{"id":634071,"date":"2026-03-05T13:49:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/634071\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:49:25","slug":"saturday-festival-honors-pioneering-history-during-52-weeks-of-firsts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/634071\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday festival honors pioneering history during 52 Weeks Of Firsts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. The Billy Penn newsletter keeps you informed about everything Philly, with a quirky vibe of healthy skepticism and persistent optimism. Join us and sign up today.<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a warm, sunny June day in 1829. A crowd gathers outside Philadelphia\u2019s Masonic Hall, a grand gothic structure on Chestnut Street, and waits to enter a brand-new kind of horticultural exhibition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, the doors swing open and we flood inside. And it is amazing,\u201d recounts Heron Kennedy, a storyteller with Historic Philadelphia. \u201cThe hall is filled with all different plants, some familiar from America, like magnolias, and some from far off places, like a rubber tree from India, the bird of paradise flower from South Africa, the peony from China and a coffee tree from Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one-day-only event marks the first-ever Philadelphia Flower Show,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kennedy retold that origin story Tuesday afternoon, at an announcement of an event this Saturday that will commemorate the creation and long history of the flower show<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Flower dancers prepared to perform at Historic Philadelphia Inc.\u2019s announcement of \u201c52 Weeks of Firsts\u201d events in March. (Meir Rinde\/Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

The event is the latest in the \u201c52 Weeks of Firsts<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a year-long series of \u201cFirstivals\u201d that Historic Philadelphia and many other organizations are putting on to celebrate the nation\u2019s 250th birthday and the city\u2019s central role in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Every Saturday in 2026, the free events offer storytelling, performances, exhibits, souvenir giveaways and activities for kids and adults to celebrate innovations or \u201cfirsts\u201d that originated in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s Firstival focusing on the flower show will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market St.<\/p>\n

A profusion of flowers<\/p>\n

The past few Firstivals have been drawing 200 to 300 people every Saturday morning, organizers said. Events in January and February have commemorated a historic protest against slavery<\/a>, the first authentic Chinatown Friendship Gate<\/a>, and the first professional basketball league<\/a>, among other notable firsts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve learned over the past nine weeks is that Philadelphians love \u201852 Weeks of Firsts,\u2019\u201d said Amy Needle, Historic Philadelphia\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cThey love going to these somewhat unique places. They love hearing stories\u2026 and they love seeing the gorgeous murals on our \u2018number one\u2019 sculptures that our incredible Mural Art artists have created.\u201d<\/p>\n

For each Firstival, Historic Philadelphia commissions an artist to decorate a 5-foot foam statue, in the shape of a \u20181,\u2019 with images related to that week\u2019s theme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Matt Rader, president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, left, and artist Sean Martorana stood by a poster showing a statue decorated with Mortarana\u2019s design. (Meir Rinde\/Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

The artists for the next four Firstival sculptures were on hand to discuss their designs during the announcement event Tuesday. It was held at the Science History Institute on Chestnut Street, the site of another upcoming Firstival on March 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artist Sean Martorana covered his flower show-themed sculpture with a profusion of flowers that bloom in every season, rendered in bright, chalk-like lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do something very, very colorful for this. All the flowers and the vines are painted in metallic or iridescent paints, so it could also shine in the light and add a little bit more experience to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI did include a little easter egg of the butterfly, because the [show\u2019s] butterfly station has been there for so long, and is a favorite of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The old Masonic Hall<\/a> where the first Philadelphia Flower Show was held was destroyed in a fire more than 200 years ago, and the annual event is now held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Arch Street. It\u2019s currently under way and runs through March 8.<\/p>\n

First medical colleges, matchbook, and stadium coming up<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the complete list of other firsts being highlighted this year, along with the upcoming Saturday Firstival dates and locations.<\/p>\n

Completed<\/p>\n

Week 1:\u00a0 Successful balloon flight in America (1793)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 2: The Mummers parade, the nation\u2019s first folk parade (1901)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 3: Volunteer fire company (1736)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 4: Professional basketball league (1898)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 5: Public Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 6: African Methodist Episcopal congregation (1794)<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 7: Abolitionist society in America<\/a> (1775)<\/p>\n

