Philadelphia hosts the Democratic NationalConvention, July 25-28.

Wawa Welcome America! 4th of JulyFireworks Photo via: G. Widman

Are you ready, Philly?

Two major events are taking place this month, adding the cherryon top to an already exciting line up of events.

First—the Wawa Welcome America! 4�� of July Celebrations. Theannual week-long schedule of events can be found herehttp://www.welcomeamerica.com/calendar-of-events/, andinclude free museum entries, outdoor movie screenings, thereturn of Wawa Hoagie Day!, concert events at Penn’s Landing,block parties, parades and the infamous Wawa Welcome America!July 4�� Concert and Fireworks show! This year’s lineup featuresTony Award® Winning Leslie Odom, Jr. from Broadway’sHamilton and Yazz the Greatest (Bryshere Gray) from TV’s smashhit Empire.

We hope to see you and your family on the Parkway to celebrateIndependence Day with the sounds of Philadelphia!

Second—the 2016 Democratic National Convention. FromJuly 25 to July 28, Philadelphia will proudly be hosting theDNC, the formal nominating event for the Democraticcandidates for President and Vice President. Most events willbe taking place at the Wells Fargo Center, however PHLDNClisted #DNCDeals and DNC events on their site herehttp://www.phldnc.com/. Those events include Philly Feast,a food truck festival set to kick off Convention Week. Thefestival, which will include locally-based food trucks and livemusic will take play Monday, July 25��, 11am-3pm at 3�� andArch Street. For City Service Updates & Changes visit:https://alpha.phila.gov/events/democratic-national-convention/.

Don’t forget to check our complete list ofupcoming July events, which includeJazz in the Park, Bastille Daycelebrations, and many more music andart festivals. Happy #OSESummer16!

Inside of OSE: What it MeansBy: Olivia Gillison

Life in the Office of Special Events is always changing. Many of our daysare spent in and out of the office going to all types of meetings. Betweenthe Welcome America celebrations, the Democratic NationalConvention, Made in America Festival and all of our other 1,397+ events,it is quite busy. The summer time is the height of event season and it'sall hands on deck to make sure everything is completed.

Several of our day to day responsibilities involve making sure thatquestions are being answered. Those questions may come in from citycouncil staff, other operating departments, constituents and residentsor even out of town event production companies. Many of these peoplesend us emails or call to have their questions resolved. We do our bestto provide you with the proper answers and make sure that you’re headedin the right direction. To assist in getting the information out, we alsorun several online social media accounts and a robust website withinformation being updated almost daily, especially when it comes to theroad closures associated with events.

If your event needs any type of city service (staging, sound systems,street cleaning, police services, fire/ems services, barricading, etc) youhave to fill out our offices’ City of Philadelphia Special Event Application.This will ensure that all services requested are run through ourdepartmental taskforce meeting and proper cost estimates will be givenfor the services requested. There’s no other department in the city thatfacilitates these requests for any event within the city. Permits for anytype of demonstration, protest, march/rally, runs, parades or walks areall isssued out of our office.

Each day you never know what exactly you’re walking into because noday is ever really the same. Is it challenging? Of course, but that’s whatmakes our office and the work we do so unique and exciting. No matterwhat the question is, no matter what the request is, we will work withyou behind the scenes and do everything that we can in order to makesure your event goes off without a hitch. The final result of all this, morethan 1400 different events a year all helping to make your vision a reality,and the amazing feedback we receive is what makes our line of work sorewarding.

Keep dreaming big Philly! We're always here to help make the harddecisions and help make those dreams a reality. #OSESummer16#PHLEvents #TeamOSE

To the left are just a few of the biggest events in

Philly in June. Our header displays Philadelphia

Gay Men’s Chorus, one of the many amazing

performances seen at the Philly Pride Day Parade

this year. Beneath that we have a scene from the

annual Odunde Festival, the largest African-

American street festival in the country. Below that,

racers speed past during the Philadelphia

International Cycling Classic. Lastly, the Manayunk

Arts Festival, which featured tons of local artisty

including this sunflower made completely from

zipers and buttons.

