The Wawa Welcome America 2020 Will Be Held Virtually This Year!
The Wawa Welcome America 2020 Will Be Held Virtually This Year!
Philly’s biggest celebration will have a dramatic change this year. Mayor Jim Kenney recently announced that the Wawa Welcome America 2020 festival will be held virtually this year.
For years the week long celebration drew thousands to the city, culminating with a concert and fireworks at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Obviously this change is due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc globally. There has been no announcements in regards to who will be performing a this year’s virtual Wawa Welcome America but Mayor Jim Kenney had this to say:
Philadelphia is a city of traditions, and we’re happy to see that our @July4thPhilly festival will continue in 2020 with a completely reimagined virtual experience.
Stay updated by visiting the website: https://t.co/HenXCXBxoL
— Jim #StayHomePHL Kenney (@PhillyMayor) May 12, 2020
“We are continuously looking for opportunities to reimagine our programming in ways that will entertain and bring our community together, while keeping health and safety at the top of our minds.”
“Our team remains committed, now more than ever, to creating an experience that gives our City something to celebrate,” said Welcome America CEO Michael DelBene in a statement. “It is a challenging time, and while we may not be able to gather in our City’s great public spaces this year, we are eager to celebrate in a new way through interactive, virtual experiences. We are grateful to the City and to our incredible sponsors and partners for their support, which will allow us to continue this storied tradition in a new, exciting way.”
“There’s nothing worse than taking 200,000 people in July, in the middle of the pandemic, and putting them together on the parkway so they can breathe on each other. We don’t want to just cancel it altogether, but we want to have some ability for people to be energized to stay inside to watch proceedings and it will keep people safer and keep them indoors.”
