Philadelphia May Allow Camping During Pope’s Visit

With the pope’s visit in late September drawing nearer by the day, a pressing question still remains concerning the lodging of all the people coming to town to see the pontiff. It’s expected that between 1.5 and 2 million people will flood Philadelphia during the weekend of September 26-27, and hotels are booked solid. There are people putting their homes up for rent on Airbnb, but that is not an affordable option for many visitors – especially not with some homeowners asking thousands of dollars for the week. The city is reportedly considering a novel option to help alleviate some of the lodging concerns – letting people camp in city parks.

Camping may be allowed in city parks during the pope’s visit.

The camping idea is still up in the air, so many details remain unresolved. However Mark Focht, the city’s First Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Facilities, told PhillyMag that the city was considering lifting the ban on camping in city parks for the duration of the papal visit. He did say that, if allowed, camping would be allowed only in certain areas of certain parks. It’s a pretty safe guarantee that the camping allowance wouldn’t extend to federal parks, so Independence Park is out of the question. Liberty Lands Park in NoLibs and Benjamin Rush State Park are both privately owned, so those are a no-go as well. Theoretically, however, any other public park could be made available for camping.

The pope will be in town for two days for the World Meeting of Families, which is being held in Philadelphia. He will attend the Festival of Families and will hold a mass for the public on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.