A Children’s World Fair may be the next big thing coming to Philadelphia

A really big year for Philadelphia may get even bigger if three of the city’s most-loved institutions have their way.

The Please Touch Museum, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Mann Center for the Performing Arts have partnered to explore the possibility of a Children’s World Fair in 2026. Not only is that the year of America’s 250th birthday, which will no doubt mean many local celebrations, but Philadelphia is also a host city of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the MLB All-Star Game.

The organizations’ idea is to hold the fair in and around Fairmount Park Centennial District where they are all located. It would be the same site where the 1876 World’s Fair, also known as the Centennial International Exhibition, was held to explore cultural and technological innovation.

That fair proved an inspiration that started a conversation between the leaders of the museum, the zoo, and the Mann Center about a year ago, said Patricia Wellenbach, Please Touch Museum CEO.

“Children are the decision-makers and the change-makers of the future,” Wellenbach said. “The focus on children and really getting them ready for the world has never been more significant. So we looked at each of our missions, and then we just started talking.”

The sponsors believe the fair would attract about 1 million visitors. Initial plans call for programming based on each of the institution’s core missions.

The Mann Center would focus on the creative and performing arts. The zoo would offer programming highlighting conservation, climate, and the environment. And the Please Touch Museum would create its programming around innovation, technology, civic engagement, and democracy, Wellenbach said. The museum is already planning a $1.9 million exhibition on democracy for 2026 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Called “Discovering Democracy,” it will start in fall 2025 and run through fall 2026.

The three institutions would also want to build a temporary village within the fair’s Fairmount Park footprint to house crafters, artisans, and food vendors to show those parts of Philadelphia as well, Wellenbach said.

The three partner groups have received a $400,000 planning grant from the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, a philanthropic initiative to provide support to local nonprofits preparing for 2026, she said. Those funding leaders include the Connelly Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Neubauer Family Foundation.

The groups have projected the total cost of the Children’s World Fair to be $7 million to $10 million, but Wellenbach said they expect to have a firmer budget and vision to share by mid-Mayt.

Sometime this fall, they intend to know whether the project will be a go.

“We’re going to have to know by the fall if we can raise the funding,” she said.

Ultimately, funding for the children’s fair would need to come from multiple sources — sponsor organizations, federal, state, and local governments, corporations, private donors, and charitable groups, she added.

If the fair does go forward, Wellenbach said she hopes other Philadelphia organizations will decide to become part of the fair programming, too.

“We are a place of art, culture, innovation, education, and research,” she said. “There are so many opportunities to open the hearts and minds of children and families to what is possible.”