July 4th festival aims to be patriotic, family-friendly, but still hip
The Roots won't play the free July Fourth concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway this year, but the lineup will be decidedly rooted in Philadelphia.
The Roots won't play the free July Fourth concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway this year, but the lineup will be decidedly rooted in Philadelphia.
The performers may lack the star power of prior years, but most have city ties and aim to create a more patriotic, family-friendly atmosphere, organizers said Friday.
Leslie Odom Jr., a star of the Broadway musical Hamilton and a native of East Oak Lane, will emcee the featured concert on July 4. Bucks County native Christina Perri will perform, as will Yazz the Greatest, a star of the TV show Empire; the Philly Pops; and the rhythm-and-blues band Brotherly Love.
A special tribute to producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be performed by the O'Jays, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, and others.
"When you think about a festival, it should be designed for different types of people, different age groups, ethnicities; it should be inclusive, because your America may not be my America," said Jeff Guaracino, newly minted president and CEO of Welcome America! Inc., the nonprofit that produces the July Fourth events.
Mayor Kenney said the Gamble and Huff tribute is especially meaningful.
"Other cities have their sound. We have the Sound of Philadelphia," Kenney said. "It was the music in the '70s everyone in Philadelphia danced to. . . . That music brought the city together, and I think in many ways the country together."
The eight-day festival runs from June 27 through July 4 and will feature 35 events, 350 performers, and an Independence Day parade of 4,000.
The city will hold three nights of fireworks: at 9:30 p.m. on July 1 and 2 at Penn's Landing, and a grand finale at 10 p.m. July Fourth on the Parkway.
The Parkway concerts started in 1993 and have featured stars such as Hall and Oates, Lionel Richie, Elton John, and Patti LaBelle.
The Roots had headlined since 2009, and helped to bring in Sheryl Crow; Goo Goo Dolls; Earth, Wind and Fire; Lauryn Hill; Nicki Minaj; Ed Sheeran; and Jennifer Hudson.
This year, Kenney tapped Guaracino to take the helm, and hinted there would be changes to the show, which has drawn largely young crowds and received criticism after an expletive-laden performance by Minaj in 2014.
The city contributes $650,000 of the organization's $2.2 million budget, Guaracino said.
As for the Roots, Guaracino said only that the city wanted to go in a different direction.
"We love the Roots and the Roots love Philadelphia. We'll be at the Roots Picnic," he said.
Guaracino said that two big names have yet to be announced.
"I don't want the festival to be defined just by what's on one stage. I want the festival to be defined by eight days of things people love," he said.
The July Fourth parade will include a float with Philadelphia drag queen Brittany Lynn surrounded by Mummers.
"It's the ultimate image of reconciliation," Guaracino said, referencing homophobic acts by some Mummers.
There also will be a hometown-heroes award ceremony, free museum entry, and free movie screenings, and 10,000 books will be given away.
With only four months to plan, Guaracino noted, many artists were booked. Others won't perform outdoors.
He's still expecting a large, diverse crowd. On a rainy night last year, 175,000 people attended the Parkway concert.
The show will be broadcast live on NBC10 and Telemundo, will be live-streamed, and will be available on mobile apps and on-demand.
Guaracino said the show still will be hip.
"It's going to be cool. . . . When you can watch it on your iPhone, that's pretty cool; when you can see it in Spanish, that's pretty cool," he said. "And I think free is always pretty cool."
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