
Details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Philadelphia nearly experienced its own nightmare before Christmas this year, with the closure of the Center City Macy’s and the iconic, beloved holiday light show.
Capitalism can’t stop Christmas traditions, though. The light show is back, and across the region, people are buying Christmas trees, prepping for Hanukkah, and preparing for Kwanzaa events this week.
One simple way to get in the spirit? Visit one of the many holiday light shows, from neighborly displays to events steeped in decades of history and nostalgia.
Philadelphia and its suburbs offer plenty of options. Here are some of the best.
The decades-old holiday tradition is back at Center City’s shuttered Macy’s, with a new name and, possibly, an entirely better experience. With more than 100,000 LED lights, the Wanamaker Light Show remains free to the public. What makes the Wanamaker Building so magical is the melodies booming throughout the cathedral-like department store from the century-old organ, one of the largest in the world. Enjoy the massive light show beginning on Black Friday. The show operates Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., through Dec. 11. Starting Dec. 12, there are daily shows from noon to 8 p.m. The final day for the show is Christmas Eve, from noon to 4 p.m.
According to Visit Philadelphia, the Wanamaker Building will undergo renovations after the holidays, and the light show may be on hiatus for several years.
🕒 Through Dec. 24, daily, various times, 💵 Free, 📍1300 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 visitphilly.com
The Miracle on South 13th Street block party filled with Christmas lights and decorations in South Philadelphia, on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021.
Nothing spreads holiday spirit more than neighbors coming together to remind us what it’s all about. Since the ‘90s, residents of the 1600 block of South 13th Street in East Passyunk have transformed their street into a Christmas light show so spectacular that Peco must see a spike in usage. The show opens with a block party on Nov. 29 from 5 to 9 p.m. with face painting, balloon art, and a 6 p.m. special guest from the North Pole.
🕒 Through Jan. 1, daily, 5 to 10 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍 1700 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148, 📷 @themiracleonsouth13thstreet
It was opening night for Winter in Franklin Square featuring the Electrical Spectacle Light Show presented by PECO.
Celebrate the holidays in Franklin Square, a park older than the Declaration of Independence, where each year the Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show illuminates the plaza along with classic Christmas songs. The event includes mini golf, street curling, and seasonal sweet treats and cocktails at Frosty’s Fireside Winter Pop-Up Bar.
🕒 Through Feb. 23, various times, 💵 Free, 📍200 N. Sixth St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 🌐 historicphiladelphia.org
A man watches a dancing Santa with a similar body language in the lobby of the Comcast Technology Center during a Dec. 15, 2023, holiday video presentation.
Philly’s telecommunications giant has two immersive attractions again this year. Each day, the Comcast Holiday Spectacular at the Comcast Center wows visitors with light shows at the top of every hour. Inside the Comcast Technology Center, which is right around the corner, theDreamWorks’ Shrek’s Festive Flightreturns. The show tells the story of Shrek, Donkey, and Gingy’s journey from Philadelphia to the North Pole Bakery.
🕒 Through Jan. 2, daily, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍1701 JFK Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 comcastcentercampus.com
This regional credit union gives back during the holidays with a 400,000-light display accompanied by 40-foot Christmas trees, hundreds of wreaths, and more. Stroll through American Heritage’s campus, where you can snap family photos, enjoy the displays, and take in the winter night air. The events begin on Nov. 29.
🕒 Through Jan. 1, daily at dusk, 💵 Free, 📍2060 Red Lion Rd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19115, 🌐 americanheritagecu.org
Philadelphia Zoo’s nature-inspired holiday tradition, LumiNature, returns for its sixth season of whimsical wildlife scenes come to light.
Philadelphia Zoo’s nature-inspired holiday tradition, LumiNature, returns for its sixth season of whimsical wildlife scenes come to light. Guests are invited to take a spin on the brand new Philly Zoo Pherris Wheel, a 110-foot-tall ride with breathtaking views of the city skyline, grab a drink with Santa inside his warm, cozy lodge, bring their old zoo key (or treat themselves to a new one) to turn on the magic at select displays, play and dance with roaming animal characters, and take in more than a million twinkling lights with family and friends. Guests should note the zoo’s animals will be sleeping in their indoor homes.
