Ring in 2026 with fireworks lighting up the Delaware River waterfront. Philadelphia’s New Year’s Eve shows will return with two displays, including an earlier, family-friendly show at 6 p.m., followed by a midnight celebration to welcome the new year. The Rivers Casino fireworks are a rain-or-shine event, with views from several free spots along the waterfront.
Best free viewing spots
For those looking to enjoy the show without a ticket, the fireworks can be seen from various locations along the waterfront, including:
Race Street Pier: 📍 North Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Washington Avenue Pier: 📍Washington Avenue Green, South Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147
Pier 68: 📍At the end ofPier 70 Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148
Spruce Street Harbor Park: 📍301 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing: 📍101 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Ticketed events with great views
Elevate your celebration with one of these ticketed options:
Cherry Street Pier: Choose between family-friendly fun or an adults-only party, both offering unbeatable views and live entertainment. 💵 $32.70 (with the service fee); 🌐 delawareriverwaterfront.com
Battleship New Jersey: Watch the fireworks from a unique vantage point aboard this historic ship, complete with food and drinks. 💵 General admission: $10, VIP: $125; 🌐 battleshipnewjersey.org
This week in Philly music is all about the plentiful live music options on New Year’s Eve, including LL Cool J, Snacktime, Ben Arnold, Low Cut Connie, and Kindred the Family Soul.
But before we get to the final blowout of 2025, there’s also some action with touring and local Philly bands in the days after Christmas. Not to mention: Wayne Newton!
Friday, Dec. 26
Wayne Newton
Center City will become Sin City with this rare Philly appearance by the longtime denizen of the Las Vegas Strip. “Wayne Newton, Mr. Las Vegas: Memories and Melodies” is how the 83-year-old entertainer who released 165 albums in his day — and scored a signature hit in 1963 with “Danke Schoen” — bills the show he’s bringing to City Winery for two nights. (7 p.m., City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., CityWinery.com/philadelphia)
Saturday, Dec. 27
Jealousy Curve / John Faye
On Saturday at Underground Arts, Philly rock band Jealousy Curve shares a bill with John Faye, the longtime musician on the local scene. Faye played reunion dates with his ‘90s alt-rock band the Caulfields last month and was on stage at last week’s Pierre Robert tribute at the Fillmore as a member of David Uosikkinen’s band, In The Pocket. Faye’s latest is The Long Game, released on Uosikkinen’s ITP Entertainment last year. (8 p.m., Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org)
Gogol Bordello play the Archer Music Hall in Allentown on Dec. 28.
Sunday, Dec. 28
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello, and its charismatic Ukrainian American lead singer, Eugene Hutz, have a long tradition of playing Philly shows in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This time, the New York punk band, which mixes Romani and traditional Ukrainian music into their raucous blend, is bound for a different Pennsylvania location with a date at Archer Music Hall, the new Live Nation venue in Allentown. (8 p.m. Archer Music Hall, 939 Hamilton St., Allentown, archermusichall.com)
A Jam Without Borders
Yesseh Furaha-Ali of Snacktime, Camden trumpeter Arnetta Johnson, and the Bul Bey are among the artists who’ll be playing at Ortlieb’s at this event hosted by Corey Bernhard and Friends. It’s a fundraiser for Philadelphia families impacted by ICE. (8 p.m., Ortlieb’s, 847 N. Third St., ortliebsphilly.com)
Monday, Dec. 29
“Fear of Heights”
Philly rocker Alan Mann regularly played South Street clubs like J.C. Dobbs and Ripley Music Hall before his death in 1987. Rich Murray, who directed the video for Mann’s song “Christmas on the Block,” which became the first indie video played on MTV and a subsequent Philly holiday music favorite, has made a documentary about his relationship with Mann and his legacy. Called Fear of Heights, the movie, which begins with a 2015 clip of the late DJ Pierre Robert dropping the needle on “Christmas on the Block” on WMMR-FM (93.3), will have its Philly premiere at Film Society East. It will be followed by a discussion with Murray and his co-filmmakers moderated by WMGK-FM DJ Cindy Drue. (7 p.m., Film Society East, 125 S. Second St., filmadelphia.org)
Low Cut Connie at Concerts Under the Stars in King of Prussia on Aug. 1, 2025. Left to right: Rich Stanley, Nick Perri, Adam Weiner, Jarae Lewis (on drums, partially hidden), Amanda “Rocky” Bullwinkel, and Kelsey Cork. The band will play Ardmore Music Hall on Dec. 30 and 31.
