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USA! USA! USA!

Made in America. This festival might hit close to home for some of you, literally. The festival is hosted every year at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is held on Labor Day weekend which is the first weekend of September. It is fairly new with its first debut in 2012 which is probably why the festival is only two days. But it has quickly grown into one of the bigger, more well-known, festivals on the east coast attracting over 130,000 people. According to Made in America, in 2014 the same festival was held simultaneously at Grand Park in Los Angeles, California. But the festival won't return because all in all, it just didn't fit right in L.A. like it does in Philly.

From Consequence of Sound

From Uwishunu

There are plenty of time consuming activities to try when you aren't listening to the music. There are amusement rides and several different interactive activities that people can entertain themselves with. And of course, there are plenty of food options, Philly cheesesteaks being the most popular (obviously). Thrillist Guides says that there are also a lot of Philly pretzels and a few pop up Ben & jerry stands; as well as just normal American food like burgers and fries. There are also vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. The festival is relatively small so while waiting in those excruciating long lines, you are still able to hear the music! It also mentions that the local museums are kept open for the duration of the festival so before you enter if you want some art history education, that's the place to go!

A decent part of Philadelphia is shut down and the roads are rerouted for about a week, which doesn't make locals very happy. Navigation is a big part of the festival that should be fairly understood in order to get where you need to go when you need to get there. Made in America says that, "Benjamin Franklin Parkway is about two hours from NYC, 90 minutes from Baltimore, three hours from Washington D.C. and an hour from Lancaster County, Atlantic City and the New Jersey Shore." This, as you can imagine, creates a tremendous amount of incoming traffic for Labor Day weekend because of its close proximity to major cities. There are many other ways of transportation offered like buses, planes and trains.

From Anchor District Council

The upcoming lineup for 2018 hasn't been posted yet, but the lineup for 2017 was superb. It consisted of: Jay-Z, J. Cole, The Chainsmokers, Kaskade, Marshmello, Migos, Solange, Run the Jewels, Little Dragon, 21 Savage, Pusha T, Vic Mensa, Cardi B, Marian Hill, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Vanic and PNB Rock. Personally, I think they did a great job of picking artists from multiple genres, satisfying everyone, while still staying in the same age group. There are five different stages placed around the park, Rocky Stage being the largest and hosting the headliners at night. The festival gate opens at noon but the shows start around 1 pm on both days and ends around/sometimes past midnight.

From Philadelphia Weekly

The festival is named Made in America, so naturally the fashion encompasses American flags, anything red, white and blue or stars and stripes. Essence offers their best fashion finds for the 2016 festival. Even though the festival is in September, the weather is still very warm and summery with temperatures usually in the high 70's to mid 80's. So most of the outfits consists of shorts, rompers, overalls, tank tops and most importantly sneakers (a necessity if you want to keep the feeling in your feet).

Festival Tip: If you're from out of town, you HAVE to try a famous Philadelphia Cheesesteak. 
Location: Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA, USA

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