Candis R. McLean
This Labor Day weekend, thousands of music fans art artists will swarm Philadelphia for the Jay Z-curated and Budweiser-sponsored Made In America Music Festival. The annual event has highlighted the city since 2012 in partnership with Live Nation and Anheuser-Busch. There are several stages that provide continuous live music from a diverse spectrum of genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, R&B, EDM and more. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway aligning gathering usually attracts over 80,000 people riding the momentum of the exciting musical showcase through their Labor Day weekend.
The stages consist of the Skate Stage, Tidal Stage, Freedom Stage, and the main stage aptly named the Rocky Stage. The festival will have numerous food vendors, merchandise areas, amusement park themed games, beer and liquor distributors, and several lounges.
The year, the festival is headlined by Rihanna on Saturday night and Sunday, Coldplay closes the celebration. Rihanna is a Bajan, Grammy award-winning, and chart topping pop star. At only 28 years old, she is one of the best-selling musical acts of all time. Coldplay is a British rock band formed of Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion. The band has seven Grammy awards and has sold over 80 million records worldwide through the years. Other acts performing at the festival will be Collegrove (Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz), Jamie xx, Chance The Rapper, Grimes, DJ Khaled, Bryson Tiller Gary Clark Jr., Travis Scott, DJ Mustard, SZA, A$AP Ferg, Tory Lanez, Desiigner, Lil Uzi Vert (Philadelphia native), and more.
Each ticket package comes with a wristband and a free Tidal subscription for three months. The wristband serves as your ticket for entry. Once registered, the wristband is linked to your name and provides emergency contact information to the festival sponsors for safety. The wristband also features a hands-free payment option. Your debit or credit card can be connected to the item, allowing concert goers to avoid the hassle of wrestling with their wallets after a few drinks. Another addition this year is a locker services. For $30, you can purchase a locker for the weekend which comes with a universal phone charger and more. Attendees are prompted to download the Made In America app on their iOS and Android devices. The app provides them with a concert map, lineup times, photo booth features, social media feeds, and extras.
The coming weekend will serve entertainment, fun, and excitement on a musical engrossing platter. The sights and sounds will echo through the parkway for 48 hours of melodic magic. Every music lover dreams of seeing their favorite acts live. The concept of seeing them all in one day becomes a reality for some anticipating fans in a few days.