The Wonder Years, Matt Quinn to headline Philly Music Fest

Calling all Philly music fans — it’s time to boogie.

Returning for its ninth annual year, Philly Music Fest hits the stage this fall, Oct. 13 to 19, at various venues throughout the city. The annual festival — organized by Greg and Jenn Seltzer, a local husband and wife tandem — is designed to both showcase Philly area artists and venues while supporting the future generation of musicians in the City of Brotherly Love.

This year, fans are in for a treat as the festival will feature headlining performances from Matt Quinn, frontman of Mt. Joy, and The Wonder Years.

Quinn is no stranger to Philly Music Fest, playing twice before alongside his Mt. Joy bandmates in 2020 and 2022.

Unlike Quinn, this marks the debut of The Wonder Years at Philly Music Fest. After years of conflicting schedules, the stars have finally aligned, and one of Philly’s biggest bands is coming home for the beloved music festival.

“We are not the band we are without Philadelphia,” says The Wonder Years’ Dan Campbell. “Without the VFW halls in the suburbs. Without the basements in West Philly. Without the First Unitarian Church. We learned how to be a band here—all of the self-reliance, all of the grit, all of the we’re-doing-it-with-you-or-without-you attitude. This entire region shaped us. If we had a soda like Shaq, the flavor would be Schuylkill water.”

Alongside the Wonder Years and Matt Quinn, this year’s Philly Music Fest features a lineup of Greg Mendez, Catie Turner, Deadguy, Nazir Ebo, Black Buttafly, 22′ Halo, Soup Dreams, Archawa, Grace Gardner, Public Works, Dry Jacket, Golden Apple, Caracara, Kulfigirls, Chioke, The Lunar Year, Shygodwin, Lástima, and Daniel Villarreal, for a grand total of 22 artists across seven shows.

Philly Music Fest will once again feature a “surprise” on Oct. 13 and 14, with both shows taking place at Ardmore Music Hall.

Every year, Philly Music Fest donates all proceeds — after compensating the artists and venues — to music education. This year, the organization expects an annual economic impact of $600,000 on the Philadelphia music economy, including an annual donation to music education of $100,000.