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Dark Star Orchestra
The longstanding Grateful Dead tribute band is marking the transition from 2025 to 2026 on a short East Coast tour, which includes a date at Franklin Music Hall on NYE’s eve. (8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St., franklinmusichall.com)
The Samples
And for a further jam band experience, veteran Colorado 10-piece band the Samples, which blends a Dead influence with more pop-rock shadings, does two nights at 118 North in Wayne. (8 p.m., 118 North, 118 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, 118 NorthWayne.com)
Low Cut Connie
Adam Weiner and Miss Rocky of Low Cut Connie distinguished themselves with their take on David Bowie’s “Young Americans” at last week’s Pierre Robert tribute. Let’s hope they put it in the playlist for their two end-of-the-year blowouts on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve.
The band didn’t put out a new album this year but had an eventful 2025, getting caught up in to pop-and-politics brouhahas in D.C. and Luzerne County, and releasing some high-quality protest songs. Bluegrass band Shelby Means Trio, led by the eponymous bassist formerly in Molly Tuttle’s band, opens on Tuesday, and Philly rock and roller Roberta Faceplant opens Wednesday. (8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com)
LL Cool J will headline a free concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway on New Year’s Eve. The show will also feature DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone, and Dorothy.
Wednesday, Dec. 31
LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone
This is the big new party on the Parkway and maybe the start of a new Philadelphia tradition? The city will officially usher in the year of the Semiquicentennial with its first-ever free NYE music and fireworks spectacle. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and “Mama Said Knock You Out” hitmaker LL Cool J is making good on his commitment to play Philly after he opted out of this year’s July 4 Welcome America show in solidarity with striking municipal city workers. DJ Jazzy Jeff is, of course, the master of the Wheel of Steel, and Adam Blackstone has become one of the leading ambassadors for Philly music, and plans to debut a new civic pride song called “Brotherly Love” at the show. Dorothy and Technician the DJ are also on the bill. (8 p.m., Benjamin Franklin Parkway, phila.gov)
Snacktime
Philly R&B and soul party band par excellence Snacktime is the NYE Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia house band. This is the third consecutive year that the horn-happy outfit has closed out the season at the Fishtown bowling alley/music venue. The band that started out busking in Rittenhouse Square during the pandemic has a new single. It is a sweetly sung and inventively arranged version of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” (8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia)
Ben Arnold
Ben Arnold was another standout at this month’s tribute to the late Pierre Robert. The Philly songwriter covered Robert Hazard’s “Change Reaction” and then led a singalong finale of the Youngbloods’ “Get Together.” Arnold put out a top-shelf album called XI this year, featuring the terrific single “Catch the Lightning,” and also toured Europe with the band U.S. Rails. He’ll be singing his own songs and some by U.S. Rails at his Kelly Center NYE show in Havertown. (7:30 p.m., Kelly Center, 4 E. Eagle Road, Havertown, kellycenter.org.)
Kindred the Family Soul performs on the Presser Stage during The Roots Picnic Day 2 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on June 4, 2023. The group will do two shows at the City Winery Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve.
Kindred the Family Soul
The wife-and-husband team of Aja Graydon and Fatin Dantzler appeared last month at the Met Philly with John Legend, with whom they shared salad days at the Black Lily showcases in the early 00s. The veteran neo-soul act is back as City Winery NYE headliners, playing early and late shows at the Filbert Street club on Thursday. (7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia)
Felice Brothers plays Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia on Jan. 2.
Friday, Jan. 2
Felice Bros.
Upstate New York-born sibling act the Felice Brothers’ winning, ramshackle sound has mixed folk and rock and roll into a satisfying blend over the course of 10 albums. The most recent is 2024’s The Valley of Abandoned Songs. Brother Ian and James Felice make their annual holiday season stop at Brooklyn Bowl Philly on Friday, with Canadian songwriter Charlotte Cornfield opening. (8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia)
Candy Volcano
Philly Loves Bowie Week will kick off with two shows by tribute band Candy Volcano at Ardmore Music Hall. The first show will be at WXPN-FM Free at Noon, and then a nighttime show at the venue in which the band will cover Bowie’s 1976 album Station to Station. (Noon, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, xpn.org/freeatnoon, and 8 p.m., ardmoremusichall.com)
Big Charlie’s Saloon, a South Philly haven for Kansas City Chiefs fans at 11th and McKean Streets, announced on Instagram that it has permanently closed after the recent death of owner and Philadelphia native Paul Staico.
