Ne-Yo, Kesha to headline 2024 Wawa Welcome America festival in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the biggest celebrations of the summer is taking shape in the city of Philadelphia.

Wawa Welcome America announced Tuesday that Ne-Yo and Kesha will headline the festival's Fourth of July concert and fireworks along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to cap off the 16-day summer celebration.

Welcome America, the largest July 4th celebration in the country, kicks off on June 19 by commemorating Juneteenth and the emancipation of slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War. The festival wraps up on July 4th and has had a track record of drawing big-name performers to the city in recent years.

Last year's festival was headlined by Ludacris and Demi Lovato. In 2022, Jason Derulo and Ava Max and performed, and in 2021 Bebe Rexha and Flo Rida took the stage at Mann Center in Fairmount Park.

Each day of the festival features free events and activitieshttps://july4thphilly.com/calendar/ across the city. 

Made in America festival canceled for 2024

While Welcome America is poised for another big year, the Made in America music festival was canceled for the second year in a row in April.

Organizers say they're working to reimagine Made in America, which last took over the parkway in 2022. In 2023, Lizzo and SZA were slated to headline the September festival, but just a month before the two-day concert organizers canceled the shows because of "severe circumstances outside of production control."

A performer lineup was never released for 2024.

Made in America was launched by Jay-Z's company Roc Nation in 2012 and held annually along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, except for 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the festival.

In:
• Pennsylvania
• Ben Franklin Parkway
• Wawa
• Philadelphia