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

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)

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.

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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.

Participants in the New Year’s Day had the chance to lead goats through Wissahickon Park on Forbidden Drive in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
The crowd at Dean’s Bar in South Philadelphia watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Protesters march against President Donald Trump’s policies and executive orders in Philadelphia on Feb. 5, 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
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)
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)
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 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 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)
The Brandywine Roller Derby team at an April practice. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
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 as he concludes his speech at a May Day rally at Philadelphia City Hall on May 1, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
(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 stands beside his 10-foot-tall statue of Muhammad Ali at Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester, Pa., on May 23, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Decommissioned buses were burned during a fire at the SEPTA Midvale Depot in North Philadelphia on June 5, 2025. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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)
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 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)
Striking Philadelphia municipal workers carry signs and chant along the Fourth of July parade route at 6th and Market streets. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
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 daps up fans in her hometown crowd at Love Park on Oct. 2, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
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)
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)
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 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, 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)
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)
A 4 week-old eastern gray squirrel is nursed with squirrel formula at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Parade makes its way down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Nov. 27, 2025. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
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)
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 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)

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December 20, 2025 5:00 am

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