“While this was not how we ever imagined closing our doors, we know Big Charlie’s will never be the same without Paulie, and this is the path we must take,” according to a statement on the bar’s Instagram page.
Staico died suddenly on Nov. 30, three days after Big Charlie’s stayed open on Thanksgiving because the Chiefs were playing. He was 59.
“I wasn’t a Chiefs fan. I’m a Paul Staico fan,” City Councilmember Jimmy Harrity told The Inquirer earlier this month. “If I could name three players, that’s a lot. I was there cheering for him. Some are there to watch the game. But for the most part, they were there for Paul.”
The two-room bar, with its wood paneling, jukebox, vending machine of snacks and cigarettes, and countless Chiefs memorabilia scattered about, became a local media darling in 2023 when the Eagles played — and lost — to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. It was featured by NFL Films in 2003 and 2020 and in The New York Times and The Athletic on the same day in 2023. It got nearly the same treatment in February when the Eagles beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
And why was a South Philly bar dedicated to the Chiefs? Staico’s father, Charlie, the former owner of the place, made a bet that the Chiefs would beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in 1970. When they did, Charlie bought his young son a brand new bike to celebrate. In 1986, an eternally grateful Paul Staico, the bar’s owner since 1983, bought a satellite dish so he could watch the Chiefs, his new favorite team, in every game from then on.
Saloon patrons watch the Chiefs play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl in 2021.
“We will continue to find ways to honor Paulie’s legacy and the community he built,” the Instagram post said. “This is not goodbye. This is simply see you later. …As always, go Chiefs.”
2026 Genesis GV80 Coupe 3.5T E-supercharger vs. 2026 Land Rover Defender 130 V-8 vs. 2026 Mercedes Benz GLE 450 4Matic SUV: Off-roading in high style.
This week: Genesis GV80 Coupe
Price: $87,780 as tested.
Conventional wisdom:Motor Trend likes the “gorgeous interior,” that it “retains rear headroom” and is “more luxurious than ever.” Reviewers panned that it’s “not actually sporty,” has a “confused personality” and “reduced cargo space.”
Marketer’s pitch: “The pinnacle of comfort.”
Reality: It has some high points, but comfort isn’t what I would market.
What’s new: The GV80 Coupe — essentially an SUV with some of the cargo capacity lopped off — joined the GV80 lineup for the 2025 model year. Some color changes and new trim levels have been added for 2026.
Competition: In addition to the Defender and the GLE 450, there are the BMW X5, Lexus RX, Lincoln Nautilus, and Toyota Land Cruiser.
Up to speed: Woohoo, that e-supercharger really works, dialing up the horsepower from the 3.5-liter turbo up to 409. Turn the dial to Sport+ and this baby gets off the ground; 0-60 takes 5.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver. It seemed faster.
Shifty: The eight-speed automatic transmission operates through the dial on the console — twist counterclockwise for Reverse or clockwise for Drive. It’s a nice setup that’s easy for back-and-forth motions when parking.
There’s no corresponding move for shift mode, though. Just use the paddles on the steering wheel and keep fighting the vehicle for control. I usually blinked first and just let it do the shifting for me.
On the road: The handling in the GV80 Coupe is almost as impressive as the acceleration. The sporty shaped SUV does nice on the slalom and has a lot of good road feel. The steering is nice as well.
The only drawback for me came on cornering. The GV80 had a lot of drift, and I had to slow down for the sharper movements.
Off the road: The GV80 gets a new terrain mode for 2026, with settings for snow, mud, and sand.
The interior of the 2026 Genesis GV80 Coupe looks inviting, but it turns out comfort is lacking. Also, adjusting the temperature settings is harder than it should be.
Driver’s Seat: The seat seemed quite hard, and the lumbar support seemed more like a kidney punch than a feature. I’m not sure I could live with this seat day to day. It really seemed as uncomfortable as the old Hyundai basic seats and not quite worthy of this fancy a vehicle, even covered in Nappa leather.
The fancy digital dashboard also leaves a bit to be desired. So many of the features are hidden by the steering wheel that it could be hard to know what was going on. The gauges are fine, though, and everything sure is attractive.
Friends and stuff: The rear seats offer nice amenities — power fold and lift, and power recline that provides quite a bit of choice.
Unfortunately, the low ceiling means headroom is less than plentiful — I still have a little space above my head but not much — and foot room is kind of snug.
Cargo space is 61.1 cubic feet with the rear seat folded and 29.3 when it’s upright, both numbers down about 15% from the regular GV80.
The GV80 Coupe can tow up to 6,000 pounds.
