Cardboard organs on the street: Park(ing) Day 2025 in Philadelphia
A keyboardist tapping out showtunes beneath a halo of cardboard organ pipes is not something you expect to find in the middle of an urban street. Unless that street is in Center City Philadelphia, and it happens to be Park(ing) Day.
Launched 20 years ago by a San Francisco design firm to illustrate how much of US cities we dedicate to cars, the annual event brings fun and beauty to that most mundane of spaces: a parking spot.
It first came to Philly in 2008, and it’s a fitting match, because the city has something of a special relationship with parking.
For one, Philadelphians are experts at the game of “Savesies,” aka when you place a traffic cone in a spot (or a chair, table, barrier — I’ve even seen a toilet) so no one else can park there until you return. That’s despite the Philly Police Department posting regular PSAs across social media to remind people the trick is actually illegal.
Then there’s the Philadelphia Parking Authority, whose unrelenting efforts to ticket and tow inspired the early A&E reality show “Parking Wars.” The agency has come under fire recently for something called a “courtesy tow,” where special events or construction activities mean they move your car to a different place even if you were in a totally legitimate spot. Some people never get their vehicles back!
Instead of a PPA tow, Park(ing) Day is a very different way to reclaim pavement space, albeit only for 24 hours. Here’s how it works:
Architectural firms and other groups apply to participate in the event by pitching a creative or unique use for the space. Around 25 are selected each year, and they compete for a prize. The best part is the interaction and vibrance it brings to the streets.
The musician at the cardboard organ, for example, attracted a crowd of folks who then began chatting with one another as the architects behind the installation looked on, at one point stooping down to cut new cardboard tubing for a sign for the tip jar.
“Music, shade and seating,” one architect told me. “That’s the key to Park(ing) Day success.”
In another location across the city, a group had set up a shade tent in the shape of a jeep, formed from multicolor fabrics stretched across bamboo poles. They also had seating, along with a diagram exploring the ways cars are used in modern society and offering alternatives for transportation and travel.
Not one person walked by without turning their head, and most wore big smiles.
“You’re not allowed to park here, you know,” one passerby joked. The creators nodded vigorously, and shouted toward his fading back: “Yeah! We’re waiting to get towed!”
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