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2023 Highlights

The 2023 edition of Winter in Franklin Square features glimmering lights, magical mini-golf, special events and plenty of holiday fun.

Winter in Franklin Square’s centerpiece attraction is the free Electrical Spectacle Light Show presented by PECO, illuminating the historic park nightly with hundreds of thousands of lights and a soundtrack of seasonal tunes, from José Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas as You.

The show runs every 30 minutes from 5 p.m. until closing during Winter in Franklin Square. The schedule for Winter in Franklin Square for 2023/2024 is:

You can’t miss the enormous kite that serves as an ode to Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite-and-key lightning experiment, hovering above the square’s centerpiece fountain. LED lights dance to music all along the kite, spreading a holiday glow throughout the park.

Take a spin on the Parx Liberty Carousel and enjoy the colorful lights and classic holiday tunes as you go round (and round and round). Tickets are required (open daily).

Center City’s only outdoor mini-golf course showcases 18 holes of festive lights, holiday music, winter characters and iconic Philly landmarks during Chilly Philly Mini Golf (November 16, 2023 through January 28, 2024).

Then, the fun continues in February with Philly Mini Golf with Love (February 1-25, 2024). Tickets are required for both.

Gather a team, channel your inner Olympian and push your stones to glory with Street Curling! Curling rinks must be rented in advance and tickets are required (November 16, 2023 through February 25, 2024).

Take a break and unwind at Ben On the Rocks, serving handcrafted cocktails, toasty beverages (including spiked hot chocolate!), seasonal beer and wine (evenings November 16, 2023 through January 7, 2024). Or hop over to SquareBurger to chow down on classic comfort foods (open daily).

Also on offer: cozy outdoor firepits and an indoor heated tent.

As part of the holiday happenings, Franklin Square celebrates the season with plenty of new and returning family-friendly events, including:

Keep an eye on Franklin Square’s official site for more details and other happenings.

Admission and Getting There

Winter in Franklin Square and its seasonal events are completely free to attend. Refreshments, mini-golf, street curling and carousel rides are all pay as you go.

Franklin Square is in Philadelphia’s Historic District near the northeast edge of Chinatown (and is conveniently located near many of the city’s top holiday attractions).

This holiday season, Franklin Square is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Franklin Square is super accessible via public transportation, including SEPTA’s Route No. 47 bus and the Chinatown station on the Market-Frankford subway line. Folks looking to drive can also find several nearby parking garages and surface lots.

For more info about Winter in Franklin Square, including hours and attraction pricing, click the button below.

More Holiday Fun in Philadelphia

Winter in Franklin Square is just the tip of the holly jolly iceberg. Check out our guide to all of the ways Greater Philadelphia celebrates the most wonderful time of year.

For a complete guide to the must-see holiday attractions in Philly and the Countryside, click the button below.

The Berley brothers are expanding their dessert domination with Franklin Ice Cream Bar, an Old City shop with a vintage vibe like sister spots Franklin Fountain and Shane Confectionery, which share the block. True to its name, Franklin Ice Cream Bar (112 Market Street) will sell ice cream bars, of the hand-dipped, made-to-order variety.

With its 1930s-40s art deco décor, Franklin Ice Cream Bar is the most contemporary of Eric and Ryan Berley’s neighboring sweet shops. The always-packed Franklin Fountain, in business since 2004, goes for an early 1900s ice cream parlor look with plenty of authentic antique touches. For Shane, the brothers revived an 1863 confectionery. Their new venture will incorporate items from the other two, serving scoops of the hard ice cream Franklin Fountain is known for, plus milkshakes and vanilla and chocolate custard. Look for seasonal custard flavors like pumpkin and peppermint stick. Freezers in the front of the store will hold ice cream pints, quarts, and half gallons.

As for the ice cream bars, they’re molded in the shape of a keystone — the symbol of Pennsylvania — and called, simply enough, Keystone Bars. Customers choose vanilla or chocolate ice cream as the base, milk or dark chocolate from Shane Confectionery for the covering, and a rotating array of toppings along the lines of crushed peanut butter sticks, cacao nibs, freeze-dried fruit, and bee pollen. Vegan vanilla ice cream is available for the bars, and the dark chocolate dip is vegan. Pre-made bars in flavor combos not offered on the menu will be available in the freezer cases.