In and out: There’s a bit of a climb into the GV80, naturally, but you must have been expecting that.
Play some tunes: Sound from the system is delightful, an A+.
Operation uses either a dial or the touchscreen. A home screen shows all the possible places you can go and swiping to the right shows even more. It’s easy to use and to follow, even through the layers of nested elements.
Keeping warm and cool: Would that the HVAC were so easy to operate. It features simple dials for temperature but then the source, fan speed, and seat heater and ventilator icons are so tiny in their handsome little ebony touch pad, and it offers zero feedback. So there’s a lot of potential vehicle drift just to keep the air at the right temperature. I’ve been panning Hyundai for this left and right and will continue to do so.
There also seems to be a lot of thrust in the airflow, so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat was having none of it, lest her perfect hair get blown about.
Fuel economy: I averaged about 16 mpg, which is pretty pitiful.
Where it’s built: Ulsan, South Korea. The vehicle is made up of 85% Korean parts and 3% from the U.S. and Canada.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the GV80 reliability to be a 2 out of 5.
Twenty-four hours after two gas explosions ripped through a Bucks County nursing home, the dead and injured had been identified, survivors were accounted for, and the cleanup was underway. But unanswered questions about the blast’s cause mounted.
On Wednesday morning, Peco provided a drastically different account of when its crews responded to reports of a gas odor on Tuesday, saying technicians had actually arrived hours — not minutes — before the blast at Bristol Health & Rehab Center.
Then, the energy company went silent, declining to answer any additional questions as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) took over a sprawling investigation that will also involve other federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
Meanwhile, the new operator of the 174-bed nursing home, Saber Healthcare Group, is also coming under scrutiny amid questions about the poorly maintained facility on Tower Road that it took over from another provider just three weeks ago.
It could take months to get answers about what caused, and who is at fault for, the blast that killed two people and left 19 hospitalized, one in critical condition.
Experts and attorneys told The Inquirer the investigation will likely focus heavily on the actions of Peco and the nursing home’s operators.
“If the facility doesn’t maintain the equipment and the gas in their own facility, then they would be responsible,” said Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney who has represented victims of gas explosions. “If there were reports of the gas leak, and Peco is notified and the facility isn’t cleared … there’s going to be responsibility on both of them.”
Windows and debris at the site of the Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Wednesday.
In a statement, the NTSB said investigators will not be able to fully evaluate the natural gas service line until “a safe path is cleared.” That effort alone could take several days. The agency provided no timeline for its initial findings.
Saber Healthcare Group took over operations at the nursing home on Dec. 1. Prior to that, the facility had been managed by another privately run for-profit healthcare company, the Ohio-based CommuniCare Health Services.
CommuniCare, which had operated the home since 2021, racked up a long list of code violations for unsafe building conditions and substandard healthcare. Just two months ago, state inspectors cited the facility for lacking a fire safety plan, failing to maintain extinguishers, and allowing conditions that would cause poor smoke ventilation.
Federal inspection records also show numerous citations over previous years for substandard healthcare, poor infection control, and mismanaged medical records, earning the facility a one-star rating. CommuniCare incurred more than $418,000 in fines due to violations in 2024, records show.
“We have worked to improve and fix prior issues, and we will continue that work in the wake of this tragedy,” Saber said in a statement Tuesday.
Attorneys watching the news unfold questioned whether Saber should have evacuated residents sooner on Tuesday. Peco’s own guidelines urge people who smell gas to evacuate the building immediately.
“If you or I smelled gas in our apartment or house, we’d be like, ‘Where is it?’ You have to get everybody out,” said Ian Norris, an attorney at Philadelphia-based McEldrew Purtell who has sued Saber and other nursing home operators accused of negligence. “In a nursing home, you have a higher standard of care. They are dependent residents who are there on the basis that they need help.”
A Saber representative said the company was looking into the evacuation procedures. In its statement Tuesday, the company said “facility personnel reported a gas smell” to Peco. The statement made no mention of an evacuation effort.
The smell was confined to the kitchen area of the nursing home, according to the Saber representative.
A Peco gas technician arrived at the nursing home on Tuesday afternoon. He was working alone in the basement below the kitchen area to address the issue, and as he went to his truck to retrieve more tools, the building erupted, said Larry Anastasi, president of IBEW Local 614, the union that represents Peco workers.
Whether Peco’s gas lines played a role in the blast remains unknown. But the utility company’s aging gas infrastructure will likely come under closer inspection as the probe progresses, according to attorneys with knowledge of investigations following such explosions.
