Philly Music Fest Closes Its 10th Anniversary Week With a Packed Weekend

Philly Music Fest wraps its 10th annual edition this weekend, closing a weeklong run that began Oct. 12 and ends Sunday with a jazz finale at Solar Myth.

The final three nights are stacked at Underground Arts. Friday brings Sweet Pill, Remember Sports, Wax Jaw and Midfield to the Callowhill venue for an evening of Philly-bred indie rock.

Saturday belongs to Marietta, headlining Underground Arts with support from Euphoria Again, Bleary Eyed and Maty. Marietta is one of the headliners of this year’s festival, which spans 25 bands across nine shows at six venues.

The festival closes Sunday at Solar Myth, where saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins headlines the annual Jazz Night. Wilkins, 28 and from Upper Darby, is widely regarded as one of the most gifted saxophonists of his generation, according to That Eric Alper.

This year’s edition opened at Ardmore Music Hall with surprise headliner Gregory Alan Isakov, a South Africa-born songwriter raised in the Philadelphia area who recently headlined the Mann Music Center. Earlier in the week, the Dillinger Escape Plan and RJD2 played Underground Arts and MilkBoy.

What makes the festival matter is its nonprofit model. Philly Music Fest was founded in 2017 by Greg and Jenn Seltzer and operates without corporate promoters. After paying artists and covering venue costs, profits are donated to music education programs for kids in Philadelphia.

Over the past decade the festival has donated more than $600,000 to those programs, according to Grateful Web, while hosting more than 170 bands from the region. Organizers estimate its annual economic impact on the region at more than $750,000.

“We don’t measure success by size, we measure success by impact,” Seltzer said, according to JamBase. Tickets for the remaining shows are available at PhillyMusicFest.com and directly from each venue.