The Franklin Ice Cream Bar sign, made with Vitrolite glass (an opaque art deco staple), is up but both the façade and interior still need some work. After a few delays, the shop is now hoping for an early fall opening.

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The Franklin Fountain

116 Market Street, , PA 19106 (215) 627-1899

The Experience

The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival at Franklin Square is a celebration of light and culture that showcases dozens of larger-than-life, never-before-seen lantern displays by artists from China and the Philadelphia region.

The festival also features a variety of live stage performances and folk art demonstrations.

Thirsty guests can quench their thirst at the vibrant Dragon Beer Garden, while dining options on the festival grounds range from traditional Asian cuisine to classic American eats to Franklin Square’s SquareBurger, which remains open with staples like burgers, fries and shakes.

Attendees are also invited to enjoy the other attractions that Franklin Square has to offer, including the Parx Liberty Carousel; the Philly-themed mini-golf course; choreographed, illuminated water shows at the Franklin Square Fountain; and family-friendly playgrounds. (Note that additional tickets are required for the carousel and golf.)

2023 Highlights

With 34 installations, 180 animals, 2,500 flowers and 25,000 LEDs — more than any other year — 2023’s lantern displays are the most brilliant yet.

New lanterns featured this year include the 100-foot-long Sea Dragon Tunnel, a Year of the Rabbit display, the interactive Fortune Telling Wall, Panda-monium and many more.

Other must-see displays include the Lingzhi Tree, Piranha Plants, Chrysanthemum Corridor, Cherry Blossom Forest, and, of course, the iconic 164-foot-long firebreathing dragon.

Can’t-Miss Performances

The 2023 Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival features cultural stage performances three times each night at 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:15 p.m.

The rotating shows feature edge-of-your-seat experiences like jar juggling, plate spinning and Jiu-Jitsu acrobatics in addition to more mellow performances like ancient folk dancing and traditional tea ceremonies.

And the fan-favorite face changers steal the show with a series of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them mask changes, expertly executed with the wave of a hand or flick of a fan.

In between stage performances, a specially created fountain show dazzles audiences with streams of water dancing to the beats of the Beijing-based Chopstick Brothers.

The special fountain show runs every 30 minutes between 6 and 10 p.m., except during stage performances.

Visitors to the festival can watch a trio of folk artists at work in the Dragon Beer Garden each night, painting lanterns and creating artwork out of braided aluminum.

On Fridays and Saturday evenings, visitors can participate in cultural connection demonstrations inside the Franklin Square Pavilion.

At 6:30 p.m., face changers greet guests and pose for photos. At 7:15 and 9 p.m., chefs from Sang Kee lead dumpling-making demonstrations. And at 8:15 p.m., folk dancers offer lessons in the ancient art of folk dancing.

In addition to traditional Asian fare — including rice balls from Oishii and dan dan noodles from Sang Kee — guests can snack on burgers, hot dogs and cheesesteaks from the on-site SquareBurger.

For the 21-plus crowd, the Dragon Beer Garden serves up an array of beer, wine and specialty cocktails until 10 p.m. each night.

Admission & Tickets

During the daytime, admission to Franklin Square is free to the public, as always, and festival lanterns are freely viewable. At 5 p.m. daily, Franklin Square is cleared of guests and the park closes in preparation for the festival.

The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival begins at 6 p.m. sharp and tickets are required. While tickets are often available for purchase at the festival entrance, sales may end when the park is at capacity — so advance tickets are strongly recommended.

Sunday through Thursday: General admission tickets can be used anytime from 6 to 11 p.m. to the tune of $22 for adults, $14 for children (ages 3-12), and $20 for youth (ages 13-17), seniors, and active military.

Fridays and Saturdays: To manage park capacity, timed tickets are required, which allow festival entry at any point after the printed time and run $25 for adults, $14 for children (ages 3-12), and $23 for youth (ages 13-17), seniors, and active military.

Folks looking to experience everything Franklin Square Park has to offer can pick up combo festival tickets, which include discounted tickets to the Parx Liberty Carousel, Philly Mini-Golf or both.

Kids 2 years and under (accompanied by an adult) can enter the festival and join in on attractions free of charge any day, but ticketholders are not allowed re-entry after leaving the festival grounds.

For more information on the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival and to purchase tickets, click the button below.

Getting wet in Philly’s collection of public fountains is not allowed.