One detail that became clear Wednesday was that Peco’s gas meter was located in the basement of the nursing home — not outside and aboveground as required by a 2011 order from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).
The PUC, like Peco, declined to comment and referred questions to the NTSB.
Workers set up fencing at Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Wednesday.
While the age and condition of the gas line near the nursing home were not clear, Peco has acknowledged it had 742 miles of substandard gas lines across the state — including cast iron, plastic, and uncoated steel piping — that needed replacing. The lines accounted for 5% of Peco’s gas service but 82% of leaks, according to a report from the PUC.
Peco plans call for all of those lines to be replaced by 2035 and to invest roughly $6 billion to inspect, modernize, and perform maintenance on all of its systems over the next five years.
Richard Kuprewicz, an expert on gas pipeline safety and investigations, said it is too early to tell if Peco or the nursing home acted improperly. He warned against jumping to conclusions the day after the explosions.
“We just don’t have the facts on this,” Kuprewicz said. “The tragedy is they had an explosion from a gas release that they knew was occurring. People will raise questions about this for months.”
In the immediate aftermath Tuesday evening, Peco spokesperson Greg Smore said in a statement that the company’s crews had responded to the nursing home “shortly after 2 p.m.” Tuesday and that while they were on site, the explosion occurred. The blast was reported just before 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito.
But in a revised statement Wednesday morning, the company backtracked, saying its crews actually arrived “a few hours” before the explosion. It would not provide a specific time.
Peco said it shut off natural gas and electric service “to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents.” But, again, it would not say when.
Depending on where the gas leak was, Kuprewicz said, significant amounts of gas could continue to seep out after a shutoff.
“There isn’t one standard answer for all this,” he said. “Even when you shut it off, it doesn’t [always] stop flowing.”
Inquirer staff writers Samantha Melamed and Barbara Laker contributed to this article.
They came to the Wanamaker Building on Christmas Eve because it’s what they have done all the years they have been alive. They came bundled against the chill because they never had come before — and did not want to miss it now. They came out of love for the ghosts of Christmas past — and to share in the merriment of a cherished tradition with children who had yet to see the lights dance or hear the great organ play. They came because it is all going away, and no one knows for sure when it will be back.
On Wednesday, thousands crowded into the gilded Grand Court of the Wanamaker Building for a last chance to meet at the eagle and behold the Wanamaker Light Show this holiday season. And to witness the end of what has been a truly blessed Christmas for the endangered Philadelphia holiday tradition.
People watching the light show from the second floor at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Both the Light Show and Dickens Village were saved by fundraising efforts announced after the sale of Macy’s earlier this year. In November, organizers said that with 700 individual donors and gifts from philanthropic foundations, they had raised enough of their $350,000 goal to bring back both attractions for at least one more holiday season — and to begin planning for their future care. While a permanent home for the Light Show, which began in 1956, remained an unsettled question, organizers had raised just enough to produce the holiday attractions in the shuttered department store this year.
With the attraction’s future in doubt, the crowds kept flocking to the Wanamaker Light Show. Over 100,000 visitors have come through since both holiday attractions opened on Black Friday — a number that far exceeded planners’ expectations, said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center, who also led the fundraising effort. While the show remained free, guests donated more than $40,000 during its seasonal run.
“It’s been totally overwhelming,” said Lovell, working the door before Wednesday’s afternoon final shows. “But also joyful and exciting and heartwarming. We didn’t anticipate these crowds.”
Due to the planned construction within the Wanamaker Building, the Light Show and Dickens Village will take a pause in 2026 and 2027, Lovell said. But advocates for the show remain in conversation with new building owner TF Cornerstone about continuing the holiday traditions at the Wanamaker in years to come.
“Everybody wants this show saved,” Lovell said.
Marissa Miller, of Fairmount, is holding her child Ivy Jordan, 2, watching the light show with her family at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Indeed, almost since the first show in November, lines had stretched out the door onto Market Street, often wrapping all the way down Chestnut Street, with organizers merrily hiring more staff and security and welcoming scores of volunteers.
“There was a sense of ‘we have to get here because it might not be here again,’” Lovell said, adding that she is more optimistic than ever that the show will have a future.
That’s exactly why Dori Pico, 68, of Center City, was first in line at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a full hour and a half before shows began running every 30 minutes.
“It’s the last time we might be seeing this,” said Pico, who had attended the shows after moving to Philadelphia in recent years, and wished that she had gotten to experience one with her father, Juan Vincente Lugo, before he passed away.
