What happens in a borough where people actually know each other
Jenkintown is small enough that community events have real weight. A music festival in this borough means people from the same streets, same schools, and same bars all end up in the same place on the same afternoon. That's not something you can manufacture in a larger suburb. It happens here because the borough is compact enough that the same faces keep showing up.
The calendar is anchored by a few reliable annual events and supplemented by smaller recurring gatherings that keep the downtown active through most of the year.
The most beloved community event in the borough's calendar. An annual outdoor music festival held in the fall that draws local and regional acts to the downtown area. Multiple stages, food vendors, and a crowd that spans every age in the borough. For longtime residents, it's a reliable fixture — the event where you see everyone you haven't run into since last fall. Free admission has historically made it accessible to the entire community regardless of income.
Jenkintown's arts festival brings visual artists, craftspeople, and performers to the Old York Road corridor. Local galleries and studios often participate with open events, and the festival tends to spill out from the designated venue areas into the downtown more broadly. A good entry point for anyone new to the borough who wants to meet the creative community.
A seasonal farmers market brings local produce, specialty foods, and small vendors to the downtown area on a weekly basis. The market draws a regular crowd of regulars who treat it as a social occasion as much as a shopping trip — consistent with Jenkintown's pattern of community events doubling as neighborhood gathering points.
The Main Street tree lighting and associated holiday events in December draw the borough together at the end of the year. Small in scale, local in character — the kind of event that works because everyone is walking distance from it and already knows each other.
Adam F. Goldberg's decision to set The Goldbergs explicitly in Jenkintown wasn't just nostalgia — it was an accurate characterization of a place with a genuinely distinct community culture. When National Geographic called the borough "Mayberry" in 2015, the residents who were interviewed for the piece seemed to find it accurate, if mildly embarrassing.
The borough is small enough that the community shows up for its own events. School sports are attended by people without children in the school. Local business openings draw foot traffic. Fire company fundraisers get neighborhood support. The music festival has a real crowd because the people who could go are already there.
This is not something that exists in most Philadelphia suburbs of comparable size. Jenkintown's particular combination of walkability, transit access, small school district, and long residential tenure means many residents have been here for decades, and know each other the way people only know each other in places that haven't turned over completely every five years.
For current event listings and schedules, check the official borough website or follow local community groups on social media, where most event announcements originate.
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EVENTS CALENDAR All upcoming borough meetings and events are listed below. Borough meetings are either virtual (via Zoom) or hybrid (held both in person at Borough Hall, and also via Zoom). WATCH: Both virtual and hybrid meetings are streamed live to the public on our Facebook page. PARTICPATE: All borough meetings are open to the public, and we encourage our residents to attend! You are welcome to join hybrid meetings in person at Borough Hall. To join a particular meeting via Zoom, residents can request for a Zoom invite via email. Agendas are posted 24 hours in advance of meetings, and can be found (along with the agendas, minutes, and Zoom recordings for past meetings) on the Meeting Agendas & Minutes page. Applications that have been submitted for Zoning & Land Development are posted on the Zoning & Land Development Applications page. Add this calendar to your GCal (Google) Add this calendar to your iCal (Apple)
Full calendar: jenkintownboro.com/calendar