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Jay-Z's Made In America festival in Philly will not take place for the third year in a row

Sean Collins Walsh, The Philadelphia Inquirer on

Published in Entertainment News

PHILADELPHIA — For the third year in a row, Jay-Z's Made In America music festival will not be returning to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Labor Day weekend.

Organizers of the two-day event, which drew tens of thousands of fans almost every year from 2012 to 2022, needed to submit a permit application at least 90 days in advance of the concert to meet the city's standard deadline for special events.

That deadline has passed, and the city did not receive an application, Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, said Tuesday.

"Our planning is focused on 2026 and the 250th anniversary celebration of America," Grace said. "We haven't received a permit application from Roc Nation."

In recent years, Made in America announced its headliners in early June. There has been no announcement about performers this year.

Jay-Z's Roc Nation, which organizes the festival, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

When last year's event was called off, Roc Nation said: "We promise an exciting return to the festival."

But it's unclear when that return will take place — or if it will involve Philadelphia.

The 2023 iteration of the concert was canceled just weeks before Labor Day after artists Lizzo and SZA were announced as headliners and thousands of tickets had been sold.

 

Lizzo at the time was embroiled in controversy after many of her dancers filed a lawsuit with accusations of harassment. No specific reason was given for the cancellation, but Roc Nation at the time cited "severe circumstances outside of production control."

Last year, the festival was called off in April, before performers were announced.

"As purveyors of change, the Made in America executive production team is reimagining a live music experience that affirms our love and dedication to music and the work we do," Roc Nation said then.

The festival was also canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. It resumed in 2021 with headliners Lil Baby and Justin Bieber and in 2022 featuring Bad Bunny and Tyler, the Creator.

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(Staff writer Dan DeLuca contributed to this article.)

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© 2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit www.inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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