Dori Pico, of South Philadelphia, is watching the light show for a third time and as a tradition for her dad who passed away last year at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Down a few spaces, Paulette Steffa, 72, originally of Cheltenham, clutched a photo of her and siblings at Santa’s knee during the first Light Show in 1956. Attending Wednesday’s show with her brother Peter, she said she had been to the Light Show every year since, and had even attended the first performance of this year’s season.
“We were here the day it opened,” Steffa said. “We needed to be here on the last day.”
Soon, the lights in the Grand Court dimmed, and an expectant hush fell over families huddled around the 2,500-pound bronze eagle sculpture.
Darlene Harley of Overbrook had ridden the train to Center City so her great-great-granddaughter, Aryah, 7, could see the show before it goes away for a few years, or maybe longer. Her parents and grandparents had always brought her as a child, Harley said.
“And now I wanted her to see,” she said as the show began and 100,000 individual bulbs twinkled to life in the grand space.
Soon, everyone was looking up, as Frosty and Rudolph and the Sugar Plum Fairies danced in light. Families waiting in line for Dickens Village peered over the ledge of an upper floor for a closer look. Peter Richard Conte, who has played the pipes of the world’s biggest organ since 1989, had only just played the familiar opening chords of “O Tannenbaum” when Steffa began to cry.
Watching in the dark, she thought of all those childhood shows when her parents, Andi and Peter, made sure they were at the front of the line. She remembered all those holiday wishes on Santa’s knee and scrumptious holiday breakfasts in the old Crystal Tea Room. All those years, all those memories at the Wanamaker Light Show.
“It’s part of Philadelphia,” she said.
Many families and friends gather at the Wanamaker for the last light show in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
They almost didn’t put up a Christmas tree this year.
R.C. Wilson Sr. knew things were going to be tight for his family this holiday, with him starting a new job and “life just being hard,” he said. It was a week before Christmas when he reached out to Justin Brown, who leads an organization that connects athletes with community initiatives and had arranged several holiday donation drives this season, asking if Brown knew of any agencies that might donate some gifts to Wilson’s six kids.
Brown reached out to the Chester County community, and he got an outpouring of support. He asked NFL tight end Kenny Yeboah, a former Temple player who later joined the New York Jets and Detroit Lions, and former Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene to be part of a surprise. He told Wilson to put up the Christmas tree.
And on their quiet Coatesville street a few days before the holiday, the community showed up at Wilson’s doorstep with bags upon bags of gifts — essentials like clothing and shoes and food, plus toys and more than $500 in gift cards.
“We always try to do what we can for [the kids] to give them the best, but they also understand life gets hard for everybody. We went from, I feel like, being up top to rock bottom,” Wilson said Tuesday. “It’s amazing to get to see in person. Seeing it in person, especially when I needed the help, was a blessing from the community and for my family.”
Nevaeh Miller-Wilson, 8, organizes presents after a Christmas surprise from former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene and New York Jets tight end Kenny Yeboah at her home in Coatesville, Pa. Greene and Yeboah surprised the family, which includes six children, with a full Christmas celebration, providing gifts and holiday essentials.
The gifts were stacked under the Christmas tree and through the living room. It was overwhelming, said his wife, Chelsea Miller.
Yeboah, a new resident of Downingtown, and Greene signed footballs, baseballs, and the backs of T-shirts and posed for photos with the family.
It was cool to see, said Aadan Miller-Wilson, 15.
“I’ve never met an athlete, and I play two of the sports they play, too,” he said.
Yeboah, out with an injury, offered to coach the kids while he recovered. He had wanted to give back to the community he was now part of, and was connected with Brown.
New York Jets tight end Kenny Yeboah interacts with members of a family of six children, from left, Nevaeh, Robert, Bryden, Jacob, David and Aadan, during a Christmas gift surprise at their home in Coatesville, Pa.
“To come here and see all these people help out and give back to the community that they’re in, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Yeboah said. “It’s really, really cool to see that everyone’s here just to help out.”
Greene credited his “better half,” Wendy, for quickly becoming involved with the surprise. When you help each other out, you help everyone out, Greene said.
“When you get a chance to make a difference, you do,” he said.
Wilson, who kept the surprise a secret from his family until the community showed up at their door, also found the support overwhelming.
“It’s a blessing,” he said.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline leaked over a period of months at a Monroe Energy petroleum tank farm in Aston, Delaware County, according to company and state officials.
The leak was first identifiedin August, and it was traced in December to a one-quarter-inch hole in the bottom of a tank. It totaled about 9,000 barrels, or 378,000 gallons, at the Chelsea Pipeline Station and Tank Farm.
