Travel to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the 25th annual Caribbean Festival at Penn´s Landing Great Plaza. This free festival of Caribbean traditions, music and food is a culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands featuring a collage of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes.

With entertainment as the focal point of the event, you´ll be surrounded by the authentic island sounds of reggae, soca/calypso, hip-hop and gospel. There will also be creative dances, ethnic poetry and educational activities.

Fragrant aromas will fill the Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. At the Caribbean marketplace, visitors can browse displays of island fashions, souvenirs and arts and crafts.

In addition, the Caribbean Culture booth will complement this year´s event with featured topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. For the youngest attendees, the Festival offers a Caribbean Children´s Village to teach children about the African-Caribbean culture awareness.
Additional Information

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn´s Landing.

Concert & Fireworks Display

8:30

Travel to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the 25th annual Caribbean Festival at Penn´s Landing Great Plaza. This free festival of Caribbean traditions, music and food is a culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands featuring a collage of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes.

With entertainment as the focal point of the event, you´ll be surrounded by the authentic island sounds of reggae, soca/calypso, hip-hop and gospel. There will also be creative dances, ethnic poetry and educational activities.

Fragrant aromas will fill the Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. At the Caribbean marketplace, visitors can browse displays of island fashions, souvenirs and arts and crafts.

In addition, the Caribbean Culture booth will complement this year´s event with featured topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. For the youngest attendees, the Festival offers a Caribbean Children´s Village to teach children about the African-Caribbean culture awareness.
Additional Information

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn´s Landing.

For one weekend each May, 9th Street – in the heart of South Philadelphia – closes down traffic and a huge, multi-block festival takes over the neighborhood.

It all starts with the great sights, sounds and aromas of America´s oldest continuously operating open-air market: South Philadelphia´s famous Italian Market. And the most important thing for you to bring with you is your appetite.

In addition to the blocks of curb vendors and specialty butcher, cheese, gift and cookware shops that line the market, there will also be street-side merchants selling specially prepared foods just for the Festival.

Expect to see stands offering a display of fresh sausage and peppers, antipasto salads, roast pork sandwiches, cheeses, cured meats, an infinite array of pastries, famous mango roses and so much more.

Many nearby restaurants will extend their table service to the sidewalk so you can dine alfresco and enjoy the festival atmosphere.

A stunning smorgasbord of flavors will be on full display during the Festival, as vendors line the street, musicians roam the crowds and top chefs show off some of their best techniques at live cooking demonstrations.

For a full schedule and lineup of musicians, performances and demonstrations, be sure to visit the Festival´s official website.

Insider Tip

Belying its name, the Italian Market is not just Italian anymore. In fact, it´s a veritable melting pot of international cultures and cuisines.

You can choose from several excellent Asian restaurants serving delicious Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and piping hot bowls of pho.

Or savor amazingly flavorful tacos, spicy tamales and several other authentic Mexican favorites from La Lupe and Taqueria La Veracruzanas. And that´s just the beginning.

There is so much great eating in and around the Italian Market that you´ll want to return again and again.

Escorted bus and walking tours make getting around simple while special programs at ten historic sites throughout the community provide something for every size and taste.

Learn the inside stories of some of Philadelphia´s most important colonial landmarks: put your hand to colonial paper-making techniques at Historic Rittenhouse Town; try out some early American toys at Upsala; and

Festival Pier at Penn´s Landing
Columbus Boulevard at Spring Garden Street

The Festival

The Roots – the Philly natives also known as the Legendary Roots Crew – have gathered a diverse lineup of talent for this third annual music festival, including: Vampire Weekend, Mayer Hawthorne, The Very Best, Clipse, Nneka, Jay Electronica, Tune-Yards, Das Racist and more – including a performance by Wu-Tang members Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface.

Of course, The Roots couldn´t just throw a music festival with their favorite acts and not grace the stage. The hometown heroes will be performing two sets of their unique, high-energy live sound.

Live music will be playing from two stages during this all-day event.

The three-day festival will take place in the Market´s center court seating area and will feature handmade crafts including quilts, woodcrafts, paintings, hand braided rugs, wooden toys and cedar chests.

Traditional foods including chicken pot pie, donuts, ice cream, pies and canned fruits and vegetables will be available to taste and purchase.

On Saturday, August 13, the festival moves outdoors to create a country fair in the city. The 1100 block of Arch Street will be closed to traffic and a petting zoo with sheep, goats, chickens, donkeys, calves, horses and pigs will fill the street.

Amish buggy rides and horse drawn wagon rides around the Market, as well as country and bluegrass bands, round out the entertainment for this great, family-friendly event.