Week 8: Authentic Chinese gate built in America<\/a> (1984)<\/p>\n

Week 9: Public protest against slavery in America<\/a> (1688)<\/p>\n

Week 10: Flower Show (1829)<\/p>\n

Upcoming<\/p>\n

\u2022 Women\u2019s medical college (1850)<\/strong>
March 14, Health Sciences Building, Drexel University, 60 N. 36th St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Matchbook (1892)<\/strong>
March 21, Science History Institute, 315 Chestnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The first medical school in America (1765)<\/strong>
March 28, Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Stadium in America (1895)<\/strong>
April 4, Franklin Field, 235 S. 33rd St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Circus performance in America (1793)<\/strong>
April 11, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, 6452 Greene St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Botanical garden (1728)<\/strong>
April 18, Bartram\u2019s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Postmaster (1737)<\/strong>
April 25, Franklin Court, 322 Market St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 American-made piano and sousaphone (1775 and 1893)<\/strong>
May 2, Ensemble Arts Philly, 300 S. Broad St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mother\u2019s Day (1908)<\/strong>
May 9, Historic St. George\u2019s Museum & Archives, 326 New St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hospital in America (1751)<\/strong>
May 16, Pennsylvania Hospital, 800 Spruce St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 World\u2019s Fair on American soil (1876)<\/strong>
May 23, Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic<\/p>\n

\u2022 Steamboat for passengers and freight (1787)<\/strong>
May 30, Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u2022 American flag (1777)<\/strong>
June 6, Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 U.S. Army (1775)<\/strong>
June 13, Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3rd St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Annual Reminder demonstration (1965)<\/strong>
June 20, Philly Pride Visitor Center, Lombard St. and S. 12th St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Paper maker in America (1690)<\/strong>
June 27, Rittenhouse Town, 6034 Wissahickon Ave.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Bank of the United States (1791)<\/strong>
July 4, First Bank of the United States, 120 S. 3rd St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Organized baseball team (1831)<\/strong>
July 11 (location TBD)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ice cream soda (Oct. 1874)<\/strong>
July 18, Franklin Fountain, 116 Market St.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 American art school (1805)<\/strong>
July 25, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Scientific Society of Natural History (1812)<\/strong>
Aug. 1, at Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway<\/p>\n

\u2022 Zoo in America (1874)<\/strong>
Aug. 8, Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Ave.<\/p>\n

\u2022 U.S. Mint (1793)<\/strong>
Aug. 15 (location TBD)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Selfie (1839)<\/strong>
Aug. 22, Love Park, 1501 John F Kennedy Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Slinky (1943)<\/strong>
Aug. 29, Philadelphia Art Museum, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway<\/p>\n

\u2022 Signing of the Constitution (1787)<\/strong>
Sept. 5, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Continental Congress (1774)<\/strong>
Sept. 12 at Carpenters\u2019 Hall, 320 Chestnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Naming of the United States (1776)<\/strong>
Sept. 19, Independence Hall<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ronald McDonald House (1974)<\/strong>
Sept. 26, Ronald McDonald House, 3925 Chestnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penitentiary in America (1829)<\/strong>
Oct. 3, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The First Peoples<\/strong>
Oct. 10, Penn Museum, 3260 South St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1775)<\/strong>
Oct. 17, Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Public showing of a motion picture (1870)<\/strong>
Oct. 24, Philadelphia Film Society, 1412 Chestnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Modern detective story written (1841)<\/strong>
Oct. 31, Edgar Allan Poe House, 532 N. 7th St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Thanksgiving Day parade in America (1920)<\/strong>
Nov. 7, Benjamin Franklin Parkway<\/p>\n

\u2022 University in America (1740)<\/strong>
Nov. 14, Houston Hall, The University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Children\u2019s hospital in America (1855)<\/strong>
Nov. 21, Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, Main Building, 3401 Civic Center Blvd.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pencil with an attached eraser (1858)<\/strong>
Nov. 28, National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Weather bureau (1870)<\/strong>
Dec. 5, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Electronic computer (1945)<\/strong>
Dec. 12, The University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Public lending library in America (1731)<\/strong>
Dec. 19, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Philly food firsts: Cheesesteaks (1930s), water ice (1932) and bubble gum (1928)<\/strong>
Dec. 26, Reading Terminal Market, 1136 Arch St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. The Billy Penn newsletter keeps you informed about everything Philly,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":634072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[231950,5229,25417,1322,17803,472,53850,1448,2830,270280,1311,30814,148727,270281,34086,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-634071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-52-weeks-of-firsts","tag-america","tag-america-250","tag-featured","tag-historic-philadelphia","tag-history","tag-mural-arts","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-horticultural-society-phs","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-250","tag-philadelphia-flower-show","tag-phs-philadelphia-flower-show","tag-semiquincentennial","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116176890720626602","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}