Guts & Glory Community Wellness Festival

September 10, 2026 · 11:00 AM · GoggleWorks, 201 Washington St, Reading · Family-friendly, all ages

The Reading Roots Market brings farm vendors and fresh local produce to GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in downtown Reading for a midday Thursday gathering. Shoppers can pick up ingredients for the week while the surrounding space fills with free activities for all ages. Alongside the produce tables, the market offers free art demonstrations, Story Time presented by the Reading Public Library, movement activities, and live animal talks that appear on a rotating basis. From noon to 1 PM there is rotating entertainment, with performances and activities that change from week to week. It makes an easy stop whether you are shopping, bringing the kids along, or simply looking for somewhere pleasant to spend a lunch hour. Vendors accept SNAP/EBT, FMNP, cash, and cards. Activities and participating vendors are subject to change.

Hosted by GoggleWorks Center for the Arts

September 10, 2026 · 6:45 PM · 1950 Centre Ave, Reading

The Reading Fightin Phils host the Erie SeaWolves at FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday, September 10, 2026, with first pitch set for 6:45 PM. It is a Double-A Eastern League matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate and Erie's club, the Detroit Tigers affiliate, on one of the last home dates of the season. FirstEnergy Stadium sits just off Centre Avenue in Reading and has long been one of the most familiar gathering spots in Berks County. The ballpark's compact seating bowl keeps fans close to the action, and the concourse offers the usual mix of ballpark food and local favorites. September baseball in Reading often means cooler evening air and prospects making a final push before the offseason. Whether you follow the standings closely or just want a night out at the ballpark, it is an easy evening plan for families, groups, and anyone curious about the next wave of Phillies talent.

Hosted by Reading Fightin Phils

September 11, 2026 · 8:00 AM · Kutztown University — Alumni Plaza, 15219 Kutztown Rd.

Kutztown University marks the anniversary of September 11, 2001, with a morning of flags and reflection at Alumni Plaza, the fountain courtyard at the center of campus. Flags are set out in remembrance of those lost at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and the plaza stays open through the morning for anyone who wants to walk through quietly. The morning follows the timeline of the day itself. Moments of silence are observed at 8:46, 9:03, 9:37 and 10:03 a.m., guest speakers address those gathered at 10:15 a.m., and the Kutztown Pipe Band and a First Responder Tribute follow at 11 a.m. Carnations are part of the pipe band tribute. Additional 9/11 memorial displays are set up at Old Main, at the Alumni Remembrance Tree, and in the McFarland Student Union, so visitors can continue on foot after the plaza program. Borough residents, students, veterans, and local first responders all gather for this one, and it suits anyone looking for a quiet way to observe the date close to home.

Hosted by Kutztown Borough

September 11–12, 2026 · William DeLong Memorial Park, Bowers · $4 admission

The Chile Pepper Food Festival in tiny Bowers is one of Berks County's strangest and most beloved traditions: two days each September when a village of a few hundred people becomes Pennsylvania's capital of heat. The 2026 festival is the 30th annual. Vendors from across the region pack William DeLong Memorial Park with hot sauces, salsas, pepper-infused everything, and pepper plants by the thousands, most of it available to sample before you buy. The centerpiece is the jalapeno eating contest, scored by the weight of peppers eaten in thirty seconds, with cash prizes for the bravest stomachs. Admission is $4, parking is in a farm field, and the crowd is a mix of serious chiliheads chasing rare varieties and families who came for the food and stayed to watch someone regret the eating contest. It sells out nothing and hurries nowhere - that's the charm.

September 11–13, 2026 · Historic Joanna Furnace, Geigertown · Ticketed

The Hay Creek Festival is three days of living history at Historic Joanna Furnace, the 18th-century ironmaking community in southern Berks County that the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association has spent decades restoring. It's the association's flagship event and one of the region's best windows into how an iron plantation actually worked. Joanna Furnace made iron from 1791 into the Industrial Revolution, and during the festival the 26-acre site runs the way it once did: blacksmiths shaping iron in the smithy, the casting house explaining the furnace's ten-plate stoves, woodworkers cutting timber on a pit saw, plus a laundress, weaver, potter, tinsmith, gunsmith, and open-fire cooks working through the day. Threshing demonstrations, a working sawmill, and military encampments round out the grounds, alongside a contemporary craft market and festival food. It's ticketed, family-friendly, and paced for wandering - the kind of festival where kids watch a broom get made and adults leave knowing what a furnace moulder did. Proceeds fund the ongoing restoration of the furnace complex.

Fri, Sep 11 to Sat, Sep 12 · Town Center Parking Lot, 57 Boyer Street, Boyertown · Free

A German-themed street festival in downtown Boyertown with beer, German food, live music and dancing, and vendors.