Few things are more American, more emblematic of our collective melting pot, than a city block party on the Fourth of July.
Neighbors catch up to hold new babies and learn who’s passed. They talk about the Sixers trade or their latest surgeries, and, of course, the heat that hangs all over us.
Hopefully, someone’s inflating a pool or filling a water balloon.
Everyone and everything is sweating, including the beers. The air smells of charcoal briquettes, sparklers, and, in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia, hints of jerk seasoning and Spanish rice.
That’s where Johanna Rodriguez and Michael Cunningham were mixing fresh lemonade Saturday as they watched their daughter and son splash around in the above-ground swimming pool in the middle of their Jefferson Street block.
“Obviously, having a block party with all the neighbors coming together is always the best. Just hanging out and talking about the old days. It brings back the classic vibes,” Rodriguez said. “On top of that, it’s about making sure our kids get to experience what we got when we were their age.”
Lisa Desamoir (left) and Danny Torres prepare pork shoulders at their block party in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia on Saturday.
The block’s “OGs” were out in full force, applying for permits, coordinating who will be grill master, and erecting party tables to turn Jefferson Street into a Puerto Rican Fourth of July, Cunningham said, gesturing to his mother-in-law, Carmen “Terry” Torres, the block captain and resident of more than 50 years.
Rodriguez said the block takes Fourth of July seriously because it’s one of the only times of the year where everyone comes outside to enjoy the festivities and see each other in person. It also provides the classic July Fourth fun outside during a time where many kids are used to hanging out inside.
Torres, alongside her neighbor of more than 30 years, Elizabeth Reyes, transforms Jefferson Street into a barbacoa party, taking the cuisine pioneered by the Taino people.
No one sacrifices more on 100-degree Independence Day than the grill master. In Ludlow, that was Danny Torres, who runs the barbeque business The Latin Grill, only lives a few houses down from Torres and Reyes, and along with his wife, Lisa Desamoir, will be supplying the prized smoked meats to the entire neighborhood.
A little girl loses her popsicle while riding an inflatable water slide during a block party in Point Breeze on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Desamoir, a retired firefighter who had the local Engine 29 truck stop by to treat the kids earlier in the day, was taking inventory of the more than 50 chicken wings, whole slabs of pork shoulder (with a crunchy skin for added texture), and nearly dozens of chicken kebabs. These would go nicely alongside the macaroni salad, corn on the cob, Spanish rice, and more sides that neighbors prepared, Desamoir said.
“Danny is making a whole Caribbean vibe cause he’s got the jerk seasoning and Puerto Rican flavors,” Desamoir said.
Danny Torres, who runs the barbecue business The Latin Grill, prepares Puerto Rican and jerk seasoned chicken wings on a grill at his block party in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia on Saturday.
In Point Breeze, Robin Miller and her neighbors were having an inaugural block party. Miller and another neighbor had a small outdoor hangout, then wanted to make it official and invite the whole block. What better day to throw the block’s first party than the 250th anniversary of the United States? Miller said.
A bounce castle took over the middle of the block and, in an inflatable pool nearby, a group of young children and teens lay with just their faces sticking out of the water, like alligators.
Joy Fields-Butler and Christine Mardre, neighbors and friends, sat underneath one of the canopies situated along the street. For them, this block party is about bringing together all walks of life on the block, from fostering formative memories for the children to bringing a diverse array of adults to kick back, share a beer, and even join in on the water gunfights with the little ones, Mardre said.
Michael Cunningham and Joanna Rodriguez stand for a portrait outside their house near the Ludlow section of Philadelphia on Saturday.
“It’s diverse on this block, and days like today have all of us coming together,” she said. “Today, there is no arguing, there is no drama, it’s just a party.”
Miller enjoyed the experience of neighbors coming together to do something special, feeling very Philadelphian, she said, as the city is known for its rich neighborhood culture.
“Our neighborhood pitched in, and a lot of us pooled together to get the inflatable pool or the bounce castle,” Miller said. “The food spread is basically for the entire neighborhood, and people just keep coming out and replenishing anything that’s run out.”
Meanwhile, an annual South Philly block party near 21st and McKean Streets was celebrating decades of tradition. Resident Monica Elder, who’s been there 38 years, said the party dates back decades. Now 55, Elder has become one of the leaders on the block who watch over children and preside over the festivities.
“Cooking, eating, dancing — everybody participates. Whether we know you or not, everyone is welcome,” Elder said.
By 5 p.m., the good times were getting a bit of a late start due to the blistering temps. Elder’s son, Jeremiah Worthem, helmed the grill. He said block parties build community and serve as a chance for neighbors — many have been here for decades — to meet up. “It’s a good time,” Worthem said. “Just building these memories.”
Jeremiah Worthem helms the grill at a block party in South Philly.
As wildfires rip across the parched American West, federal firefighters say they are facing immense pressure and grappling with a shortage of resources that has worsened following the Trump administration’s staffing cuts.
A collision of risky conditions have made things harder as the summer gets underway: a warm, dry winter; prolonged drought; snowless mountains; thick fuels that have had time to cure — elements that have set the stage for what could be a hellish fire year. The scenario started rearing its head in March and intensified over the last few weeks, with about 50 large fires now burning across the United States, and Utah and Colorado experiencing particularly large or destructive blazes.
Before these factors aligned, strain on federal firefighting capacity had been building for years, leaving many feeling short-strapped and exhausted as they respond to prolonged and erratic fires, according to interviews with 26 current wildland firefighters, state officials, experts, and former federal officials.
In interviews, emails, and message exchanges with the Washington Post this week, 15 federal firefighters said that what goes on behind the scenes can be more challenging than the blazes themselves. They spoke of organizational gaps across agencies, smaller crews with fewer seasoned leaders, prolonged exposure to dangerous conditions, and major changes to the way the nation fights fires. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The crisis, firefighters say, hit a crescendo when the Trump administration slashed federal agencies last year. Multiple states and forest stations lost workers who could support fire response. Many senior leaders and veterans also took deferred resignations or retired early.
The U.S. Forest Service, housed within the Agriculture Department, is the nation’s largest wildfire firefighting force, managing more than 193 million acres across the country, as well as partnering with state and local fire departments to help respond to large blazes.
In 2024, there were 18,700 federal employees who could fight fires. Now there are a little over 17,000, according to the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department. In a recent June report, the Government Accountability Office noted that the U.S. Forest Service’s workforce “decreased by about 20% in response to a February 2025 executive order for large-scale workforce reductions.”
The administration is also in the middle of reshaping how the country responds to wildfires. Earlier this year, officials announced the formation of a new unified U.S. Wildland Fire Service and a shift back to a strategy that prioritizes “suppression,” which seeks to put out all fires quickly. Firefighters in the field say that transition — which they say commands more of their time and resources — is taking place in real time as they respond to ongoing fires.
While firefighters have been raising the alarm on staffing concerns for years, they say the current climate — the exceptionally fire-prone conditions and the administration’s assault on federal workers — has fueled intensified levels of burnout and concerns over the preparedness of less-experienced crews.
In response to questions about wildland firefighter staffing and resources, the U.S. Forest Service said it is “stronger than ever, fully staffed, and equipped to respond aggressively to every unplanned ignition.”
The agency added that it has “reached and exceeded our hiring goal of 11,300 firefighters. This is the earliest we have reached our 11,300-target since 2022.”
Experts and firefighters say the Forest Service has had that same hiring goal of 11,300 since April 2022, according to public memos. Some argue the number has not kept up with demand, in part because the agency includes what are known as secondary fire employees, such as dispatchers and administrative positions, in that number, according to congressional budget requests, internal data viewed by the Post, and two people familiar with the situation.
While the Forest Service said it surpassed its hiring goal and brought on “11,719 wildland firefighters onboard nationwide,” the number of primary firefighters, workers whose main duty is to fight fire, is about 9,000, according to staffing data from late June reviewed by the Post.
The Forest Service confirmed the yearly hiring figure does include secondary positions, including dispatchers, describing them as “critical to successful daily operations.”
“Between our operational firefighters, our non-fire carded employees and administratively determined hires — the Forest Service can mobilize more than 28,000 responders,” the agency said.
“I’m so frustrated I could cry,” said one federal firefighter currently fighting Utah’s Cottonwood Fire, the largest active blaze in the country. In a message to the Post, he said firefighters knew what dangers could emerge “while watching the snowpack all winter.” But he said the Forest Service has had less staff to reduce fuels in drought-stricken forests and do other fire prevention work.
