Celebrate! PAFA for the Holidays
This Holiday Season, Put PAFA Museum on Your List
Looking for holiday events in Philadelphia? Make PAFA Museum part of your plans in Center City.
From November 20 through December 31, see PAFA Museum’s Historic Landmark Building light up Broad Street, then come inside for Friday night events, live music, art-making, gallery experiences, family-friendly holiday activities, and unique shopping at the PAFA Museum Store.
Holiday lights. Friday nights. Art, music, making, and unexpected gifts.
See What’s Happening This Holiday Season:
- Inaugural PAFA Museum Holiday Lighting Celebration
- Fridays After 5
- Holiday Week at PAFA Museum
- Holiday Shopping and Gift Giving
- View All PAFA Holiday Events
Holiday lights. Friday nights. Art, music, making, and unexpected gifts.
Make PAFA Part of Your Holiday Plans
There’s more happening at PAFA this holiday season. Come be part of it.
Visiting Christmas Village or Dilworth Park? PAFA Museum is just a few blocks away. Explore the galleries, grab a drink, make something of your own, and shop for gifts made by local artists.
Explore everything happening at PAFA Museum this holiday season.
Select an event below for dates, details, and tickets.
November 20 | PAFA MUSEUM HOLIDAY LIGHTING
Start the Holidays with a Night to Remember. Join us November 20 for the first-ever holiday countdown and lighting of PAFA Museum’s spectacular Historic Landmark Building, along with art-making, food, drinks, music, and entertainment.
The evening also launches Fridays After 5 and opens Cast Hall to the public after dark, inviting visitors to create in one of PAFA’s most extraordinary historic spaces. Food and drinks will be available from Schulson Collective restaurants, including Pearl & Mary, Sampan, Giuseppe & Sons, and Double Knot. Join Us
Starting November 20 | Fridays After 5
Select Fridays | 5–8 PM | An evening experience for adults
Date night. Drinks with friends. Or just a Friday that needs something better than the usual.
Experience PAFA after hours with music, DJs, cocktails, food, gallery access, and hands-on art-making in historic Cast Hall. Normally reserved for PAFA artists and classes, Cast Hall opens to the public after dark for these special evenings. Generations of artists have learned, experimented, and made work here. Now it’s your turn.
No art experience necessary.
Come for happy hour. Stay for the art. Make a night of it.
$15 admission includes gallery access and Fridays After 5 programming.
December 26–31 | Holiday Week at PAFA Museum
Family in town? Kids home from school? Looking for something to do between Christmas and New Year’s?
Start outside, where PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building is lit for the holidays. Then come in.
Every day from December 26–31, PAFA Museum is filled with reasons to stay. Make art together in the Family Holiday Studio, explore the galleries, join a tour, and plan your visit around PAFA’s daily 2 PM Holiday Concert Series in the Washington Foyer.
It’s a day at the museum that feels anything but ordinary.
Come for the lights. Stay for what’s happening inside.
 | FAMILY HOLIDAY STUDIODecember 26–31 | 10 AM–3 PM daily Drop into the Family Holiday Studio daily and create something inspired by the art and spaces around you. No experience needed. Just come ready to make. Then keep exploring. Head into the galleries, join the 1 PM tour, or find a spot in the Washington Foyer for the 2 PM Holiday Concert Series. Less scrolling. More making. More time together. |
 | 2 PM HOLIDAY CONCERT SERIESDecember 26–31 | 2 PM daily | Washington Foyer Every afternoon at 2 PM during Holiday Week, the Washington Foyer becomes the setting for a special holiday concert. Come for the concert. Explore the galleries. Make something in the Family Holiday Studio. See PAFA lit for the season. Six days. Six concerts. One more reason to make PAFA part of your holiday plans. |
Holiday Shopping
 | Give Something They Won’t Expect Skip the same-old holiday gifts. The PAFA Museum Store is filled with artist-made objects, jewelry, books, home goods, design, and distinctly Philadelphia finds, including gifts you won’t see everywhere else. |
 | Give a PAFA Museum Membership Or give something that lasts beyond the holidays. A PAFA membership means a year of art, exhibitions, events, experiences, and reasons to come back, along with discounts on Museum Store purchases, summer camps, and adult art classes. PAFA Member Holiday Sale: December 4–7 |
Art First. Dinner Next.
Don’t Just Meet for Dinner. Do Something First.
Your night doesn’t have to end when PAFA closes.
Start with art, drinks, music, and Fridays After 5 at PAFA. Then head into Midtown Village for dinner at a participating Schulson Collective restaurant, just a few blocks from the museum.
Visit Sampan, Harp & Crown, Via Locusta, or Giuseppe & Sons. Pick up a Curated Palette Passport at PAFA or download one before your visit, then collect a stamp at each participating location.
Art first. Dinner next. Friday handled.
Come Celebrate the Holidays at PAFA
Holiday lights. Friday nights. Live music. Art-making. Family fun. Unexpected gifts.
There’s more happening at PAFA this holiday season. Come be part of it.
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We're so excited you're planning to visit PAFA!
Make time for art — visit us Thursday to Sunday.
Before reserving your tickets, please review helpful information about museum hours, accessibility, building access, and special admission programs.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at visitorservices@pafa.org — we’d love to help!