The facility contains 12 aboveground tanks and is operated by MIPC LLC, a subsidiary of Monroe Energy. It is about five miles north of the company’s Delaware River refinery, which is in Trainer, Delaware County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Tuesday it has ordered that some nearby homes with wells within 1,000 feet of the facility’s western border be provided bottled water if requested. And it ordered that the company “begin an interim cleanup plan and thorough investigation.”
MIPC said in a statement that it had notified local, state, and federal authorities. It said that on Dec. 13 crews determined that the source of the spill was traced to one tank.
It further said that an EPA-approved lab it had contracted tested residential wells, “and all results have shown no petroleum related compounds.”
MIPC said that the tanks are routinely inspected and that the company is conducting daily testing of monitoring wells along its fence line and inspecting local waterways.
“No further releases have been found,” the statement said.
“We sincerely apologize for any concern that this may be causing our neighbors,” the statement continued. “MIPC is committed to ensuring that the entire affected area is remediated and returned to its original condition.”
Adam Gattuso, a Monroe Energy spokesperson, said the leak is “considered one cumulative event, over the course of several months.”
He said that if people are within 1,000 feet of the facility’s western border and have a potable groundwater well and would like bottled water delivered to their home, the company would do so within 24 hours. He said the company will soon mail letters to those residents.
DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement Tuesday that “swift action by the company is necessary to fully investigate the extent of damage and address the community’s needs.”
According to the DEP order, the first report of an issue came over the summer at the facility, where a series of aboveground tanks are part of a pipeline network.
The company notified county officials on Aug. 19 of hydrocarbons found in a storm sewer at the facility. It said no leaks were found, but there was “sheening” on the water.
MIPC did not know the source of the gasoline on the water and said it would continue investigating.
On Sept. 3, the company notified officials it “had discovered water with petroleum odors discharging from a concrete drainage pipe” leaking unleaded gasoline at a rate of five gallons per minute.
The DEP ordered MIPC to treat and discharge the contaminated water.
The agency said the company’s investigations from September through November found no signs of additional leaking.
The DEP had not heard from MIPC regarding any leaks until Dec. 5, when the company reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Response Center “that the amount of gasoline released may be significant and was impacting soil and groundwater.”
It notified officials that the source of the leak had been found in the tank.
As a result, the DEP has ordered MIPC, in addition to supplying bottled water, to identify residents with private wells within 1,000 feet of the facility that spans Bethel, Upper Chichester, and Aston Townships.
And it ordered the companyto sample private wells for petroleum, submit a plan to detect potential vapors near homes, schedule environmental investigations, submit a remedial plan, and communicate with officials and the public.
As of yet, the DEP has not cited any violations or issued any fines.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional information about water bottle availability for residents.
For a long time when it came to sports, Buffalo was Diet Philadelphia. Similar, but with a little less. A smaller city, yes. Half as many major pro franchises, yes. But those teams — the Bills in the NFL, the Sabres in the NHL — have always occupied an outsized importance within the culture of the region. They mattered to the people of Buffalo as much or more than the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers, and the Flyers mattered to the people of Philadelphia.
Oh, and there was one other common thread for decades: None of those teams ever won a championship.
Not ever ever, but close enough. The Bills won back-to-back titles in the American Football League in 1964 and ’65, and Philadelphia had that wonderful 10-year stretch, from 1973-83, when the Flyers won two Stanley Cups, the Phillies won a World Series, the Eagles reached a Super Bowl, and the Sixers won an NBA championship. But for 25 years — until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series — then another nine-plus, the towns could bond through being blue-collar bridesmaids.
Eagles fans cheer after the win against the hapless Raiders at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 14.
Recently, though, the Eagles have altered that dynamic. They won a Super Bowl in 2018, then another earlier this year, and as they prepare to face the Bills this Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., they have quelled much of the anger and anxiety that once characterized Philadelphia sports fandom. It might not seem that way, with the attention paid to Jalen Hurts’ play and the worry over the Eagles’ chance to repeat as league champs, but it’s true. The atmosphere was much worse during the Buddy Ryan and Andy Reid eras.
For Buffalo, though, there has been no great expulsion of joy and relief. In their 55 years of existence, the Sabres have never won a Stanley Cup and have reached the Final just twice, losing to the Flyers in 1975 and to the Dallas Stars (on Brett Hull’s disputed triple-overtime goal) in 1999. What’s arguably worse, for a city that loves hockey as much or more than any in the United States, is that the Sabres haven’t even qualified for the playoffs since 2011 and haven’t won a postseason series since 2007, when one of their best players was Danny Brière, now the Flyers’ general manager.