He described a cratering morale and said firefighters are “treated like we’re dispensable.” Last week, three of his federal colleagues died after helicoptering into fires burning on remote parts of the Utah-Colorado border. That kind of tragedy so early in the summer has added to the emotional heaviness.
“We are reeling, devastated, and still trying to come to terms with it,” he said.
And even though about 3.2 million acres have burned across the U.S. so far this year — nearly twice as many as this time last July — firefighters and experts caution that the fire current fire landscape isn’t that busy yet. California and the Pacific Northwest haven’t seen major blazes; there haven’t been the kind of megafires burning for weeks that require resources from other countries.
The Cottonwood Fire, which has burned nearly 100,000 acres, is the largest blaze burning in the U.S., fueling devastating loss across Southern Utah. Colorado is also grappling with a siege of wildfires that has forced about 6,000 residents in rural communities to evacuate.
These kinds of overlapping fires have stretched federal assets, experts and fire officials said.
On Monday night, Tim Ross, an incident commander with the U.S. Forest Service, said during a briefing on the Willow Fire that with all the activity across the state, “there is a battle for resources.”
In an interview Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis (D) and several fire and public safety officials said that while Colorado may have its hands full right now, they are managing. It’s what could come next that worries them. Decades of falling behind on fuel treatments and climate challenges have made their forests tinder boxes, they said.
“Our biggest worry right now are more major incidents,” Polis said from his car after getting an update on the Aspen Acres fire, which has burned more than 50,000 acres and has become the state’s top priority. “While we don’t have a shortage [of resources], our concern is that we would have a shortage in our state and other states if there were additional incidents.”
Colorado has been bolstering its firefighting apparatus over the past few years, Polis said, buying more aircraft and engines, and changing policies so they can put out fires before they get too big. Other states that are becoming more fire-prone might not have made those changes. But the reality is, when fires explode, even the most well-resourced states still need the federal government’s help.
For about the past 15 years, the Rocky Mountain region has had the same number of incident management teams — three. Right now, they’re all dispatched in Colorado. In need of further assistance, officials brought in what’s known as a complex incident management team to help out, a crew that came all the way from Alaska.
Experts said that suggests most of these teams are already committed to other fires.
“They are hitting the limits of available resources across the Lower 48 because of this recent outbreak of fires across the entire Southwest,” said Michael Wara, the director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program who specializes in wildfires. “There are only so many firefighters to go around. Our militia is smaller than it used to be because so many people got laid off or left. At some point you start to get into difficult competition for resources when things get really busy and there are so many battles happening at same time.”
Colorado fire officials also acknowledged they’ve seen some loss of experienced incident command officials who really know how to fight fires.
The Forest Service said it has sufficient resources to battle wildfires. As of July 1, the federal government has mobilized more than 9,000 personnel, the agency said, adding that “over the past week the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin areas processed 9,623 resource requests with about 1.5% of those requests being unfilled. This demonstrates that incident management teams are receiving the support they need.”
Staffing the nation’s federal wildfire response infrastructure has long been difficult and opaque, according to experts and previous federal investigations. And federal wildland fire staffing levels are complex — agencies often have a mix of permanent full-time employees, seasonal, and emergency hires that ebb and flow throughout the year.
A 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office highlighted that “recruiting and retaining federal wildland firefighters has been difficult” due to “low pay, poor work-life balance” as well as a lack of mental health support and other issues. Other GAO assessments from 2024 and 2025 found that low staffing was hampering goals such as prescribed fire targets.
Those are some of the same struggles firefighters are now describing as the summer ramps up.
A Forest Service official in Colorado who leads a team focused on suppression said a lack of funding meant he could no longer hire the standard number of seasonal workers. There are important leadership spots still open, he added, and his forest may have to stop using one of their engines because they don’t have enough crew members to staff it. That means their fire response will be less robust, he said.
And at a time when “the fires are larger and more complex,” they have lost officials who’ve been around for decades, and who know best how to respond to dicey situations or rugged terrain.
“We simply don’t have the experience and qualifications to backfill them,” he said. “They say ‘don’t do more with less’ but the reality is that we must.”
These experiences echo hundreds of others who took a recent survey for the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a nonprofit advocacy group, according to Riva Duncan, president of Grassroots and a retired firefighter currently helping out on assignments as an officer making strategic decisions when new fires flare up.
“Over the past several years as the climate crisis worsens, it feels like we keep asking fewer firefighters to do even more and morale is suffering,” she said. “And a very challenging fire season, like this one is shaping up to be, will probably only affect that even more.”
Zeke Lunder, a 30-year wildfire expert who specializes in mapping and wildfire science, said the loss of senior, qualified leadership can have a tangible effect on crews when they are in the field, because fire — when, where, and how it burns — is often cyclical.
As an example, Lunder pulled up maps showing how a wind-driven fire in the 1990s hit the same area where the three firefighters died last week. That fire, he said, spread 10 miles in one day, “and these fatalities happened under similarly explosive conditions.”
Federal officials are investigating the conditions during which the firefighters responded.
“History tells you the potential, the possibility of a fire. When you forget those stories we repeat those mistakes,” Lunder said. “The right question isn’t are your positions fully staffed. It’s how many people do you have who have been working over 20 years?”
For the past several months, firefighters and officials have also been undergoing a significant reorganization. While many firefighters think a unified federal firefighting force is a good idea, they described a transition that’s been disruptive and has added even more pressure to all-consuming jobs. As one high-level supervisor with the new service explained, they are trying to rebuild long-established protocols “in real time, during fire season.”
“Winter is normally when we recover from the previous season, take leave, complete hiring, conduct training, and prepare for the year ahead,” the supervisor said. “That opportunity largely disappeared this year. Permanent fire staff have spent the offseason consumed by organizational unification efforts instead of preparing for fire season. Many people are already exhausted, and it’s only July 1.”
A new directive to put fires out as fast as possible also means there’s more risk, firefighters said.
In one Mountain West state, a member of a specialized helicopter-based crew detailed how his team was already missing critical positions, known as spotters, and that he has had to shift people around to fill the gaps.
These kind of firefighters land near or rappel from helicopters in remote terrain engines often can’t drive into. The firefighters who died last week in Colorado were part of a helitack crew.
Focusing on full suppression will require these teams to be in the air more — flying further and shuttling food and protective gear back and forth — as well as responding to more dangerous situations.
On one recent assignment, the helitack firefighter said the pilot he was with didn’t feel safe because the area was so congested with other air traffic. He said the helicopter decided to pull out of the assignment despite officials asking them to keep dumping water on flames.
“We said no,” the firefighter said. “All this pressure to put everything out is adding to the workload; that is unequivocally what is happening.”
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s plans to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary of independence with a rally on the National Mall were complicated on Saturday by severe storms that gathered near Washington, forcing event organizers to order an evacuation.
“Freedom 250 will share updates on programming and doors reopening,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that encouraged participants to seek shelter at museums and federal buildings near the National Mall.
Plans for fireworks were still moving forward in other cities including Chicago and New York, where tall ships passed the Statue of Liberty earlier in the day, recalling the fanfare around America’s 200th anniversary in 1976.
Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own. Organizers of celebrations months in the making had to adjust or cancel activities entirely as much of the East Coast sweltered under heat that approached and in many cases surpassed triple digits.
Undeterred, a U.S. Marine from Guinea became a newly minted citizen at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia, wearing a crisp dress uniform and a small smile, while a 7-year-old raced onto a parade route in Brattleboro, Vt., to snatch a Tootsie Roll. In Louisville, Ky., people used a Sharpie equipped with a feather to scribble their signatures on a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Heat is defining the big weekend in many places
The heat gripping the East Coast overshadowed much of the celebrations, particularly in Washington. Signs at the Great American State Fair posted an alert shortly after 7 p.m. encouraging participants to leave the area.
As the order to evacuate was played over loudspeakers on the National Mall, some people appeared to be standing in place, talking with those around them and not exiting the area, while others were walking toward exits. National Guard troops told people to leave.
The National Mall is an exposed park, though museums and other buildings are near the open, grassy area.
Crowds were building in the area several hours before Trump’s speech. Tina Hale, 58, of Cohoes, New York, watched three of her grandchildren children dip their hands into a pool of water near a museum. Hale pointed toward the sky and urged them to look up as three military jets roared above the crowd.
“If that doesn’t make you proud to be an American,” she said.
David Koshko, 42, and his wife, Jennifer Koskho, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, came to Washington for a baseball game but planned to stay for the city’s fireworks show. After baking in the heat for hours during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ win over the Washington Nationals, they took a break in the shade of an overpass near the National Mall to plot their next stop.
“Just to be a part of the 250 years (anniversary) is an amazing thing,” said David Koshko, a commercial driver and veteran of the Marine Corps reserves.
