Festival fever takes over Philly this summer

This is a festival kind of town, hosting celebrations for everything from arts, to beer,to film, to mushrooms, to music. Here’s what’s worth getting festive about this summer.

JUNE

June 8: Odunde Festival
To ring in the Yoruba New Year, the Odunde Festival begins with a spiritual procession to the Schuylkill River, followed by the largest African-American street festival on the East Coast.
www.odundefestival.org

Philly PrideDay Credit: R. Kennedy Get festive at the 25th annual PrideDay parade.
Credit: R. Kennedy for Visit Philadelphia

June 8: PrideDay LGBT Parade and Festival
The 25th annual PrideDay LGBT Parade and Festival takes place during International Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and features live music, DJs, food, drinks and a festive parade that runs from the Gayborhood to Penn’s Landing.
www.phillypride.org

June 21-22: Manayunk Arts Festival
Musicians, entertainers, restaurants and more than 300 artists from around the nation set up shop for the two-day Manayunk Arts FestivaL, the region’s largest outdoor, juried arts festival.
www.manayunk.com

June 28-July 4: Wawa Welcome America!
Celebrating the nation’s birthday, Wawa Welcome America! is a multi-day party with free events for all ages throughout the city, including concerts, a parade and fireworks.
www.welcomeamerica.com

JULY
Bastille Day at Eastern State Penitentiary Credit: R. Kennedy Bastille Day at Eastern State Penitentiary
Credit: R. Kennedy

July 12: Bastille Day
The masses storm the castle on Eastern State Penitentiary’s Bastille Day, when reenactors and audience members playfully recreate the storming of the Bastille at the nation’s first “modern” prison.
www.easternstate.org

July 25-27: XPoNential Music Festival
WXPN, the public radio station of the University of Pennsylvania, brings together musical legends and new performers at Wiggins Park and the Susquehanna Bank Center on the Camden Waterfront for the XPoNential Music Festival.
www.xpn.org

AUGUST

Aug. 15-17: Philadelphia Folk Festival
The 53rd annual Philadelphia Folk Festival, Philadelphia’s answer to Woodstock, attracts musicians, storytellers and craftspeople for a weekend of song and merriment at Old Pool Farm in Schwenksville.
www.folkfest.org

SEPTEMBER
Mushroom Festival vendors and attendees. Credit: G. Widman Put the fun in fungi during Kennett Square’s Mushroom Festival.
Credit: G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia

Sept. 6-7: Mushroom Festival
Kennett Square’s annual Mushroom Festival puts the fun in fungi during a weekend of music, food, parades, farm tours and other activities in the “Mushroom Capital of the World.”
www.mushroomfestival.org

Sept. 20-21: Scarecrow Festival
Each year, Peddler’s Village hosts a Scarecrow Festival, complete with scarecrow-making workshops, pumpkin painting, live entertainment and pumpkin pie-eating contests.
www.peddlersvillage.com

Sept. 28: Downingtown FallFest
Victory Brewing Company presents the Downingtown FallFest. Neighbors and visitors enjoy live music, a variety of artisan crafts, a BMX aerial show, a Victory Beer Garden and, of course, plenty of food — all along blocked-off East Lancaster Avenue.
www.downingtownfallfest.com