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City To Change Location For Made In America After 2018 Festival

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Since 2012, a two-day Jay-Z curated event has rocked the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the Made in America festival.

The festival offers up a live performance experience for music fans each Labor Day weekend.

"I got a chance to check it out for the past few years, it's a good experience," said Malcolm Freeman.

Nikki Minaj and Post Malone will headline the event this year, but one landmark name is missing from the 2018 lineup, and that's Budweiser.

The primary sponsor for Made in America is no longer involved according to the festival's publicist, and starting next year the event will not take place on the parkway.

"When the festival first started, it was intended to provide a unique attraction to the city on the otherwise quiet Labor Day weekend," a city spokesperson told Eyewitness News. "Over the years, tourism has grown overall and the need for an event of this scale at this location may no longer be necessary."

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For some nearby businesses like Jack's Firehouse on Fairmount Avenue, the festival ensures hundreds of additional customers.

"Once the event's over, they would fill up all the bars and restaurants around here with a good crowd of people who just came to chat about the shows they saw," said the owner of Jack's Firehouse, Mick Houston.

The festival also ensures the closure of the parkway, detours, and late night loud music.

"It never seemed to annoy me that much, some of my neighbors may have felt that way," said resident Paul Trier.

According to the city, they will continue working with Made in America and producers Roc Nation to scout a new festival location within Philadelphia for 2019.

"It will maybe free up some of the traffic so that might be OK," says Brittney Rivers.

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