Philly's Fall Art Fairs
Philly's iconic festivals return this Fall with exciting line-ups, vendors, and programs! Here's your visual art-specific highlight reel.
20/20 Photo Festival
Dates: September 4 - September 11
The 20/20 Photo Festival is a celebration of photography that brings together the Philadelphia photo community through city-wide exhibitions, educational programming, and a photo book fair. It brings together a wide range of perspectives from emerging and established photographers from Philadelphia and beyond, reflecting the diversity of contemporary photography, and foregrounds the goal of making art accessible and bringing it into the public sphere through free programming designed to inspire and educate. This includes exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations, artist talks, panel discussions, and a renowned photo book fair.
This year’s festival theme is centered around ‘Structures.’ They can be tangible, like the framework of a building or the chemical layers that comprise a piece of film, but they can also be more conceptual and less easily- recognizable, as with family and societal structures. As photographers, we can explore, represent, and challenge the structures that exist around us. Here’s the lineup:
9/4 - Opening 20/20 Photo Festival Party at KieranTimberlake and featured artist Krista Svalbonas
9/5 - First Friday Opening at The Halide Project: Fractured Lands with Ella Morton and Dafna Talmor
9/6 - Photo Book Fair, Workshops, and Exhibitions at Cherry Street Pier - all free to the public
9/7 - Artist Talks at Unique Photo followed by a field trip to The France M. Maguire Museum
9/11 - Second Thursday Opening Receptions at The Crane Arts Building and The Print Center
2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
Dates: September 4 - 28
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival, presented by FringeArts is a city-wide celebration of innovation and creativity in contemporary performance. Each September, the Festival explodes into every nook and cranny of Philadelphia with more than 1,000 artistically daring performances. Included in the festival are hundreds of independently produced performances and events, work presented by partnering Festival Hubs and producers, and a slate of programs curated by FringeArts. In the true spirit of the international “Fringe” movement, there are no limits to the ways that artists and audiences can participate in and experience the festival.
Here are some visual art-specific events to look forward to:
9/4-9/18 - The Sokka Experiment. Sokka, the gifted artist from Northern Liberties/Fishtown will make his world premier live performance-art in the Fringe Arts Festival from Sep. 4-18th. Watch Sokka create his re-purposed sculptures live at 2nd and Poplar streets across from Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. Drop by anytime between 10AM and 10PM to see what creation is evolving.
9/4-9/21 - Working Title. Working Title is a solo exhibition of egg tempera paintings by Derek Ayres that reimagines Renaissance and Baroque compositions within the weird, wood-paneled psyche of 1970s America. Sourced from lesser-known works in the Prado, Rijksmuseum, Uffizi, and the Louvre, each piece is conceptually reimagined by Ayres.
9/6-9/13 - Haute Glue. Haute Glue, a razzle-dazzle exhibition by Rose Luardo, is creaming and bulging with new sculptural works, performance art, video installations, and a revolving door of live performances by her chosen family (Andrew Jeffrey Wright, The Incredible Shrinking Matt and Jacquie, McDazzler, and other siccc floozies around town). Throughout September, The Fairmount House will be transformed into a space that is part clubhouse, part stage, and part hot, wet, American, fever dream.
9/8-9/10 - The Performance Lounge. Part artists party, part design exhibition, the Performance Lounge is a relaxed space designed to facilitate community and share developing works across disciplines and mediums. Over 15 different East Coast artists have come together to present you with a jewel box of comedians, playwrights, performers, filmmakers, and more. Try on some wearable art, play chess with Pierrot, chat with the artists, or just have a cocktail and observe.
9/18 - 9/20 - Mania Blooms at Midnight and Noon. Mania Blooms at Midnight and Noon is a sensory-rich, immersive art experience that invites participants to sneak into the surreal garden of a time-warping trickster wizard. Guided by a host—and haunted by choice—visitors encounter two living installations, each inhabited by a Yoruba orisha who uses movement and voice to tell emotional stories rooted in the bipolar experience: one of sadness, one of rage. The audience must choose a path.
9/19 - Kaleidoscopes. Kaleidoscopes transform simple objects into intricate, beautiful patterns, which can change your perception and makes you see things in a whole new light. The dancers will be creating optical illusions with their bodies, costumes and the use of lighting to achieve this goal through the performance.
9/19-9/27 - Deconstruction. Deconstruction is a photography exhibit and dance performance, a collaboration between Christina Castro-Tauser and Scott Tauser. The choreography is informed by the photography. Together, the artist immerses you in the space and time of the moments captured by the camera.
9/20 - A(mobile)DRIFT. A(mobile)DRIFT is a participatory art project organized by Street Road Artists Space in Cochranville, PA, inspired by the Fluxus movement and the City Centre walking score from Ways to Wander by Clare Qualmann & Claire Hind.
Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show
Ritten House Square
Art fair days: September 19 - 21
Hours: Fri - Sat: 11 AM - 6 PM | Sun: 11 AM - 5 PM
Founded by artists in 1928, and run by a committee of artists today, the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show is the oldest outdoor art show in the country. You can see more of their history by clicking here. And while you’re at it, preview their September artists here.
Design Philadelphia Annual Festival
Dates: October 1 - 12
For twenty-one years, Design Philadelphia’s annual festival has been an explosion of activities showcasing the Philadelphia design community while demonstrating the impact of design on the public.
8/26-10/27 - Bar None. Bar None is a public installation that honors the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s legacy as a site of collective assembly and action. It offers a testament to the overlapping movements and voices that have surged through this civic spine in pursuit of justice, celebration, and change.
10/1-10/12 - Reimagined Street Scenes. Stroll down N. 2nd Street and enjoy a display of six illuminated art panels custom designed by Lisa Marie Patzer Studio. Built specific for the window of Old City Publishing, curated by InLiquid Gallery, each art panel contains a different scene collaged from photographic slides taken by Ben Kabakow.
10/1-10/12 - Outside In: Exploration of Landscape Architecture. As part of DesignPhiladelphia 2025, they have partnered with PA – DE ASLA and SALT Design Studio to present Outside In: Exploration of Landscape Architecture, an exhibition that showcases the powerful role landscape architecture plays in shaping Philadelphia’s identity—from historic parks to climate-resilient urban spaces.
10/1-10/12 - Emerging Designers at DesignPhiladelphia. Building on the success of past showcases, this immersive exhibition will highlight the next generation of designers who are reshaping the creative landscape with innovation, curiosity, and cultural depth. From experiential soundscapes to cutting-edge visual storytelling, the work on display promises to spark dialogue and inspire connection within the Philadelphia design community and beyond.
10/4 - Animal Factory – Sculpture, Play, and the Art of Subtraction Featuring Luca Boscardin | Designer for Magis. Step into a world where steel tubes transform into playful creatures, and outdoor spaces become stages for imagination. Join for an intimate fireside chat with Luca Boscardin, the designer behind Animal Factory, Magis’ iconic collection of sculptural playgrounds featuring giraffes, crocodiles, gorillas, and dinosaurs.
10/11-10/12 - Caitlin McCormack - Petrichor. In conjunction with an online Viewing Room exhibition, the Dina Wind Foundation will host Philadelphia artist Caitlin McCormack at their studio space on October 11th & 12th from 12pm to 6pm to meet Caitlin, learn about their artistic process, and see their work in-person.
Art Market at Tyler
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025 | 12 PM - 5 PM
Tyler School of Art & Architecture, 2001 N. 13th St.Philadelphia, PA, 19122
The Tyler School of Art & Architecture’s annual Art Market features work by Tyler students and alumni. More details about this year’s vendors and programs coming soon.
Chestnut Hill’s 41st Annual Fall for the Arts Festival
Dates: October 12, 11 AM - 5 PM | Rain or Shine.
The Fall for the Arts Festival returns to Chestnut Hill on Sunday, October 12, 2025, transforming Germantown Avenue into a vibrant, outdoor arts and crafts marketplace. The festival takes place along Germantown Avenue (between the 8000 and 8600 blocks), which will be closed to traffic so visitors and vendors can enjoy the day safely and spaciously. The festival showcases over 200 artists and vendors from across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, with works for sale including oil and watercolor paintings, photography and etchings, jewelry and accessories, pottery, wood crafts, sculpture, and more.
49th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Dates: November 7-9
Now in its 49th year, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show features unique, one-of-a-kind works by artists from across the United States. The 2025 Show will welcome a total of 195 talented artists representing 13 diverse categories of craft and design.
The 2025 Show will be held in person at the Convention Center, 12th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19107, on November 7th to the 9th, with a Preview Party on Thursday, November 6th.
2025 Craft Show
Friday, November 7, 11 AM - 7 PM
Saturday, November 8, 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday, November 9, 10 AM - 5 PM
2025 Preview Party
Thursday, November 6, 4 PM - 9 PM
Fall Makers Market at Elfreth's Alley
Date: Saturday, November 8 | 11 AM - 4 PM
Free to attend.
The Elfreth’s Alley Association invites the public to a Makers Market on Saturday Nov 8th, 2024, from 11am-4pm! During this one-day event, local Philadelphia crafters, artisans, and regional makers will set up shop on Elfreth’s Alley, Philadelphia’s most historic residential street.
Centuries of artisans, craftspeople, and working class folks lived on this street, and this event celebrates that history by inviting present-day artisans and craftspeople to continue their business on the Alley. Featured vending includes artwork, plants, candles, jewelry, home goods, and vintage items.