Food Trucks on Glenside Avenue, Classic Cars in Roslyn, and Seven Blocks of Art in Jenkintown: Your September Events Guide for Rydal

Think Rydal quiets down after Labor Day? Here is what September actually looks like. The Glenside Food Truck Festival turns a Thursday night into a block party under the train station lights. The 26th annual Roslyn Fall Festival & Car Show lines Easton Road with vintage automobiles, vendor tents, and thousands of neighbors. And the Jenkintown Festival of the Arts fills seven blocks with painting, pottery, and live music under the historic storefront awnings. Let us walk through each one.

September in Abington Township is the month the neighborhood shows off. The summer heat breaks, the humidity drops, and suddenly every weekend has something worth leaving the house for. Whether you are new to Rydal or you have lived here for decades, these three September events are the ones to circle on your calendar right now.

🎬 Vlog direction: Hand-held walking shot from the corner of Glenside Avenue and Easton Road on a Thursday evening, the historic Glenside train station landmark in the background, string lights glowing between trees as the sun drops, the scent of grilled food and kettle corn drifting through the air, a line of colorful food trucks with their menus out and steam rising from griddles, families eating at picnic tables on the lawn, a local band warming up on a small stage under the trees, kids running through the open space with glow sticks, the SEPTA train platform visible nearby with evening commuters arriving home. Text overlay: "THU SEP 10 — GLENSIDE FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL — 5:30-9 PM."

01 Glenside Food Truck Festival: Thursday Night Block Party

Mark your calendar for Thursday, September 10 from 5:30 to 9:00 PM, because that is when downtown Glenside turns itself into an outdoor dining room. The Glenside Food Truck Festival sets up right in the heart of the village, with food trucks lining the streets around the historic Glenside train station, live music, and the whole neighborhood out for a Thursday evening that feels more like a weekend.

This is not one of those festivals with two trucks and a long line. The Glenside event brings a real roster of mobile kitchens serving everything from wood-fired pizza and loaded tacos to Korean BBQ, lobster rolls, gourmet grilled cheese, and ice cream that gets made to order. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are usually in the mix, and the dessert trucks are the ones with the longest lines. Bring cash, bring an appetite, and bring a blanket to claim a patch of grass near the station.

What makes this festival special is the setting. Glenside's downtown has that small-town Main Street feel with a real working train station at its center. The SEPTA West Trenton Line platform is steps away, and commuters stepping off the evening train walk straight into the festival. String lights drape between the trees, the band sets up near the station entrance, and the whole scene glows in that soft early-fall twilight. It is the kind of evening that reminds you why living in a walkable neighborhood is worth it.

From Rydal, downtown Glenside is about a five-minute drive down Meetinghouse Road to Easton Road, or a short ride on the SEPTA West Trenton Line from Rydal Station to Glenside Station. Parking is available in the commuter lots near the station and on surrounding streets. The Glenside Food Truck Festival is free to enter, and the food trucks are pay-as-you-go. Show up hungry, stay for the music, and wander through the neighborhood while the sun sets.

🎬 Vlog direction: Slow panning shot down Easton Road in Roslyn on a Saturday afternoon, classic American automobiles in red, blue, and chrome lining both sides of the tree-lined street, white vendor tents stretching between the car displays, families browsing with shopping bags and strollers, kids climbing into vintage fire trucks under the watchful eye of a volunteer driver, a DJ playing oldies from a stage near the intersection, the historic Roslyn train station visible in the distance, golden September light through the tree canopy, the smell of festival food and kettle corn carried on the breeze. Text overlay: "SAT SEP 19 — ROSLYN FALL FESTIVAL & CAR SHOW — 12-5 PM."

02 Roslyn Fall Festival & Car Show: Classic Cars and Community

A week later, on Saturday, September 19 from 12:00 to 5:00 PM, the 26th Annual Roslyn Fall Festival & Car Show takes over Easton Road from East Avenue to Woodland Avenue. This is one of those events that has been around long enough that everyone in Abington Township has a memory of it. It draws thousands of attendees every year, and for good reason.