As the official start of the Summer season, June

has given us a fair share of some amazing outdoor

events. Night Market returned this month, filling

the streets of the Callowhill neighborhood with

other 50 locally owned food trucks and

entertainment. The Sixers Draft Party took over

Eakins Oval, as fans cheered on their team and

enjoyed giveaways, Sixers Dance Team

performances and much more. Soccer fans from

all over took over the Linc as

Copa America Centenario

took place in North America

for the first time in 100 years!

As Seen in the Streets

The Long & Short of June

Photo by: M. Sabb

Photo by: J. Rivera

Photo by: N. Faragalli

July 1�� – 7��Independence Day Regatta – Kelly Drive (7/1-7/3)Family Fun Day Jazz Concert – Tustin Recreation Center (7/1)FREE Museum Day! African American Museum inPhiladelphia – 701 Arch St (7/1)Go 4th & Learn about Fitness – Smith Memorial Playground(7/1)Friday Night Jazz in Cedar Park – 49th & Baltimore Ave (7/1)(7/8) (7/15) (7/22) (7/29)Philadelphia Orchestra Neighborhood Concert & Fireworks–Penn's Landing (7/1)FREE Museum Day! National Constitution Center – 525 ArchSt (7/2)Olney Youth Arts Festival – Fisher Park Rec Center (7/2)US Army Band, "Pershing's Own" Concert & Fireworks –Penn's Landing (7/2)FREE Museum Day! The Barnes Foundation – 2025 BenjaminFranklin Parkway (7/3)Historic Philadelphia Block Party – Independence Mall (7/3)POPS on Independence – Independence Mall (7/3)Independence Day – (7/4)FREE Museum Day! The National Museum of AmericanJewish History – 101 S Independence Mall (7/4)Celebration of Freedom Ceremony – Independence Hall (7/4)Independence Day Parade – Route throughout HistoricPhiladelphia (7/4)Party on the Parkway – Ben Franklin Parkway from 21st St.To Eakins Oval (7/4)Wawa Welcome America! 4th of July Concert – Ben FranklinParkway from 21st St. To Art Museum Steps (7/4)Wawa Welcome America! 4th of July Fireworks – BenFranklin Parkway from 21st St. To Art Museum Steps (7/4)Venezuelan Flag Raising – City Hall North Apron (7/5)West Phila. Jazz Heritage Series – Malcolm X Park (7/7)

July 8�� – 14��World Refugee Day Celebration – City Hall Courtyard (7/9)

July 15�� – 21��Kidchella 2016 – Smith Memorial Playground (7/15)American Podiatric Medical Association 5K ConventionRun/Walk – Kelly Drive (7/16)Family Triathlon – Memorial Hall 43 S Concourse St (7/16)Fairmount Bastille Day Festival – Eastern State Penitentaryon Fairmount Ave (7/16)Influencing Action Movement (IAM) Community Festival –900 E. Mt Pleasant Ave (7/16)Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival – Saunders Park (7/16)West Phila. Jazz Heritage Series – Malcolm X Park (7/21)

July 22ⁿ� – 31��Liberia Flag Raising Ceremony – City Hall North Apron (7/22)Peru Flag Raising Ceremony – City Hall North Apron (7/22)Philadelphia Youth Regatta – Kelly Drive (7/23)HoodStock Festival – Life Do Grow, 2315 N 11th St (7/23)Joan Bradley Memorial Service – Pastorius Park (7/23)North Phila. Day of Service & Press Conference – Life DoGrow, 2315 N 11th St (7/24)March for a Clean Energy Revolution – Start: City Hall End:Independence Mall (7/24)Democratic National Convention – (7/25-7/28)Philly Feast (DNC Event) – 300 Arch St (7/25)Boricuas Unidos Para Puerto Rico – Thomas Paine Plaza(7/25)Mighty Writers – Philadelphia Museum of Art (7/26)Shakespeare in Clark Park – 4398 Chester Ave (7/27-7/31)Jazz on the Ave. – Broad and Cecil B. Moore Ave (7/30)Haircuts for Hope– Thomas Paine Plaza (7/31)

For a full detailed list of events, please visit the Calendar on our website!

www.phlevents.org

Special Fact of the Month:It has been 80 years since the last Democratic NationalConvention was held in Philadelphia. It was 1936 was PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt was nominated via acclamation for a 2ⁿ�term.