PHILLY’S INDEPENDENCE MALL IS THE FOCUS OF FUN THIS FOURTH OF JULY
Dozens Of Events On And Around City’s Historic District Will Keep Visitors Feeling Patriotic

Philadelphia, June 23, 2004 — As the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence, home of the Liberty Bell and site of the first Independence Day celebration in 1777, Philadelphia is unrivaled as a place to celebrate freedom. This year, the July 4 holiday will be extra special with a large concentration of new activities taking place on and around Independence Mall, which is in the midst of its first full summer with three major new attractions. A concert by Peter Nero and the Philly Pops in front of Independence Hall, tall ships along the nearby Delaware River waterfront and family-friendly programming, extended hours and picnic foods at the Independence Visitor Center, National Constitution Center and Liberty Bell Center are the latest additions to the city’s celebration. As always, the annual Sunoco Welcome America! festival will add to the fun with a parade, concert, fireworks and dozens of other activities.

Highlights of Philly’s Fourth of July celebration on Independence Mall include the 10 a.m. presentation of the Philadelphia Liberty Medal to the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. At 1 p.m., the poignant Let Freedom Ring ceremony features four children, all descendants of signers of the Declaration of Independence, tapping the Liberty Bell 13 times (for each original colony) and setting off bell ringing across the nation. Between the Liberty Medal presentation and the Let Freedom Ring ceremony, historical vignettes will trace America’s quest for freedom from the American Revolution through women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights movement and the struggles of recent immigrants.

On the waterfronts in both Philadelphia and Camden, just a short walk from the Independence Mall area, visitors will have the opportunity to tour more than a dozen tall ships, which are sailing to the Delaware River waterfront from Europe and the Americas as part of the Two Cities-One Waterfront Tall Ships Challenge® 2004. In addition, there will be an ice cream festival and family activities on Penn’s Landing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 2-4. 

For nighttime revelers, there’s a Friday night concert and fireworks at Penn’s Landing, featuring musicians Rose Royce and GQ. On Saturday, July 3, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and their chorus will present Pops on Independence, a patriotic program that begins a new Philadelphia Fourth of July tradition in front of historic Independence Hall, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. In another Philly first, visitors will be able to snack on picnic foods available for purchase on the lawn during the concert and throughout the weekend.

In addition to the activities on and around Independence Mall, Sunoco Welcome America! will host its traditional Fourth of July festivities throughout the city from June 27 through July 4. This year’s highlights include a Multicultural Festival, the Southwest Airlines Fourth of July Parade, and the Sunoco Sweet Sounds of Liberty Concert and Fireworks, featuring the Isley Brothers – all taking place along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on July 4.

Weekend program guides, Phlash trolley service and the Philly – You Just Can’t Do It In A Day™ Hotel Package, a two-night deal available through September 12, 2004, will make Philadelphia especially visitor-friendly this Independence Day. For more information about travel packages and weekend happenings, visit www.gophila.com. For a full schedule of Sunoco Welcome America! activities, visit www.americasbirthday.com.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), Philadelphia’s regional tourism marketing agency, is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to building the region’s economy and positive image through tourism and destination marketing. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676, or visit www.gophila.com.

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Note to Editors: For high-resolution photos of Fourth of July happenings in Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com/pressroom/main/highresphotos. 

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.gophila.com and www.americasbirthday.com.

June 2004

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