Cleanup Underway On Benjamin Franklin Parkway After Made In America Festival Wraps Up
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The party is over and you know what that means: time to pack it up! Crews are now cleaning up after the Made in America Festival took over the Ben Franklin Parkway over the weekend.
It was an early Monday morning for crews cleaning up after the Made in America Festival. The two-day festival brought an estimated 50,000 fans to Philadelphia, and that means there are 50,000 people to clean up after.
By daylight, you could see just how much trash was accumulated.
This was the 10th year for the festival, but it was canceled last year because of the pandemic. But this year it came just days after the remnants of hurricane Ida flooded parts of the city, including the Vine Street Expressway and nearby apartment buildings.
People who live nearby were indifferent about allowing the concert to go on.
"I don't know if it would've done any good to cancel it," resident Lauren Meltzer said. "Some people are suggesting that would have been a more sensitive approach but I don't know if that would have done any good to cancel it."
Dennis Boylan with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association said, "It's a real contradiction right there in front of you, of the show must go on and here there are people that I don't know how long they will be out of their apartments."
The artists this year included Justin Bieber, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat. The organization behind the concert says over the last decade it has brought in over $135 million in revenue to the city and each Labor Day weekend employs thousands of city residents.
It's not clear when the Parkway and nearby streets will reopen. In addition to the trash pickup, they also have to take down stages that were put up around Eakins Oval.