In Washington, the city’s main Independence Day parade scheduled for Saturday was canceled, but a smaller one rolled along in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in the morning as onlookers sought shade under trees along the route.
Also in the area, dozens of members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front wearing face masks and carrying Confederate battle flags held a march. No arrests were reported, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
In Philadelphia, fireworks began to crack as early as midday in the birthplace of the nation near the site where the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Hundreds of visitors were gathering at Independence Hall in the sweltering heat to await the celebrations coinciding with the France-Paraguay World Cup knockout game at Philadelphia Stadium.
“It’s one big party in here,” Carlos Alban, who traveled to Philadelphia from Chicago to watch the match, said as he arrived at the stadium, adding that he spotted a fan in the parking lot dressed as one of the Founding Fathers.
About 45 minutes before another World Cup match in Houston, a message from astronauts aboard the International Space Station noting the holiday was beamed into the stadium.
On New York’s Coney Island, competitors chowed down on hot dogs at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July contest.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut won for the 18th time in 21 appearances, eating 66 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. On the women’s side, defending champion Miki Sudo of Tampa, Fla., held the title by downing 38.75 dogs. Both champions said the heat wave made the competition more difficult.
Tall ships, with their masts, rigging, and white sails outlined against a blue sky, made a procession around the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River.
The 43 ships were followed by a display of aerial might with a stealth bomber and the Navy’s Blue Angels. Patrouille de France, the French Air Force’s acrobatic teams, flew over New York Harbor with their red, white, and blue trails, evoking images of the American flag.
An uneasy nation gets ready to celebrate
The celebrations are unfolding against the backdrop of a deep divide this election year that has been expanding for years, visible in everything from political expression to cultural norms to age-old questions over race, class, and immigration.
At Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump spoke of communism as a “mortal threat to American liberty” with the Republican president saying it was more dangerous than either World War or 9/11.
Without naming Trump, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat who is also a democratic socialist and recently backed several successful congressional candidates in their primaries, appeared to reference Trump during a speech Friday.
“Those ideals upon which our nation was built — they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them,” he said.
To former Democratic President Bill Clinton, this anniversary milestone comes at a time of “renewed questions about America’s future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself.” While critical of “the people in charge,” he said in a statement that “there is still nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what’s right with America.”
Vice President JD Vance said small but loud voices would speak on America’s birthday about its imperfections instead of its greatness.
“They will tell you that America is just another country, where the weak struggle against the strong,” Vance said speaking aboard the USS Kearsarge in New York Harbor.
Officials in Turkey are prohibiting an all-gay cruise from spending multiple days in the country next week during a voyage from Athens to Venice, according to the company organizing the trip.
Turkish government and tourism representatives did not respond to inquiries from the Washington Post on Friday. Virgin Voyages, which owns the ship, also could not immediately be reached.
But Sunday, the official X account for the provincial government that includes the port city of Kusadasi posted a news release stating that the July 7 call of a chartered cruise ship had been canceled. The post said groups on the ship were “known for their behavior incompatible with our society’s structure and moral values,” according to an English translation.
The 10-night Mediterranean sailing aboard Scarlet Lady will depart from Athens on Sunday and include other ports.
Broadway star Patti LuPone, who is performing on the cruise, shared her outrage on social media.
“A ship — a magnificent ship — full of well-heeled gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board,” she wrote on Facebook. “I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this.”
The cruise has been planned for more than a year, said Rich Campbell, CEO of trip organizer Atlantis Events. He said he first got word a week ago that there might be an issue.
On Saturday, he said, the port agency — which serves as the connection between cruise lines and authorities where they dock — sent a letter to the cruise line telling them the port calls would be denied by the government.
Campbell said he was sure there was a mistake. The Los Angeles-based company, which charters large ships for LGBT experiences, has brought travelers to Turkey more than a dozen times over 20-plus years, including last year, and had “a fantastic tourist experience.”
“We’re there to shop, be great tourists, spend money,” he said. “It’s always a culturally respectful group.”
Campbell said that despite multiple efforts to stick to the original itinerary, including assistance from the U.S. Embassy, he learned Thursday that the decision would not change.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the case, directing questions to the company, but said in a statement that the U.S. Embassy in Ankara “regularly promotes U.S. business and commercial interests” in the country.
Atlantis sent a notice about the change to passengers Thursday, informing them that the new itinerary would include a full day in Alexandria in Egypt and a stop in Crete.
“Despite exhaustive efforts on our part to reverse this decision, our calls to Istanbul and Kusadasi have been canceled by the Turkish Authorities,” the message to passengers said. “We know that this change is disappointing and truly wish that we could have kept our visits to Turkey as planned. … They have always been a highlight of our voyages, and we look forward to returning soon.”
Campbell said he believes Turkey will lose at least $1 million in revenue by blocking the passengers from spending three days in the country.
“The bigger damage to Turkey is when you start picking and choosing who’s allowed to enter, and your economy depends on tourism, you’re creating a standoff between tourists and yourself,” he said. “And you run the risk of alienating a lot of potential tourists.”
While same-sex relationships are not illegal in Turkey, top leaders have expressed antigay sentiment. A Pride march in Istanbul has been banned for more than 10 years. Police detained dozens of people in recent days during a gay pride event that was held despite a ban, Agence France-Presse reported.
Campbell said there has not been a threat to travelers on his company’s cruises. And he doesn’t believe Turkey is hostile to gay tourists, even considering the recent action.
“I think it’s a bad call, but unfortunately it has the potential for long-term repercussions,” he said.
The death of Iran’s supreme leader on the opening day of the war raised U.S. and Israeli hopes that the regime he led — and that has held the country in an Islamic vice grip since 1979 — had been pushed to the brink of collapse.
Four months later, however, as Iran stages a belated state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the burial rites testify instead to the Islamic republic’s survival and mark the ascendance of a new generation of leaders that is more entrenched and hard-line, according to security officials and experts.
Led by Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba — who has remained in hiding since being injured in the same strike that killed his father — the new hierarchy is younger, has better command of the state’s levers of power, has gained insights from the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is savvier about soft-power tools including diplomacy and online propaganda.
After surviving months of strikes by two of the world’s most potent militaries, the regime has emerged emboldened, officials and experts said, and remains ruthless. It reportedly has carried out a campaign of executions against domestic critics and political opponents even as it continues intermittent strikes in the Persian Gulf and flexes its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran “might be weaker when it comes to its economic situation, its industries, some of its strategic capabilities,” said Raz Zimmt, head of Iran research at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. “But the bottom line is that we are facing a new, bolder, self-confident Iran.”
Nearly all of those now in high-ranking positions spent formative years as lieutenants in security agencies or military units responsible for crackdowns on domestic protests, arming proxy militias including Hezbollah and Hamas, and rising through the ranks of elite organizations including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The roster includes Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who has taken on the influential role of secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. He is a former Revolutionary Guard commander with deep ties to the Quds force, the IRGC branch that trains allied militias.
Ahmad Vahidi, the Revolutionary Guard’s new commander in chief, backed the violent crackdown against women’s rights protests in 2022, according to officials and experts.
Mohsen Rezaei, the new military adviser to the supreme leader, is an ardent advocate of escalation in response to any U.S. and Israeli attacks, experts said.
Even those perceived as moderates by the Trump administration were shaped by years spent in security agencies or war zones. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament and a main representative in peace talks with the United States, served as an IRGC commander during the Iran-Iraq war.
By contrast, Iranian leaders with civilian backgrounds largely have been sidelined as part of the war-driven shake-up, officials and experts said. They include President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who previously led talks with the United States but has seen his position and influence diminished.
The swift consolidation of power by loyalists contradicts claims by President Donald Trump that the war accomplished “regime change” and empowered pragmatists willing to acquiesce to U.S. demands.
“They have a new group of leaders,” Trump said during the Group of Seven summit in France last month. “Actually, I think they’re smart. … They’re far less radicalized, and I think they’re very, very good.”
Instead, officials and experts said that Trump’s approach — including threats to annihilate Iran’s civilization, a country of more than 90 million — has bolstered hard-liners’ claims that the country is in an existential struggle with the United States and its allies.
This has weakened the hand of moderates who were key to negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program a decade ago.
Experts and officials warn that the younger Khamenei and his inner circle probably will face a more difficult test when the war truly ends, and they confront the challenge of rebuilding Iran’s battered economy and improving conditions for its people.
The Trump administration’s agreement, in a preliminary memorandum of understanding, to release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and provide other financial benefits could deliver a lifeline to Iran’s new leadership team.
