Most Jenkintown guides read like they were written from a car window on Old York Road. This one assumes you already know which side of the street the post office is on, that you have opinions about parking near the Hiway, and that "downtown" for you means the four blocks you can walk in ten minutes. What has actually shifted this summer is smaller and more useful than any listicle will tell you: the borough's Tuesday evening ritual has quietly split in two, the Hiway's August calendar leans harder into repertory than first-run, and a couple of newer names have earned a place in the regular rotation. Here is what that looks like from the sidewalk.
The Tuesday Night That Used to Be One Thing
For four seasons, Tuesday in Jenkintown meant one stop: Town Square, where the market and the concert shared the same gazebo air. That changed this year. The organizers behind what was called the Jenkintown Night Market relaunched as the Jenkintown Farmers Market, "because that's what we've always been at our core: a place for fresh, locally grown food from real farmers and producers." The move was driven by a simple problem: vendors weren't making enough money at the Town Square setup.
The new home is the Jenkintown Library parking lot on Route 611, chosen for visibility and dedicated parking that does not compete with downtown businesses. The Tuesday night music series in Town Square continues on its own, which means residents now have two things to do on a Tuesday evening within a five-minute walk of each other rather than one crowded block.
A note on the schedule: coverage disagrees. The market organizers announced Thursday evenings in the Library lot, while the Philadelphia Inquirer's roundup lists it as Tuesday, 4 to 8 p.m., in the same Library parking lot. Check the market's page before you walk over with a tote bag.
Either way, the Town Square concerts remain a weekly rotation of local bands running jazz to rock to acoustic, and the vendors you already know from prior seasons are staying local. Herrcastle Farm out of Holtwood, Carmanati Creamery from right here in Jenkintown, and Stone & Key Cellars from Ambler have all committed as weekly vendors, along with Human Robot Jenkintown pouring beer from the brewery a few blocks away.
What's Actually on at the Hiway in August
The Hiway Theater at 212 Old York Road is a nonprofit community arthouse theater, and the August calendar tells you something about how the programmers think. Alongside a first-run title carrying most of the weeknight showtimes, August leans on repertory:
| Date | Film |
|---|---|
| Sat, Aug 8 (10:00 a.m.) | The Karate Kid (1984) |
| Fri, Aug 14 (9:45 p.m.) | Night of the Creeps (1986) |
| Sun, Aug 16 | Repertory slot |
| Sat, Aug 22 | Repertory slot |
Source: CinemaClock's Hiway Theater schedule. If you have not been in a while, two things worth knowing: the theater has real butter on the popcorn, and there is no on-site lot. Street meters and the small metered lot behind Old York Road are how everyone gets in. The upside of a single-screen room is that the 9:45 Friday horror slot actually feels like a Friday horror slot.
For programming beyond August, the Hiway's Seventies Sundays series has already run Smokey and the Bandit and American Graffiti this year, and the theater partnered with Abington Art Center for a Wayne's World screening in the spring. It is the kind of calendar that rewards checking once a month.
The Downtown Dinner Rotation
Ask five Jenkintown residents where they eat and you will get the same seven names. What matters is which one for which night.
Newbolds Food & Libations on West Avenue is the anchor of the downtown American category. The kitchen leans house-made comfort food and Detroit-style pizza, with a cocktail program that takes itself seriously without being precious about it. It is the place you send visiting relatives when you want them to think Jenkintown is more interesting than they expected.
Via 417 is the BYOB Italian answer. A BYOB Italian restaurant in the Jenkintown area, run by owners Kelvin and Izzy, focused on bringing "elegance, class, and contemporary atmosphere" to a small dining room. It is the anniversary or in-law dinner spot, not the Tuesday-after-work spot.
Drake Tavern covers the other end. Burgers, wings, a bar you can settle into, and the kind of room where you do not need a reservation. It is the pre-Hiway option when the film starts at 7:15 and you want to eat by 6:00.
1910 Bar & Grille is the one out-of-towners miss. A hidden gem offering craft cocktails, live music, and one of the area's best outdoor decks. Deck weather in August is exactly what it was built for.
The newer names are worth naming. Andy's Chicken opened a Jenkintown location that has been quietly consistent. And in October 2025, Shake Shack opened its fifth Montgomery County location in the Noble Town Center in the Jenkintown section of Abington Township, with hours running until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is not a destination, but it changes what a Wednesday burger night looks like for a family that does not want to cook.
The Reason to Walk One More Block
Human Robot's Jenkintown taproom is the case study in why the downtown radius has expanded. It is a working brewery and taproom, it shows up as a weekly vendor at the farmers market, and it gives the borough a reason to keep walking past the intersection most people used to treat as the edge of downtown. If you have not made the loop from Town Square down Old York to the taproom and back through the West Avenue block where Newbolds sits, that is the walk that makes the borough feel different in the summer than it does the rest of the year.
Piazza on the Square remains the compact anchor of that walk. Piazza on the Square is Jenkintown's top destination for downtown shopping, dining and living, with various restaurants along the piazza, a collection of independent retailers, and summer concerts in the square.
What's Still Ahead This Season
The June race is behind us, but if you missed it, the 34th Annual Jenkintown Sunset 5K ran through the borough this June, with proceeds supporting the Kiwanis Foundation of Jenkintown. Put it on the calendar for next year; the finish line at Town Square with live music is one of the few times the square feels like the town's living room.
The next big one is the fall marquee event. The Jenkintown Festival of the Arts returns on September 27, 2026, from 1 to 6 p.m., turning the main thoroughfare and Town Square into an outdoor gallery across seven blocks of downtown, with food, music, and vendors. If you have lived here through one, you know it is the day the borough looks the way it thinks of itself.
Between now and then, the rhythm is what it has been all summer: Tuesday concerts in the square, market night at the Library lot, a Hiway showtime on a weeknight, dinner within four blocks of wherever you park. The shifts this year are small. Small is the point.
If you have lived in Jenkintown long enough to have a favorite parking spot near the Hiway, you already know what the borough is worth. When you or someone you know is ready to talk about what that means for a sale or a search, the Sean Ryan Team is a phone call away. Get your free home valuation to see where your block stands right now.
