Travel to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the 25th annual Caribbean Festival at Penn´s Landing Great Plaza. This free festival of Caribbean traditions, music and food is a culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands featuring a collage of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes.

With entertainment as the focal point of the event, you´ll be surrounded by the authentic island sounds of reggae, soca/calypso, hip-hop and gospel. There will also be creative dances, ethnic poetry and educational activities.

Fragrant aromas will fill the Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. At the Caribbean marketplace, visitors can browse displays of island fashions, souvenirs and arts and crafts.

In addition, the Caribbean Culture booth will complement this year´s event with featured topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. For the youngest attendees, the Festival offers a Caribbean Children´s Village to teach children about the African-Caribbean culture awareness.
Additional Information

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn´s Landing.

Concert & Fireworks Display

8:30

Travel to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the 25th annual Caribbean Festival at Penn´s Landing Great Plaza. This free festival of Caribbean traditions, music and food is a culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands featuring a collage of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes.

With entertainment as the focal point of the event, you´ll be surrounded by the authentic island sounds of reggae, soca/calypso, hip-hop and gospel. There will also be creative dances, ethnic poetry and educational activities.

Fragrant aromas will fill the Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. At the Caribbean marketplace, visitors can browse displays of island fashions, souvenirs and arts and crafts.

In addition, the Caribbean Culture booth will complement this year´s event with featured topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. For the youngest attendees, the Festival offers a Caribbean Children´s Village to teach children about the African-Caribbean culture awareness.
Additional Information

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn´s Landing.

For one weekend each May, 9th Street – in the heart of South Philadelphia – closes down traffic and a huge, multi-block festival takes over the neighborhood.

It all starts with the great sights, sounds and aromas of America´s oldest continuously operating open-air market: South Philadelphia´s famous Italian Market. And the most important thing for you to bring with you is your appetite.

In addition to the blocks of curb vendors and specialty butcher, cheese, gift and cookware shops that line the market, there will also be street-side merchants selling specially prepared foods just for the Festival.

Expect to see stands offering a display of fresh sausage and peppers, antipasto salads, roast pork sandwiches, cheeses, cured meats, an infinite array of pastries, famous mango roses and so much more.

Many nearby restaurants will extend their table service to the sidewalk so you can dine alfresco and enjoy the festival atmosphere.

A stunning smorgasbord of flavors will be on full display during the Festival, as vendors line the street, musicians roam the crowds and top chefs show off some of their best techniques at live cooking demonstrations.

For a full schedule and lineup of musicians, performances and demonstrations, be sure to visit the Festival´s official website.

Insider Tip

Belying its name, the Italian Market is not just Italian anymore. In fact, it´s a veritable melting pot of international cultures and cuisines.

You can choose from several excellent Asian restaurants serving delicious Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and piping hot bowls of pho.

Or savor amazingly flavorful tacos, spicy tamales and several other authentic Mexican favorites from La Lupe and Taqueria La Veracruzanas. And that´s just the beginning.

There is so much great eating in and around the Italian Market that you´ll want to return again and again.

It was first built in the transitional period from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). After much restoration during later dynasties, it revealed a sense of grandness. Six main halls stood on a central axis, comprising five enclosing courtyards. Wing halls, monk’s dormitories and elegant pagodas are spread out in an orderly fashion. The temple was bombed and almost totally destroyed in 1942 during Japanese invasion of China. The current temple regains its elegant demeanor following reconstruction in 1985 and 1998.

The temple is renowned for its sutras on paper, wood and stone. The ‘Paper Sutra’, totaling more than 22,000 scrolls, was written and printed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The story goes that an eminent monk wrote one of those sutras with his blood to show his piety to Sakyamuni, father of Buddhism. The sutra on wood, called Long Zang (Dragon Tripitaka), containing over 77,000 pieces, was carved from 1733 to 1738 of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This sutra is one of the two Tibetan Tripitaka books in Chinese, with the other named Korea Tripitaka kept in Korea.

