The British are invading the city this weekend, but, Philadelphians are in on the action with the Museum of the American Revolution’s Occupied Philadelphia event.
The annual showcase is back on Oct. 28 and 29, and the Museum will offer guided neighborhood walking tours and family-friendly activities exploring what life was like while British forces controlled – or, for some people, attempted to liberate – Philadelphia.
This living history event will showcase four key locations where visitors will interact with soldiers, civilians, prisoners of war, and spies, while also checking out first-hand talents and trades, such as carpentry, dressmaking, wheelwrighting, leatherwork, and more.
The fun begins directly out front of the MoAR, in the Museum’s outdoor plaza. This section of the event will simulate a marketplace environment where most of the trades mentioned above will live. On the lawn behind Carpenters’ Hall however, visitors instead will be able to see a recreated British encampment, watch traditional military drills, and meet prisoners-of-war to learn what life was like for them under British occupation.
Occupied Philadelphia will also take over the front of Carpenters’ Hall, which will feature craft and military activities, plus, representatives from Independence National Park Service to learn more about Carpenters’ Hall and the surrounding neighborhood during the 1777-78 British occupation.
While inside the Museum’s core galleries, visitors can meet additional costumed living historians and join a Museum educator at a discovery cart to learn about the role of Black soldiers during the occupation, a release states. Plus, Philadelphians can check out a small collection of artifacts related to the occupation and the Museum’s neighborhood on the MoAR’s lower level in the workroom window (regular Museum admission is required.)
A full list of offerings is available online, but there are a few activations to highlight. For one, the Kick-Off Moment will take place at the start of each day (10 a.m.), and it’s free and open to the public. The kick-off will feature more than 50 costumed historical interpreters gathering on the Museum’s outdoor plaza for the unfurling of the British flag and the reading of British General Howe’s proclamation declaring Philadelphia an occupied city.
There will also be guided walking tours (additional tickets required), which will depart from the Museum every 30 minutes. The hour-long tours will include stops at nearby historic sites to meet costumed interpreters and complete a “spy challenge” to aid the Revolutionary cause. Guests should plan on an outdoor tour of approximately one mile, and tickets are now available online now.
There’s also an event perfect for kiddos on Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The family-friendly, activity-filled History Explorer Meet-up and walking tour will require at least one adult to accompany up to three children, and tickets are available virtually.
Occupied Philadelphia will also feature a special talk on “The Archaeology of Occupation”, plus a Museum Member Teatime. With the first event, Philadelphians can join Independence National Historical Park Curator Debbie Miller in the Museum’s Liberty Hall to explore 70 years of archaeological work in the Park and reflect on what archaeology, including traces of the British occupation found in homes and buildings across the city, reveal about life in Revolutionary Philadelphia, the release states.
And then with the latter event, Museum members are invited to stop by the Museum’s third-floor Liberty Hall for a spot of tea. The release also states that while enjoying light refreshments, “loyal” members and history explorers alike will have the opportunity to spy on the bustling British-occupied marketplace on the Museum plaza from the terrace above.
A full list of offerings, schedules and exact timing for Occupied Philadelphia 2023 can be found online.
Activities on the outdoor plaza are free and open to the public. Tickets for the guided walking tours and History Explorers Meet-up may be purchased in advance or on the day of the event. Tickets to the Museum can be purchased by calling 215-253-6731, at AmRevMuseum.org, or at the front desk.
