Tickets for the Papal Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia are indeed a hot item and hard to find. But one item that does not seem to be so hot up until this point is the Festival of Families. The Festival of Families does not contain a mass, but it is an opportunity for people to see Pope Francis. Yet, many parishes are reporting that they have plenty of tickets left for the Saturday mostly full-day event.
“Plenty” said one parish when asked if they had any tickets left to the Saturday Festival of Families. “Tons”, said another. While each parish had around 400 tickets to both the Papal mass and the Festival of Families, the Papal mass tickets went quickly and the Festival of Families tickets remain in large number.
The Festival of Families is described on on the World Meeting of Families page
The Festival of Families, held on Saturday, September 26, 2015, is an international celebration of family, community, and faith. Everyone is invited to join in this joyful, global celebration of support and love. During this event, high-level performers, both music and visual, will entertain and educate participants from around the world.
The culmination of the Festival will be a nationally broadcast main stage program of music and spectacular visual arts performances by world renowned artists. Pope Francis will celebrate with us during this time, both to enjoy the show and to listen to six families from different continents briefly describe their joys and challenges. The Holy Father will respond with compassion and words of wisdom for all of us, speaking to those present at the event (more than a million) as well as the additional millions participating through remote viewing. In addition to the main stage, there will be a second stage and exhibits. The second, smaller stage will feature performances throughout the day by many cultural groups, educational institutions, and spiritual organizations.
The lineup of featured presenters includes plenty of big music and entertainment names, from the religious to the secular:
- Mark Wahlberg
- Aretha Franklin
- The Fray
- Marie Miller
- Jim Gaffigan
- Jackie Evancho
- Sister Sledge
- Andrea Bocelli
- Juanes
- The Philadelphia Orchestra
- Matt Maher
The day begins at 12:45 with performances from plenty of local choirs and other entertainers on the Logan Square stage, and then at 5:27 the Eakins Oval stage features some more performances including some of the big names above.
On Saturday, Pope Francis will arrive in Philadelphia at 9:30 a.m., and celebrate mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 10:30 a.m. for clergy and religious. At 4:45 p.m. he will visit Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed.
The Independence Hall address Pope Francis will give had a very limited number of tickets offered. There were 10,000 given out online, but they were gone in just two minutes, reports NBC Philadelphia.
But by 7:30 p.m., Pope Francis will head to the Festival of Families to address the audience.
While it is not the Papal mass, the Festival of Families is still could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you are looking for a ticket, plenty of Philadelphia parishes have them.
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