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When New Jersey mother Tulia Ronda and her daughter, Ana Ronda Feliciano, saw the advertisement for the first “52 Weeks of Firsts” Firstival in December of last year, they didn’t think too hard before attending the first one.
“We thought, well, we’re not doing anything else,” Feliciano said. “So, off we went to the Anthaneum.”
They didn’t anticipate or plan on being two of the few “Firsties” – or people who have attended all or many of the Firstival events each Saturday.
The interesting history, education and engaging nature behind each event kept the duo coming back, Feliciano said.
“We had never been to many of these places,” she said. “Even coming to the Eastern State Penitentiary today, we had never been. We had heard about it, and we’ve driven by it, but we had never been in there. And now we’ve been able to go to so many places and learn so much about all these locations.”
The mother and daughter have now been to all 43 Firstivals to date – celebrating everything from America’s first Mother’s Day to the first public Girl Scout cookie sale, the first ice cream soda and the first “selfie.”
Ronda and Feliciano aren’t alone. Although some Firsties have missed a few Firstivals, there is a large group that is dedicated to attending most Saturdays.
Bridesburg resident Trish Houck attended most of the Firstivals. She has only missed three – including two weekends she spent at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada.
“Even as a lifetime Philadelphian, there are so many places still left for me to explore and find out about,” she said.
Houck said she was curious when she heard about the first “Firstival.” Once she attended, the rest is history.
“I just feel like they put so much thoughtfulness into all the details of the event every week that I’ve cleared my Saturdays to make sure that I have time to go for the presentation part of these events because I’ve loved every single one of them,” Houck said.
She said she doesn’t have a favorite of the events – and that each has been unique in its own way.
“I don’t have any favorite children,” Houck said. “I’ve loved every single one of them for real and I’ve gotten to some of the museums and places I’ve never been to.”
How did this idea start?
Philadelphia’s 52 Weeks of Firsts started the first weekend of 2026, and has continued ever since. Each week commemorates a Philly “first” – or an invention, creation or historical milestone in the U.S. that is Philadelphia-born.
Each week is marked with a “Firstival” on Saturday – a two-hour-long event featuring education about that week’s “First,” family-friendly activities and games, live music, giveaways and more.
The National Constitution Center’s interim president and CEO, Vince Stango, and the president and CEO of Historic Philadelphia, Amy Needle, co-chaired the committee that has led the 52 Weeks of Firsts.
Stango explained that the two were shocked by all the Philly history they found once Needle came up with the “Firstival” idea.
“It was just an amazing discovery of just how many American firsts started right here in Philadelphia,” he said. “Depending on how you look at it we could really have developed a festival that went beyond 52 weeks; there’s just so much that started here in this country. So we had to make some hard decisions about what that might look like, and it also really opened our eyes to how we could pull in so many different partners and activate so many different neighborhoods and communities within Philadelphia.”
From the beginning, the Firstivals have seen a massive engagement from locals and visitors alike.
“When we celebrated the first Girl Scout cookie sale, we had someone travel from the Longwood Gardens area whose grandmother was the first Girl Scout cookie baker, and they came to tell us that story,” Needle said.
And over time, the “Firsties” are just one example of how strongly the Firstivals are impacting the community.
“It’s gone from a collection of individual weekly events to, for many of us, a habit, a sense of community, and a sense of belonging,” Stango said.
Lasting impact
Stango said the “Firstival” mentality is showing up in lots of places – everywhere from billboards to school projects.
“People have taken it and run with it, and we’ve seen it in other organizations, and I’ve seen a lot of it on billboards and other communications,” Stango said. “People are resonating with Philadelphia as a city of firsts.”
And Needle said another important part of the Firstivals is the artists who are a part of them. Each Firstival features a “First” statue with a paired artist from Mural Arts Philadelphia who decorates it.
“We worked with Mural Arts to have different artists paint these No. 1 sculptures, and those will now be left to those institutions,” she said. “So that’s another sort of legacy.”
Additionally, Needle said that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is planting a tree in honor of every “First” near each of the Firstival sites.
Stango and Needle said the Historic District does not currently have plans to offer similar programming once the 52 weeks are over – but Needle said there is still time to enjoy.
“There’s nine more weeks to go,” she said. “I invite people to come on out and experience that.”
And you may be able to meet Ronda and Feliciano – who plan to be at each remaining Firstival.
Feliciano emphasized that she and her mother have found it easy to navigate each of the Firstival locations – even coming from New Jersey each week.
“Every place that they’ve had these events, it has really been something that you realize, ‘we can get there fairly easily,’” she said. “They are all accessible through public transportation. Some of them we drove, but we could have gotten up a little bit early and taken a couple of bus transfers and gotten there.”
You can learn more about the remaining Philly Firstivals here.