The regime also faces more immediate challenges, such as demonstrating that the younger Khamenei has recovered from injuries sustained in the strike that killed his father and is capable of handling the full range of duties — including the public appearances that come with being supreme leader.
The funeral looms as a critical test of the regime’s confidence that he can be protected, and will be scrutinized by analysts at the CIA and other intelligence agencies — much as they scoured footage of Soviet parades and politburo meetings during the Cold War — for clues to the leader’s condition and the identities of others who have gained clout.
Even in peace time, Mojtaba Khamenei kept a low profile. He has been photographed in public only a handful of times, and few Iranians have heard him speak.
The war sent him deeper underground. Officials and experts said that he probably is being moved among bunkers and other secure locations to protect him from airstrikes or assassination.
The funeral, however, is the first mass public gathering since the war, creating pressure on the regime for Khamenei to appear.
“He’s the head of state. A religious leader. And it’s the funeral for his father,” said Norman Roule, a former CIA officer and an expert on Iran. “His failure to appear at his father’s funeral, mourn publicly, and project command would be interpreted by many inside Iran and abroad as evidence of his personal weakness, physical incapacity, or even death.”
An Iranian diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy said it was unlikely that Khamenei would appear, in part out of fear that the United States or Israel would try to kill him.
“The Iranian people first and foremost need him to be safe, so he can lead the country,” the diplomat said. “The United States and Israel have shown that they are bound by no commitments.”
Even in hiding, Khamenei is believed to be handling high-level decisions, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials said, though security precautions have meant that his decisions and statements mainly are relayed through intermediaries, creating a cumbersome dynamic.
‘It’s very clear by now that Mojtaba Khamenei is making the strategic decisions,” Zimmt said, while those below him have formed a leadership “collective” that has influence on key issues but answers to the ayatollah.
Khamenei is believed to have set boundaries for negotiations with the United States, experts said, ruling out substantive discussion of Iran’s nuclear program before a durable ceasefire took effect.
Like his father, he also has distanced himself from decisions that could backfire. He publicly expressed reservations about the MOU his government signed with the United States, for example, but allowed it to proceed citing assurances from subordinates.
He also took a shot at his U.S. counterpart. Iran had agreed to sign the memo “out of compassion and goodwill,” he said, while Trump had done so “out of desperation.”
The new leadership team supplants a generation forged by years of operating in the shadows of the resistance to the autocratic rule of the shah, followed by the chaotic 1979 revolution and its aftermath.
Those in charge now, experts said, are part of a postrevolutionary cohort who are less extreme in their religious views but equally ruthless in their willingness to use brutal force to maintain control.
Their understanding of the United States has less to do with the hostage crisis of 1979 than their front-row view of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflicts that went on for years but ended with the United States having achieved few of its core aims.
The new group’s more sophisticated grasp of American pressure points may account for Iran’s strategy of launching retaliatory strikes against Persian Gulf allies of the United States, as well as its halting of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which yielded major economic leverage.
Even after an initial ceasefire was announced in April, Iran has demonstrated that it remains willing to resume its use of military force, an aggressive stance that has helped it extract key economic concessions from the United States and allowed the regime to craft a narrative at home that it prevailed in the war.
“They are brimming with confidence,” said a European official in regular contact with Iranian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. “They not only survived, they rediscovered the Strait of Hormuz as a big lever, and they really think that they can dictate terms.”
Mia Taylor looked down at her Los Angeles County election ballot a few weeks ago and felt a familiar mix of duty and dread. How could she possibly know the best choices in the dozens of local contests she was asked to vote in? Partly on a lark, she turned to a newly ubiquitous tool: Claude.
Taylor snapped a picture of her ballot and asked: “So, who do I vote for here?”
Claude, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Anthropic to analyze data and hold natural conversations, initially declined to answer. Like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, other widely used tools, Claude is trained to avoid answering political questions that could expose biases.
So Taylor, a self-described liberal Democrat, sharpened her question, asking it to find links to well-regarded progressive groups and help her come up with strategic voting options.
“Here are some sources you can look at,” it replied, linking to voter guides and describing each race in detail. Taylor was especially torn about her vote for mayor, wondering how she could help stop Spencer Pratt, the Republican who momentarily looked likely to win one of the top two spots in the open primary. Claude’s advice: Vote for the incumbent, Karen Bass, not Nithya Raman, a member of the City Council. (Pratt later lost the race, while Bass and Raman advanced to the general election.)
It was probably only a matter of time before voters began to use artificial intelligence to help guide their choices. The 2026 midterms may be the first U.S. elections in which voters are using AI in meaningful numbers.
Voters are turning to new AI tools to serve as nonpartisan researchers, viewing them as a viable alternative to traditional news coverage, voter guides, or social media. They provide an appealing and seemingly efficient way to learn about campaigns and ballot measures, allowing users to bypass the sometimes dizzying array of political literature, advertising, and commentary coming their way. But some experts warn that the tools are far from foolproof: The results they produce can be marred by factual errors or shaped by flawed assumptions.
Chris Johnson, a 58-year-old resident of Atlanta, appreciates the allure of relying on AI to choose candidates and the worry about its accuracy.
Johnson, a registered Republican who considers himself a libertarian, has voted in every Georgia election for the past 40 years. When he prepared to vote in the state primary in May, he asked ChatGPT to tell him which of the candidates was the most libertarian. Initially, the system resisted answering directly, so Johnson asked it to rely on the candidates’ voting history. The chatbot suggested Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state who was running for governor in the Republican primary but ultimately lost the race.
Johnson felt chagrined by how easy it was. He recalled that for years he read the print edition of the local newspaper to come up with his own sense of which candidates most closely matched his values.
“I felt a bit lazy for not doing more,” he said. “It felt easier, but I am not sure that everything was correct.”
The appeal of artificial intelligence tools, also referred to as large language models, lies in their simplicity: Users often find the information they produce more straightforward and understandable than data from a more traditional internet search. And many welcome the interaction. Researchers and AI companies are already envisioning a time when political campaigns create their own chatbots, enabling voters to question them directly.
“There is a reason these models are persuasive: They come up with facts or factual claims and are just good clear explainers,” said David G. Rand, a professor of information science, marketing, and psychology at Cornell University who has done extensive research on the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in political persuasion.
Earlier this year, before voting in a local school board election, Rand turned to artificial intelligence for help. He uploaded an hourlong video of a campaign forum and then asked which of the candidates most closely matched his values. He used this research to make his choices. And when he ran his picks by friends who were more involved in local politics, they endorsed his reasoning.
Still, Rand noted, the output is only as good as the input: AI tends to reaffirm and mirror users’ biases, framing candidates’ views through the voters’ lens, rather than objective facts.
Anthropic, the parent company of Claude, has said users asking about political topics “should get comprehensive, accurate and balanced responses — responses that help them reach their own conclusions rather than steer them toward a particular viewpoint.” In a lengthy statement this year, the company said Claude is trained to “treat different political viewpoints with equal depth, engagement, and analytical rigor.”
Jeremiah Hain, a 42-year-old psychotherapist in Los Angeles who has used ChatGPT routinely for other small tasks, recently employed it to help him choose candidates in races for mayor and various other offices.
“I don’t have the time, nor did I want to do the same kind of research I have done in the past,” he said. “This was very intuitive, and I actually respect its intelligence, I guess.”
He was so enamored of the process that he posted a video on TikTok encouraging other voters to do the same. (And because he knows his videos get more engagement when he is shirtless, Hain filmed himself bare-chested. “I wanted to do this as a thirst trap on purpose,” he said.)
But that sense of efficiency may mask the risks of turning over the democratic process to technology, some experts warn. Because most chatbots produce answers that sound confident and authoritative, users may not make the time to check the underlying claims.
Ideally, AI tools for election help would rely on a curated and verified database of political information and policy platforms to help voters, rather than pulling data from across the internet, as the existing tools do, said Yamil Velez, a political science professor at Columbia University who has researched the effectiveness of AI in convincing voters. But he was reluctant to completely dismiss the usefulness of AI in election decisions. “It is important to think about what is the alternative,” he said. After all, he added, most voters are unlikely to spend hours in the county clerk’s office researching their election options.
A year ago, Velez added, he would have said that voters would be better off relying on an internet search, but the AI tools are becoming increasingly accurate.
Nonetheless, he cautioned, the current tools likely benefit candidates who are more vocal in the local press and on social media, making their views easier to find. Campaign strategists are keenly aware that voters are using these tools and have begun looking for ways to get more favorable results by publishing more material online in formats that chatbots prefer, such as using bullet points.
Still, in interviews, people who had used AI to research election choices said it allowed them to vote with more confidence.
