Categories: Phillies Beat with Destiny Lugardo

What happened to the annual Phillies Phestival?

Zack Wheeler signs autographs for fans before a Phillies game against the Mariners in April. (Cheryl Pursell)

It’s been four years since the last “Phillies Phestival,” an event typically held early in the regular season to raise money for the Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association.

ALS has been the Phillies’ main charitable cause since 1984. It all began with a connection between Nancy Giles and Malvina Charlestein, whose son-in-law Alan L. Phillips was battling the disease. Shortly after Alan’s passing in ’84, his wife Ellyn became the head of the local ALS Association chapter and spent decades raising funds to help patients and families impacted by the disease.

The first Phillies ALS charity event was a fashion show that raised $28,000. It grew into an interactive event where fans can play carnival games with members of the Phillies front office and grab autographs from players. Bryce Harper photo op tickets sold out within minutes in 2019. The event raised $768,020 that year.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted nearly all interactive fan events in 2020, 2021 and parts of 2022. With the COVID-19 public health emergency ending in May, it’s safe to say that normalcy has been restored as far as pandemic-era restrictions are concerned.

And with the Phillies exploding in popularity around the city after a run to the World Series in 2022, there was hope that the popular event would make its triumphant return in 2023.

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Back in March 2021, the league announced it was setting aside an annual date to collectively raise funds and awareness for ALS. It would be known as “Lou Gehrig Day” and it would fall on June 2, the day Gehrig became the Yankees starting first baseman in 1925.

The Phillies were on the road this year on June 2, so they celebrated at home on June 5. Three local patients, Eric Brunner, John Metts, Holly Tomkovicz and their families, were invited on to the field pregame to interact with players and coaches and throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

The club raised around $408,000 for ALS thanks to various auctions, 50/50 raffles and $30 “grab bags,” an old staple of the Phillies Phestival.

Now that MLB is three years into the new initiative, the Phillies are focused on transitioning from hosting the annual Phestival to Lou Gehrig Day.

John Weber, senior vice president of ticket operations and projects and the president of Phillies Charities, spoke with Phillies Nation on the future of the event.

“I just think the synergy of having all 30 clubs, all the 15 clubs that are home that night, honoring Lou’s legacy and the battle that our ALS patients go through each and every day, trying to raise awareness and funds,” Weber said via phone. “So I would say the Phestival would not occur as we’ll continue to support the June 2 MLB initiative, and frankly our initiative. It’s been 39 years that we’ve partnered with the Philadelphia chapter of ALS Association, since 1984. And we feel very very good about that partnership and feel very good about raising awareness and money with them to help patients and the caregivers.”

If 2019 was indeed the Phestival’s final year, are the Phillies planning on introducing an alternative winter time event where players and a large group of fans can interact?

Just months after winning the World Series, the Houston Astros held a “FanFest” in January. José Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Jeremy Peña were among the top players in attendance. The Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, Marlins and Twins are among the teams that hold similar offseason events that offer fan accessibility to star players.

This past offseason, the Phillies flew in Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm and Dalton Guthrie for a few days of charitable endeavors and appearances at events such as the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner and the Baseballtown Charities Phillies Winter Caravan in Reading.

“Having an event in the winter time is something different that some clubs do,” Weber said. “We’ve done different things where we’ve gone out to Reading and Lehigh Valley and have different events there and that’s been our winter tour type of thing that we’ve done, bringing in three or four players and doing it that way.”

For fans that are eager to meet their favorite Phillies players, there may be a chance later this year. The Phillies are considering bringing back the very popular photo night promotional event, which is usually held in the middle of summer.

The Phillies wore the “Saturday Night Special” all burgundy uniforms and lost 15-7 against the Atlanta Braves during the last photo night on July 27, 2019.

Next year marks 40 years since the Phillies partnership with ALS Association began. The organization has raised nearly $22 million in the nearly four-decade long partnership. The Phillies appear to be all-in on MLB’s Lou Gehrig Day, but it comes at the expense of a fan friendly Phillies tradition.