2025 in photos: A year of change, celebration and resolve in the Philadelphia region

Here’s a view from WHYY News photographers of how the last 12 months unfolded in real time.

Students in the Nature Club at Keystone Elementary School in Croydon cross a bridge of wooden stumps as they make their way into Croydon Woods on Oct. 28, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

2025 in photos: A year of change, celebration and resolve in the Philadelphia region

Here’s a view from WHYY News photographers of how the last 12 months unfolded in real time.

In 2025, WHYY News photographers chronicled a year of comings and goings.

Philadelphia welcomed the Vince Lombardi trophy for a second time after the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.

Voters installed a new president in Washington and a new governor in Delaware.

Onlookers waved goodbye to the S.S. United States on its final voyage.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps celebrated their 250th anniversary in the city where they were born.

And the region buckled down in preparation for 2026, when the nation will celebrate its semiquincentennial.

In between, Philadelphians embraced moments of joy, lifted each other up during moments of sorrow and made their voices heard.

A lot of people are walking through Philadelphia's Wissahickon Park, all dressed for winter. In the front, A goat is walking, with 3 different people holding onto leashes attached to it.
Participants in the New Year’s Day had the chance to lead goats through Wissahickon Park on Forbidden Drive in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
A group of Trump supporters watches President Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, at Dean’s Bar in South Philadelphia on televisions behind the bar. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The crowd at Dean’s Bar in South Philadelphia watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Standing behind a podium with the state seal of Delaware on the front at Delaware State University, State Supreme Court Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., is swearing in Gov. Matt Meyer. Meyer has his right hand raised while also holding onto an infant. Next to him are his wife and two other children.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer holds his 11-month old son, Levi, while taking the oath of office at Delaware State University. The oath was administered by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., and Meyer’s wife, Lauren, held the Bible. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
After the Eagles' Super Bowl victory, a very large group of Eagles fans, all wearing some form of clothing with the team's logo and colors, celebrate in the street outside of Philadelphia City Hall. They are precariously piled high on top of a trash truck, shouting, smiling and raising their fists in the air.
Trash trucks used to block traffic around City Hall were quickly overwhelmed by Philadelphia Eagles fans using the vehicles to celebrate their Super Bowl berth on Jan. 26, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
Outside Philadelphia's ICE office in Chinatown, a group of protesters stands side by side. Two of them hold up signs reading 'Immigrants deserve dignity,' and one woman holds up a cross.
A group of more than 20 protesters stood side-by-side outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chinatown after reports of the first ICE raid in Philadelphia emerged on Jan. 28, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
People holding up a long flying dragon while marching down the street as part of the Lunar New Year parade in Philadelphia's Chinatown.
Attendees at this year’s Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown were greeted by a flying dragon throughout the day on Feb. 2, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
A wide photo of a long line of people, dressed in winter coats, marching around Philadelphia City Hall, which can be seen in the background. Many are holding handmade signs with slogans against President Trump.
Protesters march against President Donald Trump’s policies and executive orders in Philadelphia on Feb. 5, 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Stephen Tetkowski is smiling as he jumps in the air and does a split with his arms stretched out inside the ballet studio at the Arts Academy of Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia.
Stephen Tetkowski, a senior ballet student at the Arts Academy of Benjamin Rush, is also a kicker for the George Washington High School football team. He says his dance training has prepared him well for sports. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley smiles at the camera as he greets cheering fans lined up along the route on Broad St. for the team's Super Bowl victory parade.
Saquon Barkley greets fans on South Broad Street during the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl 59 victory parade on Feb. 14, 2025. (Joseph Kaczmarek for WHYY)
Fireworks go off behind the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, during the Eagles' Super Bowl victory celebration. Massive banners hang on the front of the museum saying 'Super Bowl Champions.'
The Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory celebration on the art museum steps concludes with fireworks and confetti on Feb. 14, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The S.S. United States, a 1,000-foot-long ocean liner, passes under the Walt Whitman Bridge on the Delaware River in Philadelphia on Feb. 19, 2025, on its journey to Florida.
The S.S. United States passes under the Walt Whitman Bridge on Feb. 19, 2025, on its journey to Florida. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Emine Emanet gets a hug from a neighbor in front of her family’s restaurant, Jersey Kebab, in Haddonfield Township, New Jersey, on March 14, 2025. The restaurant's windows are covered with heart-shaped messages of support from the community.
Emine Emanet gets a hug from a neighbor outside her family’s restaurant in Haddonfield Township on March 14, 2025. The windows of Jersey Kebab are covered with heart shaped messages of support from the community, posted after Emine and her husband, Celal, were arrested for immigration violations. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Five women from the Brandywine Roller Derby team, wearing athletic clothes, kneepads, elbow pads, and wrist guards are in the middle of practicing for roller derby. They are also wearing helmets, which have a variety of colorful stickers on them.