The car show is the main attraction. Easton Road shuts down for the afternoon and fills with vintage automobiles from every era. You will see restored Mustangs from the 1960s, pristine Chevy Bel Airs with whitewalls and chrome bumpers, wood-paneled station wagons that look like they drove straight out of a 1970s family album, and modern classics that draw their own crowd. Car owners stand next to their vehicles with the hoods up, happy to talk shop. Motorheads and casual browsers alike get pulled into the conversations.

But the car show is only part of it. Throughout the afternoon, the sidewalks fill with vendor booths, craft tables, community organization tents, and food stalls. Local businesses set up along the route, and the Roslyn train station serves as an anchor for the whole event. Kids' activities, face painting, balloon artists, and often a bounce house or two keep the younger crowd happy. A DJ or live band plays through the afternoon, and the energy stays high from the noon start right through to the 5:00 PM close.

The Roslyn Fall Festival is free to attend and open to everyone. From Rydal, it is a quick drive down Meetinghouse Road to Easton Road, or an easy SEPTA ride from Rydal Station to the Roslyn Station. Parking around the festival route fills up early, so consider the train if the weather is nice. Bring sunscreen, bring the kids, and give yourself at least two hours to wander through the cars and booths. If you have a classic car and want to register it for the show, contact the Abington Township recreation department for the registration form.

🎬 Vlog direction: Wide establishing shot from the intersection of Leedom Street and Greenwood Avenue in downtown Jenkintown on a Sunday afternoon, white artist tents stretching down the block as far as the eye can see, painters working at easels in the open air with palettes in hand, potters shaping clay at wheels set up on the sidewalk, a jazz trio playing near the historic old Jenkintown bank building, couples and families drifting from tent to tent browsing original paintings and handcrafted jewelry, the smell of fresh coffee from a sidewalk cafe, afternoon sunlight filtering through the sycamore trees that line the avenue, a relaxed and creatively charged atmosphere. Text overlay: "SUN SEP 27 — JENKINTOWN FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS — 1-6 PM."

03 Jenkintown Festival of the Arts: Seven Blocks of Open-Air Gallery

Close out September with the Jenkintown Festival of the Arts on Sunday, September 27, running from 1:00 to 6:00 PM along Leedom Street and Greenwood Avenue in downtown Jenkintown. This is one of the most anticipated events of the year in our corner of Abington Township, and it turns the entire town center into an open-air gallery that stretches seven blocks deep.

More than 80 juried artists set up booths along the closed-off streets, displaying original work in every medium you can imagine. Oil paintings and watercolors. Hand-thrown pottery and ceramic sculpture. Photography printed on archival paper. Handcrafted jewelry made from precious metals and found objects. Mixed-media work that blends fabric, wood, and paint into something you have never seen before. Woodworking, glassblowing, textile art. The range is remarkable, and because the artists are juried, the quality is consistently high.

What sets this festival apart from a typical craft fair is the live art component. Many of the artists work on-site, so you can watch a painter develop a canvas from blank white to finished piece over the course of the afternoon. Potters throw clay at their wheels right on the sidewalk. A photographer talks through the composition of a landscape print while you stand in front of it. It turns browsing into a conversation, and you walk away with a deeper appreciation for the work and the person behind it.

Live music plays throughout the afternoon, with local bands and solo performers set up at different points along the route. The historic buildings of downtown Jenkintown provide the backdrop: the old bank building with its classical columns, the red brick storefronts with their vintage awnings, and the sycamore trees that canopy the avenue. The festival has a relaxed, unhurried pace that makes it easy to spend the whole afternoon wandering. Local restaurants and cafes stay open for the crowd, so you can grab a coffee or a bite and settle in.

The Jenkintown Festival of the Arts is free and open to the public. From Rydal, it is a five-minute drive down Huntingdon Pike to the center of Jenkintown, or a short ride on the SEPTA West Trenton Line from Rydal Station to Jenkintown-Wyncote Station, then a pleasant ten-minute walk through the neighborhood. Street parking fills up fast, so the train option is worth considering. Bring a tote bag for any purchases, bring your phone for photos of the work that speaks to you, and plan to take your time. This is the kind of event where the best discoveries happen when you are not looking for them.