Philly Music Fest will return for its ninth edition in October 2025, featuring Philly homegrown bands, local venues and a surprise "Stay Tuned" headliner to kick off the week. (Credit: PMF Instagram @phranzen)
Philly Music Fest (PMF), a celebration of Philadelphia artists and independently owned venues, released its 2025 lineup last week.
The seven-day festival will run from Oct. 13-19 and feature nine shows across the city, including a surprise “Stay Tuned” headliner to kick off the week.
This year’s festival will spotlight 22 new artists and mark the return of the surprise opening show, which will be held Oct. 13-14 at Ardmore Music Hall.
The identity of the mystery performer will be announced in September. In 2024, the surprise act was Mt. Joy.
In addition to showcasing local talent, the festival donates its profits to music education programs in the Philadelphia area. Tickets for individual shows are available on PMF’s website.
While a lot of other festivals have a central genre or theme, the genre for PMF is in its geography, founder and producer Greg Seltzer said. The non-profit festival aims to support Philadelphia's music scene, and this gives Setzler the freedom to mix and match different music styles.
“I start with a couple of headliners that I want to perform,” Seltzer said. “And then from there, depending on if I get who I want, then I kind of spread out in concentric circles to ensure that I'm hitting the genres that we need to hit, and the diverse voices in the music community.”
This year, Seltzer’s first confirmed headliner was The Wonder Years, an increasingly popular pop punk band. Once they agreed to play, Seltzer looked to other genres—for example, Matt Quinn, a jazz singer from Mt. Joy, to create a diverse lineup.
PMF will also host its first metal show with three heavy metal bands, Horrendous, Lástima and ShyGodwin, performing Oct. 19.
The Wonder Years will play at Underground Arts on Oct. 17-18 alongside several opening bands including Public Works and Caracara. (Credit: PMF)In terms of venues, the festival has been slowly expanding since 2017, adding the Foster Club this year—an independently owned venue in East Falls. Last year’s venues will return as well, however, the genre of music featured at each location may vary.
“I love, kind of just like switching up and putting genres that are not typically staged at a particular venue on stage there, it's just kind of a fun thing to do for me,” Seltzer said.
In the past, Ardmore Music Hall, a venue known for its jam bands and local songwriters, hosted a punk band, The Menzingers, to give the venue a new, fresh sound. Similarly, last year, Alex G, an alternative indie artist, played at World Cafe Live and R&B singer-songwriter Devin Gilfillion played at Underground Arts, a punk rock venue.
This allows fans to explore not only different music but also different venues they may never have visited otherwise, Seltzer said.
“I don't do this full time. I do this one week a year, and then I have a full-time job for 51 weeks,” Seltzer said. “So I can do things a little differently, because I'm not beholden to just the industry and what's normal.”
To stir things up even more, Seltzer also matches openers and headliners of different genres. Seltzer says that while he would never put a metal band before jazz, he will choose two artists he thinks “complement each other” without being the exact same style.
This year, Seltzer also paired headliner Katie Turner, a young American Idol finalist, with opener Chioke, a R&B band with hip-hop influences. Seltzer says that while this is an unconventional combination, he believes they will work well together.
Philadelphia native and Jazz artist Nazir Ebo will also be playing alongside Daniel Villarreal, a popular drummer, musician, and DJ from Chicago. Ebo said he looks forward to collaborating and learning from Villarreal, whom he met through Charlie Hall, another drummer from the War on Drugs, about a year ago.
“I think toying with other people and playing with other people is one of the most important parts of anybody's artistry,” Ebo said. “You can learn so much from others. That's just a whole different perspective.”
Ebo, a percussionist and bassist, will be playing with Simon Martinez and Tim Watson on guitar, Sanche Ramirez on synthesizers and effects and Tone Whitfield on bass at Solar Myth, a bar and record store on Broad Street, on Oct. 19.
During the festival, Ebo hopes to promote his upcoming album, which he plans to release around the same time. He said that part of PMF's importance is in supporting local musicians and local venues of all genres, especially in a city as diverse as Philadelphia.
“I think that's what makes Philly also such a pivotal scene, really, in the world, because there's so much variety here,” Ebo said. “You want to go hear some R&B, you want to go hear some soul jazz, classical, experimental … you can get all those things right here in Philadelphia.”
Seltzer has been running the show with his wife, Jenn, for almost nine years. When asked why he started Philly Music Fest, it’s always the same two reasons: to bring attention to local artists and venues and to support kids' music education.
PMF donates about $100,000 to eight music education non-profit organizations, including World Cafe Live and the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, each year.
“My vision was to highlight local Philly bands, and this was, I thought, the best way to do it,” Seltzer said. “But, the second kind of mission, and the biggest piece of it, is that I didn't feel the need or the desire to profit off of the shows.”
As a product of similar music organizations, including the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Ebo agrees that supporting music education is important for the whole music community of Philadelphia.
Ebo said that by providing instruments and lessons to kids, the festival is funding the next generation of musicians who will hopefully be able to play in PMF in the years to come.
“It's cool that behind the scenes, what you're doing when you come to these shows, other than having a good time, is getting bands paid and getting kids music education paid,” Seltzer said.
