Philadelphia (May 12, 2020) – The City of Philadelphia announced that the 2020 Wawa Welcome America festival will be delivered virtually in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the health and safety of the community top of mind, Welcome America, Inc. supports the City’s decision, and remains committed to hosting a festival that engages residents in every neighborhood of Philadelphia and across the nation in celebration of America’s Independence Day.

This year, Wawa Welcome America will be re-imagined to create meaningful, at-home experiences that will embody the same spirit of celebration that Philadelphians have come to know and love over the past 28 years. Arts, culture, education, history and performance will continue to play a starring role in the festival, along with new virtual opportunities to expand and enhance Wawa Welcome America’s free and interactive programming.

“Our team remains committed, now more than ever, to creating an experience that gives our City something to celebrate,” said Michael DelBene, President and CEO, Welcome America, Inc. “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.”

“The City of Philadelphia is proud to support the Welcome America team in their commitment to delivering a virtual festival this year,” said Mayor Jim Kenney, City of Philadelphia. “With the health and safety of our community top of mind, we are confident that this virtual event will continue to create new opportunities to bring our community together in celebration of America’s Birthday. Philadelphia is a strong City of strong traditions, and I am excited to see this important tradition continue.”

A longstanding tradition that will remain in place for this year’s festival is a concert performance on the evening of July 4^th,produced in partnership withLive Nation and broadcast in English and Spanish on NBC10 and TeleXitos, Telemundo62’s multicast network, for viewers to enjoy from their homes. The City of Philadelphia and Wawa Welcome America will be sharing additional details about the virtual event, including information about performers, schedule and more, during a press conference in June.

The annual Wawa Welcome America festival is made possible by the support of the City of Philadelphia, title partner Wawa, Comcast NBCUniversal and their local broadcast stations NBC10 & Telemundo62, Independence Blue Cross, Visit Philadelphia and Live Nation.

Head on over to Metro Philly newspaper online to read more about this years plans and see another photo I took from last year’s concert.