Steve Watson, a friend and former classmate of mine, has lived in the Buffalo region for most of his life. His son, Eli, is 12. Eli has never seen a Sabres playoff game.
“It’s sad,” Watson, 50, who has been a reporter for the Buffalo News since 2001, said by phone Tuesday. “When the Sabres are good, and they have been good for a lot of their history, you see the little flags people put on their cars. We embrace the team, but they’re losing this current fan generation. They took a great hockey town and tarnished it.”
The situation with the Bills has, if possible, been even more painful, for all their near misses. Even a casual football fan is familiar with the Bills’ four consecutive Super Bowl losses from 1991 to 1994 and all the tragic heroes from that period — Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Frank Reich — and the comeback from 35-3 against the Houston Oilers, Scott Norwood and wide right against the New York Giants. But the aftermath has been just as rough.
A Bills fan sits among snow-covered seats before the start a wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 15, 2024.
The Bills went 17 years, from 2000 through 2016, without making the playoffs. Now they have Josh Allen, who was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player last season, who is regarded as the second- or third-best quarterback in the league at worst, and who has led the Bills to the postseason for seven straight seasons … and to no Super Bowls. Either Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow has been in their way, or they’ve had a bad day at the worst time and squandered home-field advantage, or they’ve stood under a ladder staring at a broken mirror while a clowder of black cats strutted past them. They’re 11-4 this season, and Allen has again been outstanding, but now their intradivisional nemeses, the New England Patriots, are back atop the AFC East after a few years of mediocrity. The cycle seems without end.
This excruciating history wouldn’t generate much sympathy from anyone, let alone from Philly’s famously competitive and insecure sports fans (“Oh, you think you’ve had it rough? Lemme tell ya about the night Joe Carter …”), if we were talking about an area of the country whose lifers didn’t care so much. But that ain’t Buffalo. The people there bleed for their teams just like everyone down here does. After all, sports is their only salvation from spending three-quarters of the year with snowshoes strapped to their feet.
“It’s up there with chicken wings,” Watson said. “It’s up there with our lovely weather. It’s our identity. We are blue collar. We are the city of good neighbors. And we’re a big sports town. I used to write more obituaries for the News, and it was always painful for me to write, ‘Lifelong Bills fan … Lifelong Sabres fan.’ They never got that payoff for their years of suffering.”
Look, if you’re an Eagles fan, you don’t have to root for the Bills — certainly not on Sunday, certainly not if the two teams end up facing each other at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8. In many regards, though, you and those fans near Niagara Falls were kindred spirits for years. So if and when the Eagles do bow out of the playoffs, and if Buffalo’s hopes for a Super Bowl victory are still alive, send some good thoughts toward western New York. They’re still waiting for their moment in the warm sun up there, and Lord knows they’ve already suffered enough.
New Year’s Day is still more than a week away, but already, everything’s coming up Philly in 2026.
In the latest sign that the city is poised for a banner year, the Wall Street Journal has named Philadelphia the world’s top place to visit in ‘26 — echoing what various national and international publications have been saying for weeks.
The primary draw, of course, is the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, which is expected to bring an endless stream of tourists — not to mention contribute to as much as $2.5 billion to the city and region in additional tourism dollars, by one estimate.
The city’s sports calendar in the coming year ain’t looking too bad, either.
Most notably, the FIFA World Cup arrives next summer with a much-anticipated slate of games in June and July. (France and Brazil are among the teams that’ll take part in six matches slated for Lincoln Financial Field.)
And in July, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities will take place at Citizens Bank Park — in the same year the Phillies rank among the betting favorites to win a third World Series title, no less — while Xfinity Mobile Arena will be hosting first- and second-round games for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Oh, and the PGA Championship returns to the Philadelphia area, May 11-17 at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
The Wall Street Journal’s recognition marks the latest in a spate of hype for Philadelphia in the coming year. Last month, Travel + Leisure named the city one of its top places to travel in ’26, as did the BBC.
Joining Philadelphia in the Journal’s top five destinations for ‘26 were Basque Country, Spain; Okavango Delta, Botswana; Yunnan, China; and Guadalupe Valley, Mexico.
Tulsa, Okla. — which in June will celebrate the 100th birthday of the country’s favorite lonely highway with its annual Route 66 Road Fest — was the only other American city to make the Journal’s top 10.
