Philly celebrates July 4th as the municipal workers strike prompts changes to Wawa Welcome America concert

Philadelphians and tourists celebrated Independence Day Friday in America’s birthplace as a city workers strike prompted LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan, coheadliners of the Wawa Welcome America concert, to pull out from the festivities.

As the day stretched into the evening, crowds filled the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the annual concert and fireworks show. Concertgoers there sported light wands and red, white, and blue Wawa Welcome America hats. Music blasted from speakers and digital American flags waved from TV screens beside the lit-up stage. Food vendors sold cheesesteaks, chicken tenders, and cocktails.

But the concert didn’t quite go according to plan.

By Friday afternoon, both LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan had announced they were pulling out of the festivities. LL Cool J announced Thursday he would not perform unless the city came to an agreement with striking workers. Jazmine Sullivan followed suit.

What resulted was a concert with just three acts: JoJo, Álvaro Díaz, and DJ Hollywood.

The show abruptly ended around 9 p.m. as DJ Hollywood left the stage in what became an awkward pre-fireworks interlude.

A smoke machine continued to fill the empty, quiet, stage and there was no announcement about what was coming next before music started to play from speakers, and fireworks started to go off behind the stage. The already sparse audience scattered to get a better view of the fireworks, or to go home.

Many seats were empty in the front sections of the audience, and some people who were interested in attending but confused about how to get tickets to the free show were turned away. Others were encouraged to move closer by DJ Hollywood before being told no by security.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who was slated to speak, did not make any remarks.

Some concert attendees were disappointed that the headliners weren’t performing but expressed support for their reasoning.

Malik Nicholson, 25, of Delaware, danced with his Philadelphian cousins on the Parkway ahead of the show. He was most excited to see Sullivan, but doesn’t have negative feelings about her skipping out.

“It sucks, but I understand,” he said. “With the whole strike and everything going on, I get it,” he said. “Supporting your hometown and the workers, I can’t get mad at it. It’s for a good cause.”

Nicholson’s cousin, Chase Brown, 21, of Philadelphia, was most looking forward to seeing LL Cool J. “My mom grew up when he was first coming up, so it sucks that he’s not here,” he said. But he said he thinks his decision not to perform was “strong and powerful.”

“It’s good that people, like celebrities, are actually taking a stance against not paying people who should be paid,” he added. “If you’re a sanitation worker, you should definitely be paid more. You’re doing what other people don’t want to do.”

While the crowd was thin on Friday, many were enthusiastic. JoJo, who Brown said he was excited to see, had some loyal fans in the crowd as she performed songs both old and new.

Audience members danced together to “Cha Cha Slide,“ and sang DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” while waving their glow wands in the air while DJ Hollywood was on stage.

And for some of those who did want to attend, communication was spotty.

Large fences surrounded the Parkway, and people who wanted to attend the concert were turned away at a Spring Garden Street entrance because they didn’t have tickets. They were told by security that without tickets, they could go watch farther down the Parkway behind barricades and far from the stage.

Ethan Renkas, 21, a Philly college student, wanted to get tickets for the free concert but struggled to figure out how.

“I’m not sure where the tickets were coming from,” he said. “They asked people to get them online, and I couldn’t really find somewhere to get them online.”

He ended up getting them from a helpful passersby.

There were two seated sections inside the ticketed area, both with plenty of empty seats. Confusion ensued after DJ Hollywood encouraged attendees to move up to the front section, and a security guard then told them they weren’t allowed. Some groups went up anyway and were not stopped.

Others stayed back, but the end result was still empty seats in the sections of the audience with some of the best views.

The day’s earlier celebrations may have gone a little more smoothly. Red, white, and blue dotted Market Street between Second Street and City Hall early Friday as marching bands, dancers, veterans, Jeeps, floats, beauty pageant winners, and historical impersonators paraded with Philly, Pennsylvania, and American pride.

Sonal Rajpal, 23, walked along Market Street with her family — all sporting red, white, and blue. Rajpal, a medical student, was born in Philadelphia, but moved away at a young age and now hails from Virginia Beach, Va.

On Friday, she was thrilled to celebrate the holiday in her home city for the very first time.

“I think it’s super cool,” she said. “There’s so much history here that we didn’t get to know about. … I saw a couple of Benjamin Franklins and George Washingtons walking around.”

Cindy Pierce, 56, was glammed out with red nail polish, a red, white, and blue striped dress, and earrings to match while waiting for the bus on Market Street.

Pierce celebrated the holiday with her favorite pastime: touring her own city. She went to Independence Mall, watched the parade, and planned to spend time with her family and watch the fireworks.

“It’s my favorite holiday,” she said.

Others celebrated another occasion: the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal match between Brazil‘s Palmeiras and England‘s Chelsea, which was also taking place on Friday. Palmeiras manager Abel Ferreira said on Thursday that the game “can be a good opportunity for local people to join with us against the English,” in a nod to the history of Independence Day.

Brazilian soccer supporters jumped and chanted with green and white flags (along with some American flags) outside City Hall during a pep rally that could have marked its own holiday.

Abby Day, 34, traveled to Philadelphia for the first time from Indiana for the soccer game, and she toured the city to kill time until the main event.

“We’ve basically just been walking around, went to the mall, just people-watching,” said Day, who was sporting a “USA” shirt.

But elsewhere, the mood was far from celebratory.

Striking workers from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees chanted and handed fliers to tourists at the Salute to Independence Parade, and some also chanted beyond the parade route near the Parkway. Nearby, people protesting United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids gathered at City Hall, marking unrest that has been taking place both in the city and nationally.

Eileen McCaskill, 80, said it seemed like there were fewer people out and about compared to other Philly celebrations.

“I’m wondering if it was maybe because of the trash issue, maybe people are afraid, they heard that people were bringing trash and the city was going to be piled up,” said McCaskill, who lives in Rittenhouse Square. “But it’s really pleasant.”

Staff writer Max Marin contributed to this article.