Robert Siebelink, a 54-year-old Democrat who lives in Corona, Calif., turned to Claude after feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of researching the 61 candidates running for governor in his state, not to mention the candidates in less high-profile races. He uploaded his ballot and asked Claude to suggest candidates who most aligned with his values.
Eventually, he had narrowed down his choice for governor to two Democrats, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer, and asked Claude how to strategize.
In less than half an hour, he had filled out his ballot and chosen Becerra.
“I just felt so refreshed,” Siebelink said. “That’s the most informed voting that I have ever done.”
“It felt like some political expert that knew all of the research and we just sat down over coffee and chatted, and they took notes,” he said.
Similarly, Rikki Powers, a 31-year-old Democrat who lives in Baltimore, took a photograph of his ballot before the recent Maryland primary and asked Claude to provide bullet points for each candidate. He said he was looking for a broader perspective than what he could get from candidate campaign websites. After checking some of the links for accuracy and to “make sure that I truly like the candidates I am voting for,” he used the summary to fill out his ballot on the spot.
“The last time I voted, I spent probably 20 hours researching,” he said. “This time was an hour.”
Still, Powers said, there are limits: While he had no hesitation uploading a blank ballot, he would never tell AI how he voted.
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at the ceremony and Stevie Nicks performed among a crowd packed with stars of sports and entertainment. The deep secrecy that surrounded the buildup to the nuptials lifted when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done.
The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead having Swift’s younger brother Austin Swift serve as her man of honor with Kelce’s big brother and podcast co-host Jason Kelce his best man, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine said in an email.
The bride and groom’s outfits came from Christian Dior Haute Couture and its designer Jonathan Anderson, with shoes custom-made by Christian Louboutin. She wore Cartier jewelry.
An almost-royal wedding
The long anticipated union of sports and song brought hype to new heights at a venue made more for historic NBA games and bucket-list concerts. The Kansas City Chiefs’ superstar tight end and the music megastar married as fans and spectators gathered outside in blistering heat, eager to be part of the occasion, even though the event was almost entirely hidden.
Actors Bradley Cooper, Zoë Kravitz, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke; models Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss; comic Chris Rock; director Steven Spielberg; singer Camila Cabello; and author Jenny Han were among the guests from the world of arts and entertainment. Kelce’s coach Andy Reid and Chiefs teammates including running back Kareem Hunt were among the sports figures in the arena, along with retired NFL superstar Tom Brady, Seattle Seahawks receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and ESPN personalities Joe Buck and Stephen A. Smith.
In a culture obsessed with famous couplings it may have been the apex celebrity wedding, with perhaps only royal unions getting more attention. Holding such a ceremony in a huge, iconic space that sits at the center of the U.S. media universe while keeping all the details secret made for a surreal scene, but it was a mix of hype and hush that is not out of character for Swift.
A shrouded ceremony headed by Happy Gilmore
An Associated Press camera outside the arena showed a long line of black SUVs dropping off wedding-goers in tuxedos and evening gowns, surrounded by New Yorkers in shorts and Swifties amassing for the occasion. Rain briefly cut the heat shortly after the marriage was announced.
There was a seemingly total lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, with phones apparently banned.
However, on Saturday, hosts of Good Morning America who had been invited to the wedding confirmed that Nicks performed and described the space as “intimate.”
“As intimate as it could possibly be given it was Madison Square Garden. Really this garden inside the garden, just so beautiful,” said George Stephanopoulos. “It’s hard to imagine a place that big and a wedding with such stars could feel so personal and so intimate.”
Robin Roberts added that both Swift and Kelce wrote their own vows.
Weddings have been a constant subject in Swift’s songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 added to the drama. It was also the first marriage for the 36-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swift’s early hits.
Sandler, star of The Wedding Singer and many other hit comedies, can’t have been high on anyone’s betting list for who would marry the couple, though he’s become an increasingly warm and paternal cultural figure with age. The email announcing the marriage described him as “a friend” of the couple. Kelce was one of the many athletes who appeared in Happy Gilmore 2, Sandler’s 2025 sequel to one of his first hits, and Sandler appeared last year on the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast.
Welcome to New York — Taylor’s version
The Swift-Kelce relationship has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — ever since the pair first started dating in 2023 after he showed up at her Eras Tour concert at the Chiefs stadium.
Happy fans mixed with frazzled tourists outside the arena.
Lori Powers, who lives an hour north of Manhattan and rode the train in to be near the nuptials, said Swift’s “music is the soundtrack behind so many amazing moments in my life. Relationships, friends, like my husband and my kids.”
She stood outside the arena before the marriage was announced with her friend Cecily Hall.
“Just being here and witnessing all the energy and the excitement, it’s so much fun,” Hall said. “The combination of sports and music makes perfect sense as to why they’re at Madison Square Garden today.”
We have something else to celebrate this Independence Day: a new Beyoncé song.
The iconic singer released “Morning Dew (Donk),” a sultry, ‘90s-coded R&B track, Saturday morning with no warning.
It’s a special Fourth of July holiday gift to her fans, according to a news release about the song — and Queen Bey’s first piece of new music in two years.
The single starts the clock on a 60-day countdown to the singer’s 45th birthday and the reissue of B’Day, her hit sophomore album that first dropped 20 years ago, on Sept. 4, 2006.
Sorry, BeyHive, no word on Act III, the highly anticipated, unnamed, and unreleased final chapter of Beyoncé’s three-part album project. The Today show reported that fans shouldn’t expect any sort of Act III announcement this week.
Act II, aka Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s award-winning foray into country music, was another example of the singer’s use of the Fourth of July holiday as a means to explore and challenge themes surrounding American identity, especially the Black and Southern experience. Last year, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter D.C. tour stop took place on the Fourth of July.
View on Threads
The show highlighted Black empowerment as Beyoncé opened the show wrapped in a large American flag, just a few miles from the U.S. Capitol.
While it’s not the Act III fans have been waiting for, “Morning Dew (Donk)” is an exciting new portfolio addition.
It was written by Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, The-Dream and Darius Dixon, and produced by Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams. The song features Williams’ signature four-count producer tag.
Philadelphia’s July Fourth concert and fireworks on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway resumed following a several-hour evacuation and delay as thunderstorms moved through the area.
Recap: In Philly, the 250th birthday of a fragile nation was celebrated with pomp and sweat. Then came the storm.
An unscheduled and dramatic light and sound show — this one produced by nature — interrupted Philadelphia’s July Fourth extravaganza Saturday night, forcing crowds to evacuate the Parkway three hours before the man-made fireworks show was scheduled to start.
People were told to leave the area and seek shelter midway through the One Philly: Unity Concert for America. But city officials were not quite ready to call it a Semiquincentennial — a year in the planning — and two hours later the city announced the event would resume with a shortened schedule and the fireworks finale. This time, the man-made kind.
Forecasters had been warning for the last two days that potent thunderstorms were possible Saturday night, as so often happens when a heat wave begins to break down.
July Fourth marked the third consecutive day that the temperature had reached 100 in Philly, tying a record set in 1963 and 2011, and the atmosphere on Saturday, congested with water vapor, was exhibiting clear evidence that it was about to pop. A severe-storm watch covered the entire region.
Earlier, declaring a measure of independence from steaminess that made the atmosphere feel like sweat itself, hundreds of thousands in the region celebrated the day 250 years ago when rebellious colonists gathering in Philadelphia announced to the world they had formed a fragile new nation.
From a ceremonial burial to a patriotic pet parade, for a day at least, anxieties over divisiveness, a national identity crisis, historical controversies, AI, or the state of the economy and the world yielded to an air of celebration robust enough to compete with the heat.
Fireworks fill the sky at the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.Fireworks fill the sky at the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.
// Timestamp 07/05/26 2:56am
Meek Mill and Will Smith finish off July 4th concert in the city that ‘raised a nation’
Philadelphia-born rapper Meek Mill on stage during the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Kathy Sledge was followed by the full complement of the State Property crew, which meant not only Beanie Sigel and Philly Freeway, but also Peedi Crakk and Chris and Neff, the duo formerly known as Yung Gunz, who provided the high point of their Roots-backed set with their ageless rap classic “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.”
“I’m loving the energy tonight, I’m glad we came back,” said the next guest, Meek Mill. “I was headed out of town, and I had to double back.”
With the Roots backing him, and Questlove in particular locked in, it was at the once the most tightly disciplined and casually free-wheeling Meek performance I’ve ever seen.
That went for throwback tracks like “ImaCQ Boss” and “House Party” as well as an especially epic “Dreams and Nightmares,” before which the rapper asked the crowd to light up the night, which they did, with phones and flames.