That’s evident as soon as you get near them. Most city fountains have multiple posted signs warning people not to enter, and especially not to swim or wade in the water. For the most part, according to a Parks & Rec spokesperson, taking a dip in is prohibited everywhere except lifeguard-protected pools.

But as usual in Philadelphia, the rules haven’t stopped people from doing whatever they want.

Ban? What ban?

Swann Memorial Fountain is a perfect example.

People swim pretty much constantly in Logan Square watering hole. Especially when it’s hot.

During the early July heat wave, local news showed tons of scenes of people splashing through Swann’s spouting waters. Newscasters did briefly mentioned it wasn’t really allowed, but no one shied away from the camera — and there were no consequences doled out. No wonder one Billy Penn reader was confused.

John, a Logan Square resident, took a dip in the Swann Memorial Fountain on Tuesday afternoon. When the mercury spikes, you’ll probably always find him there, he said, wading around with his 15-year-old pup, Lucky.

“It’s refreshing,” he said. “It’s lovely when it’s over 90 degrees. It’s a great place to swim.”

John said he’s never been kicked out of the fountain — in fact, he’s never seen the swimming ban enforced at all.

Another regular, Robert from Kingsessing, had no idea entering the fountain was prohibited. He takes his three children there all the time in their bathing suits.

“The kids picked it,” Robert said. “They like it.”

A safety concern

Officials cite various reasons for the ban on fountain swimming.

Most of Philly’s historic public fountains are purely decorative — simply not designed to accommodate swimmers, said Center City District spokesperson JoAnn Loviglio, thus making them unsafe for that use.

Not even Collins Park at 17th and Chestnut allows wading, despite the fact that the fountain there has literal steps descending into its basin.

So where can you swim?

Of course, there are a few exceptions to the rule.

Several public fountains in the city either double as spraygrounds or feature a dedicated one on site. Philadelphia, rejoice — at these locations, you are very much allowed to splash around:

All of these locations have been specifically designed for fun, “so people are permitted to walk, jump and play around the water jets,” CCD’s Loviglio said. At Sister Cities Park, there’s an additional wading pool just deep enough to get your feet wet.

Generally, per Parks & Rec, fountains with no basin are the ones designed for people to enter.

In addition to those public fountains, there’s an entire network of public playgrounds and recreation centers that incorporate spraygrounds. Here’s a handy map:

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Oh, and if you were worried about water quality, Loviglio confirmed that the Center City District tests the water at its public fountains at least twice every day.

But you still might want to avoid drinking the water. Just sayin’.

Passyunk's iconic Singing Fountain is in need of a $30,000 facelift. But the entire plaza that surrounds it may get an upgrade too.

The Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation, which maintains the neighborhood's parks and fountains, is pushing for a $1 million renovation project that would expand the plaza's footprint from 3,000 to 7,000 square feet. It also would add more seating and address safety concerns.

Executive Director Bryan Fenstermaker told PhillyMag that PARC will not change the unique style of the fountain.

"People climb in it," Fenstermaker said. "And unfortunately, the elements on the tiles are falling off. Things are cracked. And we've had some draining issues. But the fountain is not moving. It's staying the same. The mermaid will be there."

The European-style fountain has cherubs, storks and mermaids pouring streams into stacked renaissance-inspired chalices. Speakers play Frank Sinatra songs and other music from the 1930s and 1940s.

Bryan Hanes/PARC

Late last year, PARC released a survey asking community members to voice their opinions on possible renovations. It asked what they liked and disliked about the plaza and requested name suggestions for the beloved mermaid statue.

"Now, more than ever, outdoor public spaces are the centers of communities," PARC wrote. "They are indispensable assets that foster neighbor to neighbor connections, and sense of place."

Respondents liked that the plaza serves as a gathering space for the neighborhood but disliked its lack of seating, PhillyMag reported. Most thought the statue should have an Italian or Greek name, though some wanted it to honor the Lenape people native to the Philadelphia region.

A proposed design for the plaza, released earlier this year, includes custom wooden benches, moveable seating, planting beds and flexible plaza space.

The plaza was created in 2004 after the triangular parcel was purchased and transformed into a public space. The community requested a European-style fountain be placed in the plaza, which serves as the center of the Passyunk Avenue commercial corridor.

The plaza was last renovated in 2011, when PARC installed chess boards, removed the fence around the fountain, added trees and restored the fountain.