The city says the rapper’s Labor Day weekend music festival will have to move from the iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway after this year.
The music mogul Jay-Z is not someone who is used to getting shut out from a venue. But that’s what happened this week when he learned that one of his festivals would no longer take place on the most public of stages: the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
“We are disappointed that the mayor of the city of Philadelphia would evict us from the heart of the city, through a media outlet, without a sit-down meeting, notice, dialogue or proper communication,” Jay-Z wrote in an op-ed published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, a day after Mayor Jim Kenney’s office told local news outlets that the Made In America music festival could not be held on the parkway after this year.
Jay-Z went on to say that “it signifies zero appreciation for what Made In America has built alongside the phenomenal citizens of this city.”
The parkway is an iconic strip of Philadelphia that features monuments, fountains and museums. The Made in America Festival began in 2012, attracting 50,000 concertgoers to the city over Labor Day weekend. It’s one of the events that has helped the city attract a record number of visitors for eight consecutive years, according to VisitPhilly, the region’s tourism marketing agency.
“We had some operational difficulties on the parkway because of how long it takes to set up and take down,” Mr. Kenney said at a news conference on Wednesday in response to Jay-Z’s letter. The city said major events had become a nuisance for residents near the parkway.
City officials cited roadblocks and leftover trash as concerns — problems that other events also bring — but did not specifically say why the Made In America festival was being asked to move while other events will continue to be held there.
Mr. Kenney, who is in his first term, said he thought that Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, and the concert promoter Live Nation had been made aware of the city’s decision before it was reported by the local media.
“I love Jay-Z,” Mr. Kenney said at the news conference. “We love the concert and we want to keep it.” The mayor added that the city’s decision to change venues was noted in a request for proposal sent to Roc Nation, which responded without complaint, he said. Mr. Kenney called it an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Omar Al-Joulani, the senior vice president of touring for Live Nation, said that he was given no notice of the city’s decision. Moving to another part of the city did not interest the festival’s organizers, he said.
“The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is the heartbeat of the city. It’s the heartbeat of Made In America,” Mr. Al-Joulani said. The parkway’s position as a cultural epicenter for the city is why Jay-Z chose the location, he added.
Jay-Z said in his letter that since the festival started in 2012, “Made in America, one of the only minority-owned festivals, has had a positive $102.8 million economic impact to Philadelphia, and the festival has paid $3.4 million in rent to the city.”
Questlove of the popular hip-hop band The Roots chimed in on social media to criticize the city. The Roots had been producing the musical lineup for the Wawa Welcome America festival in Philadelphia until 2016, when the band cut ties with the event, which is also held on the parkway.
The city also faced backlash from residents on social media.
The mayor’s office said Thursday that it did not want to lose the festival and had started talks with the organizers to find another spot for the event in the future.
