Roxborough's Holiday Season Runs Through One Block of Ridge Avenue
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Most of Roxborough's holiday calendar this year happens within a few doors on the 6100 block of Ridge Avenue. Art on the Ridge sits at 6155 Ridge Avenue and Roxborough Pocket Park is at 6170. Between November 4 and December 17, the Roxborough Development Corporation's 2026 events calendar lists more than a dozen dates. Nearly all of them are workshops at the gallery, a scavenger hunt that starts and ends there, or a celebration in the park across the street.
This setup is new. The gallery at the center of it has only been a permanent storefront for a little over a year, and the season is built to keep it there.
Art on the Ridge began in late 2024 as a series of pop-up consignment galleries paid for with a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. The Chestnut Hill Local reported that the Roxborough Development Corporation used the pop-ups to test whether a permanent gallery could pay its way.
RDC executive director Jax Cusack gave the Local this answer:
"It exceeded our sales projections by about 45%."
That number led to a lease. RDC worked with Baker Street Partners, a local development firm, to take 6155A Ridge Avenue at below-market rent, and the gallery opened there on September 15, 2025. Before that, the storefront had been vacant. In 2024 the pop-up operated at 6133 Ridge, so the gallery moved a few doors up the block when it became permanent.
The way it works matters if you plan to shop there in December. Art on the Ridge is a nonprofit gallery that sells work on consignment. Artists keep ownership of their pieces and set their own prices, and the gallery displays the work and handles the sales. Donations, grants and volunteers keep it running. The room is split into a fine art section and a vendor section with jewelry, prints, zines, patches and stickers. Cusack told the Local that prices run "from one-dollar stickers to $700 fine art pieces."
Regular hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
Most of the season happens inside the gallery or starts there. Here is what RDC lists between the day this post goes up and Thanksgiving weekend:
If you are shopping for gifts, the November 18 reception is the date to plan around. It falls on a Wednesday evening the week before Thanksgiving. The gallery's own page lists it as an open gallery and artist gathering from 5 to 8 p.m., so you can see the holiday inventory and meet the people who made it before the Thanksgiving weekend rush.
ROX CRIT is more specialized. The ROX CRIT event page describes a discussion-based critique group led by Roxborough painter and sculptor Dana O'Malley. It meets the first Thursday evening of each month and is capped at 10 participants. Drop-ins are welcome if preregistration hasn't filled. All levels are welcome, with an emphasis on practicing artists, who bring physical work, digital images or film. Pricing is pay-what-you-can, with suggested amounts of $20, $15 or $10. The December session is on Thursday, December 3.
The still-life drawing session works more like a night out. The gallery describes it as a monthly workshop with a new seasonal still life each time and all materials included. RDC's calendar lists the next two sessions on November 7 and December 10. The gallery page lists the series as starting October 8 from 6 to 8 p.m., so check the registration link for the exact time before you go.
The Snowflake Scavenger Hunt runs November 28 through December 6 this year. Under its game, it moves money from storefronts to the gallery and back again.
In 2024, RDC ran it as Snowflakes on the Ridge, a one-day Small Business Saturday event on November 30. Participants picked up a paper Snowflake Passport at Art on the Ridge or a participating shop, collected a stamp at each business that displayed a ROX snowflake, and returned the passport to the gallery for a chance at a prize.
That year's participants show who the hunt was built for. On the 6100 block alone, the list included:
The 2024 route also reached farther down Ridge to Unity Java at 5312, Unity Taqueria at 5420, Furville Pet Store at 5226 and Lucky's Trading Co. at 5154.
In 2025 the hunt became longer and more digital. According to 95.7 BEN FM's coverage, it ran November 29 through December 6 with more than 20 artist-designed snowflakes placed in participating storefronts. Visitors scanned QR codes to enter prize drawings. After the hunt, the snowflakes were to be sold at Art on the Ridge to support gallery programming.
Here's the cycle. Local artists make the snowflakes, the snowflakes send foot traffic into Ridge Avenue shops during the busiest shopping week of the year, and then they come back to the gallery as inventory that helps pay for next year's workshops. RDC hasn't posted the list of 2026 participating shops yet. This year's dates follow last year's pattern: the hunt opens on Small Business Saturday weekend and ends the day after the block's big December event.
Happy Holidays from ROX is on Saturday, December 5, this year. RDC hasn't published the 2026 program, but last year's listing shows the shape of the day. The 2025 edition took place on December 6 at Roxborough Pocket Park, 6170 Ridge Avenue. The event listing gave the hours as noon to 6 p.m., and 95.7 BEN FM's coverage said noon to 7 p.m., so check the 2026 hours once RDC posts them.
Here's the 2025 schedule:
| Time | 2025 program at Pocket Park |
|---|---|
| All day | Artisan market, Wishing Tree ornament craft, snowflake hunt in Ridge Ave shops |
| 1:30 p.m. | Ugly Sweater Contest |
| 3:00 p.m. | Santa arrives by fire truck for photos |
| 5:30 p.m. | Tree lighting with the Roxborough Male Chorus |
Food and drink came from the neighborhood, too. Last year's lineup had food from Hardys, Los Gallos and Deke's BBQ, a warm spiced glühwein from Chaddsford Winery, a marshmallow roasting station, and hot drinks and beer from New Ridge Brewing. Under a big tent, MGMT and Friends of the Roxborough Library wrapped gifts and finished each one with a handmade label.
The gift wrapping table ties the whole season together. Something bought at the November 18 preview or on Small Business Saturday can be wrapped across the street on December 5, a few doors from the gallery where it was sold. If 2026 follows the 2025 plan, the tree lighting will close out the snowflake hunt's last full weekend.
95.7 BEN FM also reported that the 2025 season included an Evergreen Enchantment activation at Gorgas Park from November 28 through December 21, with a Christmas tree maze, a QR-code history hunt and a Toys for Tots drop-off. That was last year's version. The 2026 calendar doesn't list a Gorgas Park dates block yet.
One business on the block is still in limbo. New Ridge Brewing at 6168 Ridge Avenue, right next to Pocket Park, has been closed since a fire on January 29, 2026. Its website still reads "Temporarily closed due to fire" and says the damage turned out to be more extensive than first thought. In April, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the brewery had no reopening timeline. Metro Philadelphia's preview of Roxtoberfest on October 3 said New Ridge beer would be poured during the festival, so the brewery is still part of neighborhood events even with its regular doors closed. Whether it pours at Pocket Park on December 5 is a question for its social pages.
Other anchors on the block are easier to confirm. Nanu's Hot Chicken at 6151 Ridge lists daily hours of 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and held its Roxborough ribbon-cutting on October 25, 2024. Morrison Pharmacy at 6113 Ridge says it has served the area since 1859.
The rest of December on RDC's calendar is quieter and centered on the gallery again: ROX CRIT on December 3, the Still Life Workshop on December 10, and the last Crochet session of the year on Thursday, December 17.
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