Last but not least was the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith, who came bounding out shortly after 2 a.m. in a red Phillies cap and jacket to join the band and Jazzy Jeff, his musical partner Jeff Townes with whom he was catapulted to stardom in the late 1980s.
Smith has had a rocky time of it since he set his career back significantly by slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars in 2022, and his relatively joyless 2025 comeback rap album Based On A True Story didn’t help matters much.
Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff (left) perform at One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.
But on the Parkway, Smith was in his element and back on form.
“I’m on stage right now on the Fourth of July with the Roots,” he said, beaming, after earlier thanking Parker, whom he called “Mrs. Mayor.”
“We was at the hotel and about to go and she said, ‘Oh no! Come back out.’”
“Every dream I ever dreamed I dreamed in these streets,” Smith said. He then got into Semiquincentennial mode.
“And this city didn’t just raise me. It didn’t just raise us. It raised a nation. Two hundred fifty years ago, it all began here. So Happy Birthday, America!”
And with that, Smith and Townes and the Roots did the song everybody wanted to hear, in this season in 2026: “Summertime.”
And just past 2:30 on Sunday morning, it was finally time for fireworks.
Fireworks begin after Will Smith’s set on the Parkway
Just before 2:30 a.m., Will Smith had no shortage of energy. The same was the case for the several hundred people flanking the stage, heads encircled with cigarette smoke.
But for those on the outskirts, less engaged in the performance and seemingly more eager for a fireworks show, staying awake was a battle. Toddlers curled up in scrollers and on chairs to get a little shuteye before the lights lit up the sky and adults yawned and sat on curbs.
Minutes later, at long last red, white and blue fireworks illuminated the sky as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played over the speakers.
The crowd shuffled to the right side of the stage to get the best view and parents hoisted toddlers in soccer jerseys onto their shoulders.
A riot of color lit up the sky in the fireworks’ big finish around 2:45 a.m. and was greeted with a rousing applause. Within minutes, crews were taking down the stage and concertgoers, drunk and exhausted, were ambling toward the exits after an unorthodox but satisfying July Fourth celebration.
Will Smith reenergizes restless concertgoers calling for fireworks
Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff (left) perform at One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.
After Meek Mill wrapped up his set around 2 a.m., the ever-patient audience began to grow anxious for the fireworks display.
“Fireworks!” some shouted from the left of the stage repeatedly.
But sentiment changed when Will Smith stepped onstage in a slightly askew Phillies hat and glossy jersey unbuttoned.
Clusters of audience members began attaching to the existing crescent-shaped collection of die hards encircling the stage. Audience members behind the fountain previously enjoying the music passively began to pull out phones and record the Fresh Prince as he spit bars and subwoofers shook the grass stretch in front of the stage.
The Roots and Kathy Sledge kick off late-night Parkway concert following storm delay
Kathy Sledge from Sister Sledge brings two guys on the stage to dance during the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Philadelphia.
The July Fourth party carried over into July 5.
After a three-hour-plus rain and lightning delay on Saturday night, the One Philly: Unity Concert for America for the nation’s 250th birthday finally resumed on Sunday morning.
Shortly before midnight, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway grounds that had been evacuated earlier in the evening due to severe weather were reopened and thousands of die-hard concert goers made their way to the front of the stage.
There DJ Aktive hyped up a crowd — younger, on average than at the earlier hour — that was a mix of Philadelphians and visiting World Cup soccer fans by spinning records by Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and Journey. (Yes, Journey.)
Then at 12:44 a.m., Mayor Cherelle L. Parker — last seen on stage with Gov. Josh Shapiro four hours earlier — came out and led the crowd in a “Ain’t no party like a Philly block party because a Philly block party don’t stop” chant and introduced “the Legendary Roots Crew!”
Starting with a sly intro — a few measures of Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park” — the unparalleled Philly hip-hop and Tonight Show house band then put on a musical master class. Rapper (and singer) Black Thought displayed his trademark staggering breath control as he led the band (who were accompanied by DJ Jazzy Jeff) in a 20-minute nonstop workout that pulled from a century of Black music, including the band’s own rich 30-year catalog.
And then it was time for the all Philly guest list. (Christina Aguilera, from Pittsburgh, the scheduled headliner, did not perform.)
First up was Kathy Sledge, who now performs the hits she scored with her siblings as Sister Sledge under her own name.
She was accompanied by a team of dancers, and on “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” a couple of eager-to-boogie dudes brought up on stage from the crowd.
The showstopper, of course, was “We Are Family,” which with Questlove keeping the beat and sousaphone player Damon Bryson moving along with the dancers, played out as a wee-small-hours-of-the-morning singalong.
Roots performance, fireworks forthcoming as crowds continue to reenter concert
Happy fans keep the party going at One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway when the concert continued after a severe thunderstorm Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
About 15 minutes past midnight, rows of people as far as the eye could see came walking down the Parkway toward the stage, filling the concert area back in.
DJ Aktive got the crowd reenergized with Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” and Boys II Men’s “Motownphilly” as people made their way over the mud-laden grounds onto the concrete areas to surround the stage.
The Roots and fireworks were forthcoming, a screen announced in front of the stage.
Prior to the hiatus, the crowd was primarily sitting and lounging across the grass, giving the event more of a music festival feeling. The second piece of the event had more of a concert vibe with the majority of people standing and alert, facing the stage.
The heat wave had broken for the night and the weather had cooled to a comfortable 78 degrees.
The DJ was continuing to play Top 40 hits as the crowd grew antsy for The Roots’ performance and the fireworks display they’d ridden out thunder and lightning to see.
Crowds gather for reentry and wait for July 4th concert to resume
Hundreds of people lined Pennsylvania Avenue sitting on ledges and standing in crowds patiently waiting for the concert to restart about five minutes before The Roots were scheduled to hit the stage after the storm delay.
Once the gates opened, a crush of concertgoers rushed in until the police took notice and pushed the crowd out and toward the formal entryways.
Throngs of people gathered around the entry tents awaiting their chance to reenter.
“Philadelphia!” a booming voice uttered over the speak system as music started back up.
Audience members couldn’t quite be sure whether or not the voice was that of Questlove. Most were still congregated around the entry gates waiting to have their bags examined and get let back in.
July 4th concert to resume following evacuation over storms
🎆 Now that threat of severe weather has passed, the show will continue with @theroots and a grand fireworks finale.
The public are invited to come back and begin queuing up for re-entry into the concert perimeter.
We thank everyone for their patience while the storm passed.
— City of Philadelphia (@PhiladelphiaGov) July 5, 2026
The show goes on.
City officials announced just before 11:30 p.m. that the One Philly: Unity Concert for America will resume — more than two hours after severe weather commandeered the stage.
The Roots — and possibly a special guest, city officials told The Inquirer — are set to perform, followed by a grand fireworks finale. Organizers were encouraging people to head back to the Parkway.
The Roots are slated to take the stage at midnight, the city announced via social media.
Some SEPTA Regional Rail lines delayed or suspended amid storm
As the rain poured down late Saturday, several SEPTA regional rail lines were delayed or suspended.
The Lansdale/Doylestown line was suspended about 9:30 p.m. due to a downed tree and wires, according to the transportation agency’s social media. The Doylestown line has since been restored, according to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
The Paoli/Thorndale line between Malvern and Thorndale “is out,” Busch said, and there are residual delays on both lines.
Parkway concert ‘paused,’ next steps yet to be announced
One Philly: Unity Concert for America music fans take cover at a Gulf gas station due to the pending thunderstorm.
The One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parway has been “paused” due to severe weather, and next steps will be communicated as soon as possible, city officials said in a statement.
“Our foremost concern is for the safety of our guests, the crews, the artists, and all staff supporting this event. We will decide to resume when we are confident that it is safe to do so,” Managing Director Adam K. Thiel said. “We are continuing to closely monitor weather conditions and developments and are in coordination with all departments and partners through our Emergency Operations Center.”
Concert attendees were advised to leave the area of the concert and move to protected areas such as Suburban Station at 16th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has been advised of the decision to pause the concert, and has been communicating with event producers and emergency leadership throughout the evening, the city said.
The city evacuates the crowd at One Philly: Unity Concert for America due to the pending severe thunderstorm on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
The sudden evacuation announcement caught Parkway concert goers off guard as winds and gusts full of detritus suddenly picked up.
Dozens of people took refuge at a nearby gas station.
“I’ve got so much dirt in my eye,” said a man on the phone.
Alaina Hawkins, 24, followed orders to evacuate clad in a Wawa bucket hat and not at all regretful of the trek from Northern Virginia.
