Sunday, July 19, Philadelphia’s young people will take center stage as the 3rd annual Philadelphia Youth Music Fest returns to Spruce Street Harbor Park for an afternoon of music, creativity, and community. PYMF is more than your regular festival, it’s a celebration of youth leadership, bringing together students, families, artists, educators, and community organizations to showcase what is possible when young people are trusted to lead.
From 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., attendees can enjoy live youth performances, open mic sessions, free music lessons, community resources, arts and crafts, professional headshots, free haircuts, games, a mobile recording studio, and opportunities to connect with organizations working every day to invest in Philadelphia’s future.
This year, REVIVE Radio + Media is proud to be back at the festival to serve as the official Youth Media Activation partner, leading a team of six student journalists and one student media intern who will provide live coverage throughout the festival. Supported by the American Press Institute through funding from the Knight Foundation, the initiative gives students paid, hands on experience in journalism, podcasting, photography, videography, interviewing, production, and digital storytelling while documenting one of Philadelphia’s largest youth centered events.
The student media team will do more than report on the festival. They will interview performers, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and festival attendees while capturing stories that often go untold. Students will serve as podcast hosts, photographers, videographers, field producers, social media correspondents, and production managers, gaining real world experience alongside professional journalists and media mentors.
For REVIVE Radio + Media, this activation represents an investment in the future of local journalism. By placing young people behind the microphone and behind the camera, students become storytellers for their own communities while developing valuable workforce skills that can shape future careers.
“The Philly Youth Music Fest is about bringing Philadelphia together around its young people,” said Matt Carr, Co-Founder of Beyond the Bars. “When organizations collaborate instead of compete, we create opportunities for youth to perform, lead, create, and show the city what they’re capable of.”
The festival reflects a belief that too often gets overlooked. Young people are not just the future. They are leaders today. By creating space for them to perform, organize, produce, and tell their own stories, the event challenges the negative narratives that too often define Philadelphia’s youth.
The Philadelphia Youth Music Fest is made possible through the collaboration of dozens of organizations committed to supporting youth leadership and community engagement. It is a reminder that when a city invests in its young people, everyone benefits.
At REVIVE Radio + Media, we believe journalism should not only report on communities but also create opportunities for communities to tell their own stories. For the third year in a row, our student journalists will be doing exactly that by amplifying the voices of Philadelphia’s next generation.
The Philadelphia Youth Music Fest is free and open to the public. This event was created to celebrate Philadelphia’s young people and witness the next generation of artists, leaders, and media makers in action.