The sutra inscription on stones in caves of the Shijing Hill is truly a spectacle. The engraving work began early in the year 605 of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and lasted 1,039 years until the Ming Dynasty. Subsequently, 3,572 Buddhist books were carved on the stone, which is a rare feat in world history. There are nine such caves in the hill; the Leiyin Cave being the most significant. Inside the cave stand four pillars, which are sculpted with 1056 Buddha statues. Visitors can see these stone sutras at the underground palace from nine windows. Now, a ropeway is available for visitors’ climbing the hill and wanting a view.

The ancient pagodas in the temple are distinctive in style. One in the northeast of the temple is especially important as it was built in the Liao Dynasty (916-1125) and has an unusual and rare body. It is surrounded by four seven-storey small pagodas, built in the Tang Dynasty. Buddha’s relics were unearthed from the Leiyin Cave in 1982 and was said to be Sakyamuni’s remains after his cremation.

Escorted bus and walking tours make getting around simple while special programs at ten historic sites throughout the community provide something for every size and taste.

Learn the inside stories of some of Philadelphia´s most important colonial landmarks: put your hand to colonial paper-making techniques at Historic Rittenhouse Town; try out some early American toys at Upsala; and

Concert & Fireworks Display

8:30

Travel to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the 25th annual Caribbean Festival at Penn´s Landing Great Plaza. This free festival of Caribbean traditions, music and food is a culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands featuring a collage of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes.

With entertainment as the focal point of the event, you´ll be surrounded by the authentic island sounds of reggae, soca/calypso, hip-hop and gospel. There will also be creative dances, ethnic poetry and educational activities.

Fragrant aromas will fill the Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. At the Caribbean marketplace, visitors can browse displays of island fashions, souvenirs and arts and crafts.

In addition, the Caribbean Culture booth will complement this year´s event with featured topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. For the youngest attendees, the Festival offers a Caribbean Children´s Village to teach children about the African-Caribbean culture awareness.
Additional Information

Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn´s Landing.

Serving a straightforward selection of slowly smoked meats and homey side dishes alongside craft beers and tasty cocktails, Percy Street is an ideal venue for Chef Erin OShea much-lauded Southern cooking, and is on its way to become the city top spot for barbecue.

Working with J&R smokers sourced from Texas, Chef O´shea and her crack team of barbecue wizards headed down to Texas – tested no fewer than 20 beef briskets – as they perfected the ideal balance of salt, smoke and seasoning. Check out this video about their culinary field trip to the Lone Star State.

The Eats

That Brisket which is Percy Street´s signature dish, served – as is the custom in Texas – by the half pound or pound, in three distinct cuts: Moist, Lean and Burnt Ends.

Other menu items include: Spare Ribs; house-made Sausage; half or whole Chicken; and Pork Belly, all slowly smoked and served with white bread and pickles. Sides, available small or large, include: Pinto Beans; Green Bean Casserole, Root beer Chili, Coleslaw; Collard Greens; Macaroni and Cheese; and Vegan Chili.

The Drinks

In keeping with their bare-bones, Texas-frontier aesthetic, Percy Street´s craft beers are served exclusively on draft at the poured concrete bar, lit from above by illuminated green glass beer growlers. Beers include Sly Fox Rauchbier (available in Pennsylvania exclusively at the restaurant) as well as a hand-crafted Root Beer from Yard´s Brewing Company.

Cocktails include: FM 423, with Tito handmade vodka, peach juice and sweet tea; Jack & Ginger, with Jack Daniels, Canton ginger liqueur, lime cordial and ginger ale; and Cherry Cola, with Beam rye, cherry Heering, DiSaronno and cola.

Atmosphere

Percy Street´s simple, rustic decor was created by Elisabeth Knapp, who also designed Cook and Solomonov Xochitl and Zahav restaurants.

Her frontier-influenced design focuses on the fire engine red smokers, visible through a window in the dining room and bar area. The restaurant features light wood floors, weathered red paint, a working jukebox and custom