The Brandywine Roller Derby team at an April practice. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker is holding up one finger, as she pauses for a moment while speaking into a microphone at a rally for 32BJ SEIU workers. Some workers stand behind her wearing blue shirts with the union's logo, and holding signs that say 'RAISE THE WAGE' and 'FREE THE WAGE.'
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker joins SEIU workers outside City Hall to call on legislators in Harrisburg to allow the city to raise its own minimum wage on April 29, 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders raises his fist in the air as he speaks at a podium during a May Day rally outside of Philadelphia City Hall on May 1, 2025.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders raises his fist as he concludes his speech at a May Day rally at Philadelphia City Hall on May 1, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Gabriel Bryant, YahNé Ndgo, Mike Africa Jr. and Krystal Strong all dressed in white, are standing side by side during a vigil honoring the 40th anniversary of the MOVE bombing, in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia.
(Left to right) The 40th anniversary MOVE bombing vigil is led by Gabriel Bryant, YahNé Ndgo, Mike Africa Jr. and Krystal Strong on the same block where Philadelphia police dropped a bomb in 1985, killing 11 people. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
Zenos Frudakis looks up at a 10-foot-tall statue of Muhammad Ali inside a large open space at Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester, Pa.
Zenos Frudakis stands beside his 10-foot-tall statue of Muhammad Ali at Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester, Pa., on May 23, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
An aerial view of a large parking lot at SEPTA's Midvale Depot in North Philadelphia. There are dozens of decommissioned SEPTA buses tightly and neatly packed in rows, bumper to bumper and side to side. A group of them had clearly been on fire, and are being sprayed from afar with water from a fire hose and fire truck. They are very badly burned, and they look like blackened shells of buses.
Decommissioned buses were burned during a fire at the SEPTA Midvale Depot in North Philadelphia on June 5, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Five women are sitting on the front stoop of a rowhouse and posing for a photo near South Street in Center City Philadelphia during the Odunde Festival celebrating African heritage and history.
Families came together for the Odunde Festival on June 8, 2025, where thousands of people descended on 23rd and South streets to celebrate African heritage and history. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
5-year-old Nini Garrett and several other children are hula-hooping at the Juneteenth Block Party put on by the African American Museum in a large parking lot in Philadelphia on June 19, 2025.
Nini Garrett, 5, of Philadelphia, hula hoops at the Juneteenth Block Party put on by the African American Museum in Philadelphia on June 19, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
A zoomed-in photo of a honeybee being held delicately between a person from Alvéole NorthEast USA's thumb and fore-finger. They are in Renaissance Park in King of Prussia, Pa.
A single honeybee held by Territory Lead of Alvéole NorthEast USA (right) holding a frame from the KOP District hive at Renaissance Park. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
A large group of Philadelphia municipal workers is holding signs reading 'On Strike' as they march down the street along the route of the 4th of July parade in Center City.
Striking Philadelphia municipal workers carry signs and chant along the Fourth of July parade route at 6th and Market streets. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Community Life Improvement Program workers cleared trash off of Wyalusing Ave. near 50th Street in Philadelphia and pushed it into a massive overflowing pile on day 6 of a municipal services worker strike, July 7, 2025.
CLIP workers clear trash off Wyalusing Avenue near 50th Street in Philadelphia on day six of a municipal services worker strike on July 7, 2025. (Ryan Chi for WHYY)
A close-up photo of 16-year-old D'Andre Marks with boxing gloves on during the Guns Down, Gloves Up summer camp at the Ike Williams Boxing Academy in Trenton on July 24, 2025.
Guns Down, Gloves Up summer camp participant D'Andre Marks, 16, works with championship boxer Michael Hilton at the Ike Williams Boxing Academy in Trenton on July 24, 2025. (Ryan Chi for WHYY)
During a support group session for people who had traumatic health events at Philadelphia's Jefferson rehabilitation center, Candice Davis, who is recovering after having all four limbs amputated do to complications from COVID-19, is sitting in a wheelchair, watching herself closely in a mirror as she attempts to put on makeup using a device attached the small portion of her right arm that remains. A nurse is standing next to her, offering advice and guidance.
Candice Davis, a rehab patient recovering from the amputation of all four limbs after complications from COVID-19, applies foundation at a support group session that focuses on skincare and make-up application after traumatic health events at a Jefferson rehabilitation center in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Inside a biology lab at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Bob Meyer looks on as David Schogel looks into a microscope, examining a sample of water taken from the Wissahickon Creek.
Bob Meyer, a biology Ph.D (top) and David Schogel (bottom) members of the Senior Environment Corps look for microplastics in water samples collected by the Corps inside a Chestnut Hill College biology lab. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
A group of 9 protesters from 215 People Alliance is staging a sit-in protest in the office of Republican Pa. Senator Joe Picozzi in Philadelphia. A large sign is on the floor, which says 'Save SEPTA', and another person holds a sign that says 'NORTHEAST PHILLY RUNS ON SEPTA.
The 215 People Alliance takes over Republican Sen. Joe Picozzi’s office in Philadelphia to demand full funding for SEPTA on Aug. 18, 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Two people are on a balcony, looking down at a constantly shifting hanging red sculpture made by Alexander Calder at the Open Plan Gallery in the newly opened Calder Gardens in Philadelphia.
