The West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation is a nonprofit organization based at 20 N 6th Ave, Suite A, in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The Foundation operates Visit West Reading, the borough's destination marketing and community promotion resource, which serves as the central point of information for people planning a trip to the district or looking for details on upcoming local events. The organization can be reached by phone at +1 610-685-8854.
West Reading is a small borough in Berks County, situated directly across the Schuylkill River from the city of Reading. Its commercial core runs along Penn Avenue, a walkable corridor of independent retail shops, restaurants, bars and service businesses. The Foundation's work centers on that corridor and the surrounding neighborhood, promoting the borough under the tagline "big city fun with a small town feel," a phrase meant to capture the density of dining and shopping options packed into a compact, pedestrian-scaled community.
What the Foundation Does
Community revitalization organizations of this kind typically combine event production, business district marketing and visitor services, and the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation fills all three roles. Rather than operating a single facility open to the public, the Foundation functions as an umbrella that organizes recurring public events on Penn Avenue, maintains directories of local merchants and restaurants, and coordinates promotional campaigns that draw attention to the borough as a whole rather than to any single business.
Much of that promotional work is channeled through the #VisitWestReading campaign, a hashtag-driven effort that encourages visitors, residents and merchants to share images and experiences from the district. The campaign ties together the Foundation's calendar of festivals, its shopping and dining guides, and its coverage of public art in the borough.
Recurring Events and Programs
The Foundation produces and promotes a slate of events that run throughout the year, several of which have become fixtures on the local calendar:
- Farmers' Market: Held every Sunday from 10am to 1pm on the 500 block of Penn Avenue. The market brings regional growers and vendors into the center of the business district, giving shoppers access to local produce and other goods while drawing foot traffic to nearby storefronts on a day that might otherwise be quiet.
- 2nd Friday on Penn Ave: A monthly Friday evening celebration that runs year-round. Participating shops and restaurants extend their activity into the evening, and the event is designed to encourage strolling the avenue rather than visiting a single destination. The recurring schedule makes it easy for regulars to plan around, and the changing seasonal character gives each month a slightly different feel.
- Small Business Saturday in West Reading: The borough's version of the national shop local day that follows Thanksgiving, listed by the Foundation for Saturday, November 28. The day is organized around patronage of independently owned West Reading merchants during the opening weekend of the holiday shopping season.
- Festivals and Events Calendar: A monthly listing of borough festivals and community gatherings, maintained online so visitors can check what is happening before making the trip.
Public Art and the Mural Walk
One of the more distinctive features the Foundation promotes is West Reading's collection of outdoor murals and public art installations. A self-guided mural walk routes visitors through the borough on foot, connecting painted walls and art pieces scattered across the district. Because the walk is self-guided, it can be done at any hour and at any pace, which makes it a practical option for visitors who arrive outside of event days or who want something to do between a meal and a shopping stop.
The mural walk is promoted alongside the borough's art museum, giving the district a cultural draw that complements its retail and restaurant offerings. Together they position West Reading as a place where a visit can include more than a single errand.
Shopping and Dining Resources
The Foundation maintains online directories covering West Reading's retail shops and its eat and drink options. These guides are organized to help someone unfamiliar with the borough plan a visit, identifying what kinds of businesses operate along Penn Avenue and where they are located. The district includes specialty retail, boutiques, service businesses, casual and sit-down restaurants, and bars, most of them independently owned and operated.
For visitors, the practical value of these directories is in the density they reveal: the concentration of businesses within a few walkable blocks means a single parking spot can serve an entire afternoon of shopping, dining and sightseeing. For merchants, inclusion in the guides provides visibility to an audience actively searching for reasons to come to the borough.
Practical Information for Visitors
Most of the Foundation's programming takes place along Penn Avenue, with the 500 block serving as the anchor for the Sunday farmers' market. The corridor is straightforward to navigate on foot, and the closely spaced storefronts make walking the preferred way to experience the district.
A few points worth knowing before a visit:
- The Sunday farmers' market runs a defined three-hour window, 10am to 1pm, so arriving earlier in that span generally means better vendor selection.
- 2nd Friday takes place monthly throughout the year, including in colder months, though the scale of outdoor activity naturally varies with the season.
- Individual shop and restaurant hours are set by each business, not by the Foundation, so checking directly with a specific merchant is advisable for a planned visit.
- The events calendar on the Visit West Reading site is the most reliable place to confirm dates, times and any changes to scheduled programming.
Role in the Community
As a nonprofit, the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation works on behalf of the broader business district and the residents who live around it rather than for private gain. Its programming supports two overlapping goals: giving people who already live in West Reading and the surrounding Berks County area regular reasons to gather, and giving people from outside the borough a clear reason to make the trip. The recurring nature of the events, weekly for the farmers' market and monthly for 2nd Friday, builds a rhythm that residents and visitors can rely on, while the seasonal festivals and Small Business Saturday add larger draws at specific points in the year.
Anyone interested in learning more about upcoming events, participating as a vendor or merchant, or planning a visit to the borough can contact the Foundation at 20 N 6th Ave, Suite A, West Reading, PA 19611, or by phone at +1 610-685-8854.