South Philly Spelling Bee
Marconi Plaza
2800 South Broad St.
Philadelphia
June 6, 2026
Under a large tree in Marconi Plaza on a muggy Saturday afternoon, several South Philly residents gathered to put their spelling skills to the test for the inaugural South Philly Spelling Bee. The event was organized by visual artist, former fifth grade spelling bee winner, and fellow South Philadelphian Anna Ladd. I was intrigued by this unique concept of an adult spelling bee in the park; promoted only through a Partiful invite and word of mouth, and relying on karaoke mics as sound tech, this competition had a distinct DIY feel to it. A modest pool of ten participants, including one dedicated individual dressed up as a bumble bee, stepped into this academic arena to compete for the title of South Philly’s best speller. As a person who sometimes has to pause when spelling “restaurant,” I opted to join the spectators of friends and neighbors and watch from the sidelines. If you’d like to hear from the first-person perspective of a Midbrow writer who was brave enough to actually enter an adult spelling, then I would highly recommend checking out Pierce Jordan’s story on a spelling bee at The Pen & Pencil a few weeks ago.
The opening round of this contest started off simple enough, with words like "gnocchi" and “bereavement” warming players up for what was next to come. But before we could even get to round two, we witnessed our first elimination thanks to the word “extemporaneous." It was at this point that I believe the contestants started to realize how challenging this competition would be. Soon enough, their worst fears were validated as words like “susurrus” and “onychorrhexis” started knocking players out in the following round. In a shocking turn of events, the last round of action came to a stalemate as none of the remaining contestants were able to spell their assigned words, resulting in sudden death rules: The first to spell their word correctly would win the whole damn thing. However, even with the stakes raised, the competitors were unable to rise to the challenge of unfamiliar words like “coulomb” and “rhinorrhagia." One by one they fell, until the last person in line, Marco, shocked both spectators and spellers with a perfect spelling of the word “ichthyology," securing their place as South Philly’s top speller. When asked what the people should know about him, newly crowned spelling champion Marco simply stated, “Love to spell, love to play."
The event didn’t end there, as all remaining spellers joined in for an exhibition round of easier words to send everyone home happy and filled with the kind of contentment that only a puzzle can provide. The spelling festivities of the day weren't over, for just a mile or so north (but still South), there was another.
As I entered the Cartesian Brewery in East Passyunk, the hosts were already explaining the rules to a packed room of curious spectators and eager spellers. The host had each contestant introduce themselves to the audience and give their reasons for participating. One pair of married spellers were vying to see who was the better of the two. Two British guests were looking to immerse themselves in American culture. One person just liked the movie Akeelah and the Bee. However, the most common through-line of motives among participants of both this bee and the previous was the issue of redemption. For most of the spellers, this wasn’t their first bee; many were looking to rewrite their own histories of falling short on stages or grade school spelling tests. I think that’s what drew me to these events — seeing people heal their inner child via the unconventional method of academic competition.
Although not advertised as such, the first rounds of the bee were Philadelphia-themed, which didn’t bode well for our British spellers. After warming up with a collective spelling/chant of "E-A-G-L-E-S," contestants were challenged to spell regional words like “boul” and “Schulkyll." In a somewhat controversial decision, a speller was eliminated on the word “Dauphin,” which is the name of the street a few blocks away from where I was raised in North Philly, but is also a homophone of the popular South Philly club just a few blocks away from the contest, The Dolphin. After the regional rounds were over, we moved on to dog breeds, which didn’t make things much easier, with “chihuahua” proving to be too much for our spellers.
While different in theme and difficulty, what these bees shared is a love of friendly competition, spending your Saturday in an unusual way, and nurturing your inner child with the power of spelling.
