August 14, 2025
G. Widman/Visit Philadelphia™
The Philadelphia Folk Festival will welcome over 70 bands and artists to Montgomery County this weekend.
Taylor Swift's next album may be months away, but there's plenty of other music playing in Philly this weekend.
While the Philadelphia Folk Festival, now in its 62nd year, may be approaching retirement age, it's showing no signs of slowing down. Bands will break out the banjo and fiddle for this multi-day event, playing at its longtime home near Schwenksville. Back in the city, Caribbean music will fill Cherry Street Pier for a Sunday festival celebrating 15 island nations.
Halloween fanatics, meanwhile, can shop for their high season early at the Oddities & Curiosities Expo. Former UArts students will also have an opportunity to claim their old paintings and books, finally freed from Anderson Hall:
Head to the Montgomery County woods this weekend for three days of live music. The Philadelphia Folk Festival will host over 70 musical acts, including 23 from the region, at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township. While the bulk of the sets will take place Friday through Sunday, attendees who buy camping packages can catch a special Thursday night show. Single-day adult passes are still available for $100-$120, while admission for all three days costs $250.
The best place to get jerk chicken and dance to steel drums is Cherry Street Pier, at least this Sunday. The Philadelphia Caribbean Festival returns to the waterfront venue from noon-8 p.m. There, crowds will find vendors selling traditional Caribbean food, clothing, jewelry and artwork. Performers will also take the stage to play music spanning reggae and cool jazz.
Thunderbird Salvage is hosting a pop-up event featuring original art pieces, books, tools and supplies rescued from the shuttered University of the Arts, with the goal of giving students back their work. Alumni who come by Thunderbird Hall, the Fishtown thrift shop's hub at 2856 Frankford Ave., this Saturday with proof of ownership from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. can take their stuff home for free. UArts teachers and students can also claim heavy discounts on other items in the store. While artists will be given priority Saturday, the pop-up event continues Sunday, with deals available to all.
Turn to the dark side at a convention dedicated to the "strange and unusual." The Oddities & Curiosities Expo will take over the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center from Saturday through Sunday, transforming the space into a playground for steampunks, goths and anyone with a framed Vincent Price poster in their living room. The event will feature a marketplace of vendors selling macabre art and antiques. Visitors can also watch sideshow acts or, for additional fees, take classes in taxidermy. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
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