She and two friends arrived around 3:30 p.m. and they felt they got plenty from their time at the Parkway.
“I’m kinda bummed out, at the same time I had fun,” she said. “I was up front dancing with other people.”
Still, she lamented not being able to see Christina Aguilera.
Though the evacuation message didn’t say whether the event could resume once storms passed, for many, the night came to an end.
People walked away from crowds and opened rideshare apps, while others waited for the bus.
— City of Philadelphia (@PhiladelphiaGov) July 5, 2026
Due to approaching severe weather, an announcement at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway has been made telling attendees to head to the nearest exit and head to their vehicles or other shelter.
Crowds headed towards the exits as the announcement instructing them to leave the festival area ran on repeat.
Severe thunderstorm warning for Philly until 9:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a warning for Philly and its neighboring Pennsylvania counties for a strong thunderstorm with a history of producing damaging winds and “frequent” cloud-to-ground lightning.
The warning is in effect until 9:30 p.m. with winds to 60 mph possible
The federal Storm Prediction Center has advised that storms may be accompanied by damaging “downburst” wind gusts.
The severe storm watch remains in effect until 11:30 p.m.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker appear at Parkway concert: ‘Philadelphia, let ‘em hear you’
Philadlephia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro at the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker took the stage not long after country singer Jordan Davis, greeting a rather muted crowd.
“The promise of America has always been carried forward by all of us, by people who believe in one another, and by the possibilities of tomorrow,” said Shapiro in brief remarks.
“So tonight we honor not only the past but the ideals that continue to unite us and drive us forward and we remain resolved that those ideals will endure because we choose to uphold them.”
Parker tried to energize the crowd, encouraging them to get loud.
“From the birthplace of freedom, let the whole nation feel the power of unity in our city tonight,” she said. “Philadelphia, let ‘em hear you.”
Comedian and host Wanda Sykes, followed and also tried to hype the crowd to slightly better results, introducing Jill Scott.
As if on cue, the Parkway, no longer in the sun’s path, cooled and hundreds more made their way to the main stage area.
Jordan Davis — the country singer, not the Eagles player — takes the stage on the Parkway
Country music star Jordan Davis performs at One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Following Seal’s set, the crowd was treated to a pre-recorded video skit starring host Wanda Sykes and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. The gag was that Sykes interpreted her all-access pass to mean she could take a seat behind the mayor’s desk at City Hall.
Podcaster Wallo 267 and Gillie Da Kid then came on to hype up the crowd that was mostly lounging in shaded spots on the Parkway lawn and avoiding the still-punishing early evening sun.
They quizzed the crowd on its thoughts on the Jaylen Brown trade and assured Sixers fans that LeBron James is coming to Philly next. (We’ll see about that.)
Then the duo introduced the next act: Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis!
No, not really. The next act was a performer by that name, but it was Jordan Davis, the Louisiana-born country singer, not the football player.
Davis — who was a late add to the One Philly concert lineup — has scored a number of country hits in recent years. His music leans slightly toward rock and roll, taking a page out of arena-sized star Eric Church’s playbook.
His slick, 40-minute set was fast-paced, with hits like “Tucson Too Late,” and “Turn This Truck Around” coming in rapid succession as if Davis was worried that if he slowed down, Philly hip-hop and R&B fans would start to wonder what this country guy was doing singing in their city on its big July Fourth celebration.
Some FIFA fans sweat it out in colonial wigs in South Philly: ‘Oh, is this American culture?’
(Left to right) Nicholas Ruiz, Matthew Reich, and Jason Broesamle, all 27, wore referee-style jerseys and colonial-style wigs for Ruiz’s bachelor party at the France-Paraguay Round of 16 World Cup game played in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026.
Ever wondered how hot it must have been for the Founding Fathers to walk around with those wigs in summer?
Some soccer fans at Philadelphia Stadium signed themselves up to a sweaty history lesson.
Nicholas Ruiz, 27, came from Southern California with his friends to Philadelphia for his bachelor party. The trip combines his two passions: history and soccer.
So for the Round of 16 World Cup game between Paraguay and France, Ruiz and his crew wore referee-style jerseys in different colors and colonial wigs.
“Perfect bachelor party,” he says.
The wigs were a last-minute decision, said Jason Broesamle. They wanted to a “Founding Father’s thing” for America’s 250th birthday.
And people are noticing.
“We’ve been stars here all game, a bit of celebrities,” the 27-year-old said. “Other people from other countries are like, ‘Oh, is this American culture?’”
Despite sweating under the wigs, they don’t regret the decision, and neither does Koosie Boggs — for now.
The 41-year-old from Maryland came to Philadelphia with her boyfriend for the July Fourth weekend. At first they planned on coming in “full George Washington, Ben Franklin” outfits, but decided it was too much once the heat got close to 100 degrees.
But the wig made it into the game, and a lot of people asked for photos, she said.
The couple plans on going to the concert on the parkway after the game, the wigs might be left behind.
“It’s just too hot,” Boggs said. “It’s going to end up in the trash at some point.”
British pop-rock vocalist Seal opens Parkway concert: ‘I know it’s hot, but it’s not hot enough!’
Seal, British singer, performs at One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
The One Philly: Unity Concert for America celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday got going with an international superstar opening act.
British pop-rock vocalist Seal went on at 5:45 p.m., dressed in a mustard yellow blazer, just as the sun dipped low enough to provide a sliver of shade to provide some relief for the red, white, and blue crowd gathering in front of the stage.
Seemingly unbothered by the heat, the London-born singer of Nigerian and Brazilian descent remarked: “I know it’s hot, but it’s not hot enough! It’s only 105. I need it to be 110!”
He quickly demonstrated that he knows how to play to a Philadelphia crowd. His second song began with the instantly recognizable doo, doo, doo-doo doo-doo’s of the Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like An Eagle.”
In fine, smoky voice, he finished his version of that 1976 hit off and quipped: “I know you want it to be “Fly, Eagles, Fly,” but you not going to get it. Not in this lifetime.”
For Seal’s mellow, sultry summer afternoon set, he was backed by a band that included West Philly native Gail Ann Dorsey, who previously toured frequently with David Bowie. He introduced a cover of British band Talk Talk’s “Life’s What You Make It” as “a song by an artist who influenced me when I was first starting out” before finishing up leading a singalong on his biggest song, his 1994 hit ”Kiss From A Rose.”
‘A lot more shade than I thought’: Concert attendees stay cool on the Parkway
Staying cool on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway has required a bit of planning and some luck.
Princess Akowe, 39, made the trip from Camden excited to see Will Smith and Christina Aguilera.
With a smooth check-in process, Akowe was able to make it to the front of the stage but stepped away around 6 p.m. to grab some food and eat in the shade with a plan to move up towards the stage again later.
“I can’t complain, it’s been really good,” said Akowe liking her chances of snagging a front spot as people seemed to be avoiding the sun.
Katrina Baker, 33, made the trip from Prince George’s County, Md., with her family of four, not wanting to pass up a free concert.
Equipped with noise-canceling headphones for her baby and a handheld battery-operated fan, Baker was excited for her spot on the grassy, shaded area with a clear view of a giant video screen.
“We’re excited, there’s a lot more shade than I thought,” Baker said.
How expensive was a ticket for the final World Cup game that will be played in Philly? That depends.
Fans in attendance for Saturday’s match between France and Paraguay paid a pretty penny to be in attendance. But according to Front Office Sports, what was paid to be in the house at Philadelphia Stadium paled in comparison to other matches in the round of 16.
The get-in price for the match on secondary markets averaged $925, ranking as the second-lowest ticket offering of the eight matches to be played between Saturday and Monday. Sunday’s match between Mexico and England in Mexico City is currently listed as the highest with a $3,359 get-in price. The cheapest was Morocco’s win over Canada in Houston, with an average $694 get-in tag.
City officials will monitor weather conditions throughout Parkway concert amid severe thunderstorm watch
City officials are monitoring weather conditions and collaborating with the National Weather Service throughout the evening’s One Philly: Unity Concert for America, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
Organizers have stressed that the concert, which was scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m., will be a rain-or-shine event. The entire Philadelphia region is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 p.m.
Attendees may receive mobile weather and public safety alerts, and people can get connected by texting AMERICA to 888-777 or by visiting phila.gov for the latest information.
Some heat-related health issues reported as attendees wait for Parkway concert to begin
At around 5:30 p.m. the concert that had been slated to begin at 5 had yet to officially begin. Performers continued to rehearse onstage with lights and sound as attendees filled in along the grassy swaths on either side of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Even with the assortment of misters and free water refill stations, the heat casualties have begun to mount on the parkway, with at least three people being transported into one of the medical tents located throughout the concert’s footprint.