Visitors to the newly opened Calder Gardens on Sept. 15, 2025, view the spacious Open Plan Gallery from above through the constantly shifting shape of an untitled Alexander Calder sculpture from 1952. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Children and community members parade with flags from different countries in front of the municipal building at Upper Darby's International Festival on Sept. 20, 2025.
Children and community members parade with flags from different countries in front of the municipal building at Upper Darby's International Festival on Sept. 20, 2025. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
An aerial view of I-95 in Philadelphia, with the Delaware River to the left. Construction is happening to build a cap over the highway, and so far, one side of the highway is completely covered for a small stretch.
The I-95 cap construction project in Philadelphia in progress during the fall of 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
WNBA champion and Unrivaled athlete Natasha Cloud is on stage in Philadelphia's LOVE Park, smiling and reaching down to shake hands with a large group of enthusiastic fans in the audience.
WNBA champion and Unrivaled athlete Natasha Cloud daps up fans in her hometown crowd at Love Park on Oct. 2, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
Historical reenactors dressed up as George Washington and his troops are in a replica of the Durham boats that carried Washington across the Delaware to victory at Trenton in 1776. They are being pulled by a van as they travel on the street away from Philadelphia City Hall.
Reenactors participate in the Navy and Marine Corps 250th anniversary parade on Oct. 13, 2025, riding in a replica of the Durham boats that carried Washington across the Delaware to victory at Trenton in 1776. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Family members and community members are paying tribute to Kada Scott with a candlelight vigil outside of Ada H. Lewis Middle School in Philadelphia. A large photo of Scott is attached to a tree, and many flowers are placed at its foot.
More than 100 people, including family members of Kada Scott, pay tribute to her life with a candlelight vigil outside of Ada H. Lewis Middle School on Oct. 20, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
An extreme close-up photo of a northern long-eared bat at the Pennsylvania Bat Conservation and Rehabilitation in Berks County, wrapped up in a white blanket.
A northern long-eared bat at the Pennsylvania Bat Conservation and Rehabilitation in Berks County on Oct. 21, 2025. The species is federally endangered. It’s estimated there are fewer than 50 left in Pennsylvania. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses for a large group photo with Palestinian flag-waving protesters outside the federal courthouse in Philadelphia.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil poses with protesters outside the federal courthouse in Philadelphia on Oct. 21, 2025, following arguments in the case of Khalil v. Trump. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Wilbur the beagle is barking alongside several other dogs during the canine bark-off, an unsanctioned competition held at the National Dog Show preview in Oaks, Pa.
Wilbur, a beagle owned by Mary Cummings of Endwell, N.Y., adds his voice to the canine bark-off, a non-sanctioned competition held at the National Dog Show preview in Oaks, Pa., on Nov. 10, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
In a classroom at St. Edmond’s Home for Children in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Dendê Macêdo is smiling as he plays a handmade musical instrument made from a broom, a bell, a coconut and a spring.
Dendê Macêdo plays a percussion instrument made from a broom, a bell, a coconut and a spring during a performance of his Recycled Sounds workshop at St,. Edmond’s Home for Children. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
At the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia, a person wearing blue rubber gloves gently holds a 4-week-old eastern gray squirrel wrapped in a small blanket. With their other hand, they hold a syringe of formula, and the squirrel grasps it with both hands as it nurses.
A 4 week-old eastern gray squirrel is nursed with squirrel formula at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
A performer dressed in costume as the Grinch character poses for a photo during Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Parade on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Parade makes its way down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Nov. 27, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
Philadelphia Ballet dancers Nicholas Patterson and Lucia Erickson are rehearsing for a performance of The Nutcracker.
After battling cancer, Philadelphia Ballet dancer Nicholas Patterson is back dancing the role of the Cavalier to Lucia Erickson's Sugar Plum Fairy. The performers are pictured during a rehearsal on Dec. 10, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Many people are crowded in the Grand Court at the Wanamaker Building in Center City Philadelphia, watching the traditional Christmas light show, which is occurring on the wall of the very high-ceilinged space.
Visitors fill the Grand Court at the Wanamaker Building in Center City Philadelphia for the traditional Christmas light show on Dec. 10, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The statue of Rocky Balboa which sits in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is covered in a little snow after a winter storm.
The Rocky Balboa statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is outfitted with a light dusting of snow on Dec. 14, 2025, somewhat reminiscent of the iconic mountain training montage from ''Rocky IV.'' (Cory Sharber/WHYY)

Saturdays just got more interesting.

Busy week? Our weekend newsletter will catch you up on the best local stories of the week. Sign up for the WHYY News Wrap-Up today.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

You may also like

About Emma Lee

Read more

About Kimberly Paynter

Read more
Kimberly Paynter holds up a camera

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal

Donate
Learn about WHYY Member benefits
Ways to Donate