'Welcome America' July 4th Concert Lineup Announced
By KYW social media editor Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Organizers of the "Wawa Welcome America" festival today announced the lineup for Philadelphia's 4th of July jam.
Mayor Nutter said the huge concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will feature Philadelphia's homegrown musical artists The Roots, plus pop star Miguel and country singer Jennifer Nettles.
The announcement was made at the African American Museum, at 7th and Arch Streets.
The mayor said the selection of artists is always a bit of a balancing act.
"In an incredibly diverse city like Philadelphia, with a wide range of tastes in music, on one hand it's probably virtually impossible to make everyone happy. On the other hand," he quickly added, "it is a big, free, outdoor concert!"
When asked, Mayor Nutter admitted he's familiar with Miguel's music but not so much with the work of Jennifer Nettles. But her tunes will probably end up on his playlist, he said diplomatically.
"I think if you look at the history (of the Welcome America concerts), there's been a wide array of known and blooming talented individual who have gone on to do some wonderful things," he said. He called Philadelphia "the foremost place to celebrate our nation's birthday."
Additional musical guests will be announced later this week, so follow Welcome America on Twitter @July4thPhilly. The official hashtag for the event is #PhillyOwnsTheFourth.
The entire festival runs eight days, from June 27th to July 4th this year.
For the full events schedule released by the City of Philadelphia, see CBS Philly's Wawa Welcome America events schedule.
