June 09, 2022

Ferris wheel and summer-long pop-up festival come to Benjamin Franklin Parkway

The Oval XP will also feature Philadelphia's largest beer garden. It will run from Wednesday through Sunday between June 16 and Aug. 21

By Noah Zucker
PhillyVoice Staff

Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice

The Oval XP festival will return to Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin between Wednesday and Sunday from June 16 to Aug. 21 with live music, food and the city's largest beer garden.

A 108-foot ferris wheel has popped up in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This summer, it will provide residents spectacular panoramic views of the Center City skyline and more.

The ride is one of many attractions organized by Oval XP, a summer pop-up festival run by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.

It will occupy eight acres around the Benjamin Franklin Parkway's Eakin Oval from Wednesday through Sunday between June 16 and Aug. 21, organizers say.

The festival will include free family-friendly programming like games, live music and wellness classes.

For kids, there will be a nine-hole miniature golf course, an interactive playground with blocks and other construction toys and events like storybook readings and music lessons in the Imagination Space.

Children will also be able to borrow musical instruments and books and play games like ping-pong and Connect Four.

The Oval will also have Philadelphia's largest beer garden. The 60,000-square-foot space with 24 taps, rotating menus and a stage for musicians and comedians will be run by the Center City music venue and bar MilkBoy.

Live music is a big part of the Oval. There will be regular performances on the event's Summer Stage including two free festivals, the Love From Philly Festival on June 11 and NUEVOFEST on July 9.

There will be lots of visual art, as well, including a 33,000-square-foot ground mural by Calo Rosa. It will feature imagery inspired by El Salvador, which is where the Philadelphia artist is originally from.

The Oval was first held in Philly in 2014, but the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and didn't occur in 2021. This year, organizers decided to expand the festival from six weeks to more than 10.