52 Weeks of Firsts

52 Weeks of Firsts is the Philadelphia Historic District 250th Committee's citywide celebration of America's 250th birthday, the Semiquincentennial. It's a yearlong series running throughout 2026, with a new "Firstival" every Saturday from 11 AM to 1 PM at various locations across Philadelphia's neighborhoods. Each one is free.

The whole thing is built around the idea that for 250 years Philadelphia has been first in freedom, innovation, and fun. Every Saturday, a different Firstival focuses on one specific Philadelphia-born first. The list is long: the first balloon flight in America (1793), the first public protest against slavery (1688), the first selfie (1839, by Robert Cornelius), the first electronic computer, ENIAC (1945), the first Slinky, the first ice cream soda, the first Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first zoo, the first penitentiary, the first children's hospital, the first flower show, the first African American Methodist Episcopal congregation, the first American flag, and the first Mother's Day. It also touches on the only surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Each week's Firstival pairs one of these milestones with a #1 Sculpture by a local artist, with the work drawing on personal and community history. Beyond the Saturdays, the year includes a podcast and a citywide photo hunt. Since the events move around to different neighborhoods, you can catch them in different parts of the city as the weeks go by. They run every Saturday, 11 AM to 1 PM, and they're free.