Play It Cool

The centerpiece is the Blue Cross RiverRink, a 21-year-old outdoor ice-skating rink. | Photos by Matt Stanley

Embrace the brisk weather by visiting the Delaware River Waterfront for the Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest. The winter respite touts thousands of lights, great food and drinks, comfy rockers and couches, games and more.

Building off of the success of the Spruce Street Harbor Park, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation worked with Philadelphia partners Garces Group, Groundswell Design Group, and Art Star Gallery & Boutique to transform Penn’s Landing into a seasonal riverfront park.

The centerpiece is the Blue Cross RiverRink, a 21-year-old outdoor ice-skating rink that offers public skating sessions, season-long special events, and skate rentals and sharpening. Surrounding the rink will be a winter garden and forest created by David Fierabend of Groundswell Design Group.

Using locally sourced recycled shipping containers, hundreds of holiday trees and shrubs, woodchips, rustic furniture, market lights and fire pits, DRWC and Fierabend created an immersive holiday landscape that complements the majestic views of the Delaware River and Ben Franklin Bridge.

Winterfest will also be home to a new light show, featuring the dancing lights from Spruce Street Harbor Park, reset and coordinated to play two shows on the hour and half-hour, starting at dusk. For a complete list of events and hours, visit riverrink.com.