Waterfront Winterfest at Penn’s Landing

I really enjoy coming here every year with friends and getting to ice skate, play in the arcade and sit on the rocking chairs in the warm blankets. I would say the tickets and skate rental is a bit pricy, but it’s a great experience and I would say it’s worth the price. There’s food and warm drinks that are sold in the heated tents and smores packages that you can buy to roast marshmallows in the fire. Make sure to bling your gloves and hats! It can get really cold!

There are so many reasons to fall in love with Philly, and this is one of them. It’s cold out, but you still want to have some fun right? So go down to the Waterfront — there’s some fun arcade games (Claw, air hockey, skeeball) for the kiddies and kiddo-​s at heart alike. Ice skating for families, friends and lovers.
Head over to the lodge for hot chocolate, or spiked with Baileys, or my winter favorite. hot cider with Jameson and warm your heart’s desire.
Hungry? $ 5 pretzel with cheese sauce, or go over to Distrito truck for 2 tacos for $ 7.
Sweet tooth? Get some smores material and head over to the fire pits and warm up and socialize with your friends or with strangers.
Regardless of how you decide to spend your night there, get there. Less than 2 weeks left!

Had a great time ice skating at Winterfest! So fun for both children and adults. Bought our tickets online and showed our Blue Cross insurance cards at the gate for discounts.
Enjoyed some spiked winter favorites including hot cider with Jack Daniels by the fire pits with friends. Will easily become a winter tradition.
Pro Tip: Bring quarters for the lockers where you store your shoes

Took a group of 8^th grade Girl Scouts there and couldn’t be more pleased. It was convenient to buy tickets online and was very reasonable. Make sure you but tickets ahead because we saw cars turned away that had no tickets due to full parking lot. All staff was friendly and curious. Rink was beautiful with the light shows. We did the 5:00 session so we got to see it in day and night. Food in lodge was good. They even had warm cider for my non chocolate loving daughter! It was crowded but not unbearable. Facility was clean. No hassle carrying a bag in that I used to hold troops belongings but they even have lockers if needed. Great that non skaters are not charged. Only high cost was the parking fee, $ 15 on a Saturday. I recommend this place for families, couples and everyone! Happy Winterfest!

One of the best reasons to visit Philly during the winter is definitely the Waterfront Winterfest at Penn’s Landing. My friend and I had planned a trip during the first week of December, not even knowing about this festival, and were psyched to not only discover it, but to have booked the Hyatt literally 25 seconds away. This was the first year this event has taken place (what luck!) and hopefully it will not be the last (hurry up because it only runs November 29 through January 5). The Winterfest features ice skating at the Blue Cross RiverRink (an Olympic-​sized outdoor ice rink), a holiday light show (premiering every evening on the hour, from 5 to 11 pm), a retail market (featuring local crafts) and food and drinks at The Lodge (a pop-​up beer garden).
Admission to the Rink is $ 3 and skate rentals will set you back another $ 10, but to ice skate on the Delaware waterfront with views of the Ben Franklin Bridge is definitely worth the expense. The first night we went skating the village closed at 9pm for a planned power outage. Fortunately, we made it to the Lodge just in time to receive passes for free admission and rentals on our next visit (score!). Our second time around we enjoyed the outdoor area and warmed ourselves up next to one of the many fire pits with a cold beer and warm spiked cider (both purchased inside the lodge which offered an assortment of craft beers and warm spiked holiday drinks, all between $ 4 and $ 7). We were also able to enjoy the light show, which was projected across 5 Christmas trees, and featured colored lights and dancing Santas and Elves all in sync with holiday hip hop music.
The waterfront was truly transformed into a Christmas village with hundreds of holiday trees and shrubs, woodchips, rustic furniture, market lights and holiday music, and, of course, the fire pits. All in all, it was a memorable experience and one worth making an annual tradition.