The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center and our partners host environmental, historical and arts and cultural programs for students, young adults and lifelong learners. Check out the current offerings!
The Naked Stark
Art for Young Audiences, Dance, Immersive & Interactive Experience
September 27, 2025 1.00 – 3.00pm
Meet The Naked Stark at Fairmount Water Works!
Our 10th annual community gathering offers a glimpse into our process and a sneak peek into our 2026 production. Dive into an exploration of water, time and space celebrating the site’s architecture, and the mosaic of memories in the former Kelly Pool.
We are at once streams flowing together and humans making space for each other, carrying and being carried along, discovering the power and possibilities that emerge when we come together.
Join us for a performance and reception as we discover mutual buoyancy, find each other in the vastness, dive through turbulence, and surface together.
The event is 1-3pm, featuring three experiences, including a 20 minute performance. The event ends with a reception open to all.
This event is for all ages – meet us at the river!
To get tickets: https://phillyfringe.org/events/bodies-of-water/
The Green City, Clean Waters Tour of Fairmount Water Works
October 11, 2025 1.00 – 2.30pm
Philadelphia is spending billions of dollars to direct rain into the ground instead of the river. Join us as we tour examples of green stormwater infrastructure from Lloyd Hall of Boathouse Row to the South Garden of the Fairmount Water Works. Learn about the environmental, economic and social benefits of this 25-year initiative to green our city and redirect stormwater runoff. Our walk will also continue inside the building and include a video of the site’s history, exhibits and a visit to our freshwater mussel lab and hatchery.
Please register: https://tinyurl.com/3cdm9acp
Disease, Public Health and Fairmount Water Works Tour
November 8, 2025 10.00 – 11.30am
Learn how an epidemic influenced the transition from wells to using the Schuylkill River as a drinking water source for Philadelphia. Throughout the history of the Fairmount Water Works, disease and the interest in public health played a role in how we treat our water and our landscape. Join us as we discuss the diseases, the presumed cures and public health solutions as we explore our outside site, inside exhibits, and our freshwater mussel research lab.
Please register: https://tinyurl.com/3mbzxeym
Watering Committee to Water Department: History of Fairmount Water Works
December 6, 2025 10.00 – 11.30am
Join us for a guided interpretation of the 1815 engineering marvel that is the Fairmount Water Works, a National Historic Landmark. Find answers to questions on how the Water Department over centuries has provided water to the people of Philadelphia. We will explore what has been, and continues to be, a major tourist attraction exciting visitors such as Lafayette, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. We will finish our tour inside viewing our exhibits and ending at our freshwater mussel lab.
Please register: https://tinyurl.com/8bks5fb7