Bucks County’s all-in-one holiday shopping experience and attraction is back to bring smiles to all who visit. The Colonial-style Peddler’s Village is adorned with thousands of lights among the dozens of shops and restaurants connected by brick walkways. The annual gingerbread displays will feature 125 creations, and the tunnel of lights is the Instagrammable photo of the season.
🕒 Through Jan. 18, Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍100 Peddlers Village, Lahaska, Pa. 18931, 🌐 peddlersvillage.com
Clark Griswold would be proud of his estranged West Chester relatives’ over-the-top holiday display. Known as the West Chester Griswolds, this family covers their home and property with thousands of LED lights, glowing figurines, nativity scenes, and, if you’re lucky, a glimpse of Santa Claus peeking from a window. Each year, they turn their dazzling display into a charitable effort, raising $400 for the Hearing Loss Association of America in 2023. Don’t forget to tune your car radio to 87.9 FM to enjoy the synchronized light-and-music show. This year, donations are going to LaMancha Animal Rescue in Coatesville.
🕒 Through Dec. 28, Monday to Thursday, 4:45 to 9:45 p.m.; Friday to Sunday, 4:45 to 10:15 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍304 Dutton Mill Rd., West Chester, Pa. 19380, 🌐 westchestergriswolds.com
The Harnishfegers on Colonial Drive transform their Bucks County home into Danny DeVito’s from Deck the Halls, equipped with Pixel technology to sync holiday music to the thousands of LED lights and a projector that displays animations across the house. So bright, you could swear satellites can see it from space. Donations will go to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s toy drive.
🕒 Through Jan. 1, daily, 5 to 10 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍155 Colonial Dr., Langhorne, Pa. 19047, 🌐 facebook.com/ColonialLights
Herr’s, the nationwide snack brand headquartered in Philly’s backyard of Chester County, invites families and friends to enjoy a free drive-through holiday lights show. More than 600,000 lights are on display throughout the company’s corporate campus. Visitors should stay in their cars at all times while driving through the show.
Visit Rose Tree Park anytime during the holiday season for a serene nighttime stroll among brightly colored illuminated trees. On Dec. 5, Dec. 7-8, and Dec. 14-15, enjoy food trucks, vendor markets, and live entertainment with Delco Fare and Flair Nights. Friendly, leashed dogs are welcome.
🕒 Through Jan. 4, daily, 5 to 10 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍1671 N. Providence Rd., Media, Pa. 19063, 🌐 delcopa.gov
Manayunk businesses are bringing the holiday cheer with more than 80,000 lights lining Main Street — and some friendly rivalry in the annual Manayunk Gets Lit Competition. Stroll through the hillside neighborhood to enjoy festive food, drink, and shopping while casting your votes for the Best Overall, Most Lit, and Most Creative light displays. Participants will also be entered for a chance to win a $200 Manayunk shopping spree. The lights shine daily, but for an extra festive experience, hop aboard the free Jolly Trolley for tours of the displays Thursday through Saturday, now through Dec. 20.
In Philadelphia’s historic district, December is a nonstop holiday celebration with street events, holiday shopping, menorah lighting, light shows, and more. On the Old City District’s website at oldcitydistrict.org is a full schedule of events to attend. Don’t miss the Historic Holiday Tree at the Betsy Ross House.
🕒 Through Jan. 1, various dates and times, 💵 Free to $100-plus depending on event, 📍239 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 🌐 oldcitydistrict.org
The trek to Sicklerville, Camden County, is worth it for this award-winning mile-long drive-through holiday light show, marketplace, and Ferris wheel. Glow at Washington Township is one of the largest light displays in the region with 8 million animated lights synced to music playing through the car radio, and it’s perhaps the most costly starting at $40 per car.
🕒 Through Jan. 26, daily, Sunday to Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., 💵 $50-$75 per vehicle, 📍217 Berlin-Cross Keys Rd., Sicklerville, N.J. 08081, 🌐 visitglow.com
In West Chester, live music, markets, Santa Claus, and a professional gingerbread competition are happening on the weekends. Free to the public, each weekend will feature different events among the illuminated streets and businesses of West Chester. Find a schedule of events and promotions at greaterwestchester.com.
🕒 Through Jan. 1, various times, 💵 Free, 📍137 N. High St., West Chester, Pa. 19380, 🌐 greaterwestchester.com
