2024 marks the 16th year of the highly energetic and uniquely wacky Kensington Derby and Arts Festival, and it all takes place on Saturday, May 11.
This go-around, East Kensington’s long-time parade and arts activation will be moving to a different location on Frankford Avenue. The event features a cavalcade of human-powered sculptures crafted from recycled bicycles and other materials riding through various obstacles, with the grand finale of a large mud pit to finish it all off.
“East Kensington is a neighborhood that is growing and thriving, and Frankford Avenue in particular has seen tremendous business growth in the last year with the opening of new businesses like Post Haste, Fiore Fine Foods, Cloud Cups and Philadelphia Barber Co.,” said Fishtown District Director of Operations Kae Anderson in a statement.
Anderson continued: “We are proud to invite our neighbors near and far to come out and experience the unique, creative spirit of East Kensington. This truly is Philadelphia’s most unique festival of the year — there is nothing else like it.”
The event started in 2007 on Trenton Avenue as a collaboration between East Kensington Neighbors Association and New Kensington Community Development Corp, a release notes. The festival continues to serve as a fundraiser for the East Kensington Neighbors Association, and proceeds from beer sales at the event are spent back in the East Kensington area through their community mini-grant program.
This year, the three-mile obstacle course is expected to bring over 15,000 people through East Kensington and Fishtown, with the festivities in full swing between York and Huntingdon streets (located three blocks from the York-Dauphin or Huntingdon stops on the Market-Frankford Line, in the heart of East Kensington.)
The festival footprint on Frankford Avenue, just North of the roundabout, will be lined with boutiques offering handmade and curated wares, bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and more, the release adds. The derby parade begins at 2 p.m. at Frankford and York, and will parade along Frankford Avenue and back up Front Street to end around 3 p.m. at the Amber Street mud pit.
Vendors, performers, musicians, food trucks and local businesses at the Kensington Derby and Arts Festival will band together for the unique occasion.
Food vendors registered for the festivities span some local offerings, including Evil Genius Beer Company, Loco Pez, Fiore Fine Foods, Mom-Mom’s Polish Food Cart and Two Robbers Hard Seltzer, plus other favorites like a Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Truck, The Chilly Banana, The Little Sicilian, The Pasta Truck and The Penn Barbecue Company.
This annual neighborhood celebration will shine the spotlight on over 100 local merchants, artists and makers as well, like Philadelphia Barber Co, Philadelphia Rock Gym, FunAttic Finds, Functional Ceramics, Good Batch Vintage, Wag Days Philly, The 50/50 Company, The Beat in Between and many more.
On top of food, drink and shopping, the festival will also host a Main Stage near Huntingdon Street featuring local bands, and a DJ stage at Hagert Street programmed by local internet radio station, Great Circles. Music will run all day from noon to 6 p.m., with a full line-up available online, the release finishes.
More information about the festival, with registration for art vendors and derby teams can be found at kensingtonkineticarts.org. Locals can also stay up-to-date with festival news on Facebook or Instagram by following @kensingtonkineticarts