A precise update of the number of people seeking medical attention so far was not immediately available at the City of Philadelphia Mobile Command Post. Questions were directed to the city’s press office.
Monitors and speakers set up around the area allowed visitors to groove to the music. Many laid on blankets and fanned their faces while other perused food trucks. Hundreds of people crowded onto into the area, but many spots were sparse. The parkway appeared to have a long way to go to reach the estimated 300,000 attendees that ESM Productions President Scott Mirkin had estimated would stop by the ESM-produced event at a news conference on Wednesday.
Clothes were minimal in some groups with a set of toddlers clad only in diapers, some men forgoing shirts and some women rolling up T-shirts into makeshift crop tops. Headwear, including cowboy hats, baseball caps, and fisherman’s hats were a common sight.
Most spectators enjoyed the music in passing as they chatted with friends and ate from small red-and-white food baskets.
U.S.-focused preshow kicks off FIFA World Cup elimination game in South Philly
The decibels at Philadelphia Stadium eclipsed the blistering temperature during the pregame show of the FIFA World Cup elimination game between Paraguay and France.
Thousands of fans from all over the world came together to, aptly for July Fourth, form a sea of red, white, and blue jerseys.
The colors in the stands were for the flags of the teams on the pitch, but the pre-game show was all about America. The green pitch was covered with a white tarp with blue shooting stars with red tracks.
Tony Award-winning singer Idina Menzel, known as the voice of Elsa in the beloved Disney franchise Frozen, provided an explosive performance of the national anthem — a patriotic moment that wouldn’t have been complete in the birthplace of the United States without a flyover.
And the Philadelphia Boy Choir and Chorale followed with a beautiful rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
And as if it wasn’t already hot enough, Philly’s own Grammy Award-winning band, The Roots, reminded the fans that they were here, on the nation’s 250th birthday.
Move aside Kylian Mbappe, Philadelphia is already the player of the game.
Near 21st and McKean, residents build memories with a long-running block party tradition
Near 21st and McKean Streets in South Philly, a few pieces of string were all that was needed to remind residents of the annual Fourth of July block party.
As Monica Elder served up a sandwich and condiments to another resident, she said the block party was a tradition that goes back as far as she can remember — and she’s been here 38 years.
Now 55, Elder has become one the leaders on the block who watch over children and preside over the festivities.
“Cooking, eating, dancing — everybody participates. Whether we know you or not, everyone is welcome,” Elder said.
By 5 p.m., the good times were getting a bit of a late start due to the blistering temps, exceeded only by the heat from a charcoal grill attended to by Elder’s son, Jeremiah Worthem.
Worthem said the block parties build community and serve as a chance for neighbors — many have been here for decades — to meet up.
“It’s a good time,” Worthem said. “Just building these memories.”
Watch: Philly holds a Ben Franklin look-alike contest on the eve of Independence Day
// Timestamp 07/04/26 5:19pm
Point Breeze block’s first party comes on the 250th: ‘Days like today have all of us coming together’
A little girl loses her popsicle while riding an inflatable water slide during a block party in Point Breeze on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
In Point Breeze, Robin Miller and her neighbors were having a block party together for the first time as a group. Miller and another neighbor started to hang outside together until eventually the duo realized they should make an official gathering and bring everyone on the block together.
What better day to throw the block’s first party than the 250th anniversary of the United States, Miller said.
A bounce castle took over the middle of the block, where a hose was attached to the opening of the slide, and one after another, kids flew down the vinyl slide through a curtain of water into a small pool at the bottom. Another inflatable pool sat nearby where a group of young children and teens lay with just their faces sticking out of the water, cooling off.
Joy Fields-Butler and Christine Mardre, neighbors and friends, sat underneath one of the canopies situated along the street. For them, this block party was about bringing together all walks of life on the block, from fostering formative memories for the children to bringing a diverse array of adults to kick back, share a beer, and even join in on the water-gun fights with the little ones, Mardre said.
“It’s diverse on this block, and days like today have all of us coming together,” Mardre said. “Today there is no arguing, there is no drama, it’s just a party.”
Miller was enjoying the experience of neighbors coming together to do something special, feeling very Philadelphian, she said, as the city is known for its rich neighborhood culture.
“Our neighborhood pitched in, and a lot of us pooled together to get the inflatable pool or the bounce castle,” Miller said. “The food spread is basically for the entire neighborhood, and people just keep coming out and replenishing anything that’s run out.”
Nylan Wells, left, and Kayla Carter try to beat the heat under an umbrella holding fans at the One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
With gates open for the One Philly: Unity Concert for America, visitors are slowly trickling in and already finding ways to cool down.
Saxxton Brazier, 36, came from Southwest Philly and said she was already drenched through her shorts when she got through security.
“I’m sweating and it looks like I peed myself but I didn’t!” she said with a laugh, after running through one of the several masters placed throughout the parkway to keep attendees cool.
Brazier said there was a stark temperature drop in the shady parts of the Parkway, so her plan was to take breaks in those areas when possible.
“Dip yourself, walk around, you’ll be fine,” she said.
The potable water stations set up by the Philadelphia Water Department were also ready to go with people already beelining to get cool water refills.
Others staked their claim on the cool patches of grass in the shade.
FIFA ‘couldn’t miss’ the opportunity to have a Fourth of July game in Philly
Mattias Grafström was out for a run early Saturday and could already feel the celebrating around town, he said.
FIFA’s secretary general, the soccer governing body’s No. 2 in charge, made his first visit to Philadelphia Saturday during this World Cup. The soccer world will train its eyes on Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, when France, one of the tournament’s favorites, plays Paraguay in the round of 16.
The game, which starts at 5 p.m., is the finale of a daylong soccer celebration in the city. Besides the supporters of both teams making the city home for the weekend, FOX’s studio broadcast also set up shop outside Independence Hall.
“You feel the history of this country, a proud country,” Grafström said. “Having this game as part of the celebration is something unique and we couldn’t miss that opportunity once we were working on the schedule. It’s no surprise that there’s an important game on the Fourth of July in Philadelphia.”
Saturday marks the sixth and final World Cup game in Philadelphia. It’s France’s second trip of the tournament to Lincoln Financial Field, which has been renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the tournament.
“During the bidding period, Philadelphia was one of the cities where you could feel they really wanted the World Cup to come here, support from the government, the state, and the city,” Grafström said.
“Watching the games on TV, you feel the energy. It’s what I always thought about Philly, a working-class city with passion. I look forward to seeing it full tonight.”
France is a heavy favorite, but Paraguay, which knocked off Germany in the round of 32, could prove to be a pesky test on France’a journey to get back to the final.
The game will kick off under extreme heat. The feels-like temperature on the field likely will surpass 100 degrees. There is a chance of thunderstorms throughout the evening.
“It’s quite hot outside, so let’s see how the weather impacts the game and the teams, but I’m sure it will be as all the other games that we’ve had, a fantastic match today,” Grafström said.
Danny Torres, who runs the barbecue business The Latin Grill, prepares Puerto Rican and jerk seasoned chicken wings in a grill at his block party in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Johanna Rodriguez and Michael Cunningham mixed fresh lemonade as they watched their daughter and son splash around in the above-ground swimming pool in the middle of their Jefferson Street block in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia.
The Fourth of July brings the block’s “OGs” into full force, applying for permits, coordinating who will be grill master, and erecting party tables to turn Jefferson Street into a Puerto Rican Fourth of July extravaganza, Cunningham said, gesturing to his mother-in-law, Carmen “Terry” Torres, the block captain and resident of more than 50 years.
Rodriguez said the block takes Fourth of July seriously because it’s one of the only times of the year when everyone comes outside to enjoy the festivities and see each other in person. It also provides the classic July Fourth fun outside during a time when many kids are used to hanging out inside.
“Obviously, having a block party with all the neighbors coming together is always the best. Just hanging out and talking about the old days. It brings back the classic vibes,” Rodriguez said. “On top of that, it’s about making sure our kids get to experience what we got when we were their age.”
Torres, alongside her neighbor of more than 30 years, Elizabeth Reyes, transformed Jefferson Street into a barbacoa party, taking the cuisine pioneered by the Taino people and fusing it with jerk and other Caribbean flavors.
Grill master Danny Torres, who runs the barbeque business “The Latin Grill,” only lives a few houses down from Torres and Reyes, and along with his wife, Lisa Desamoir, will be supplying the prized smoked meats to the entire neighborhood. Desamoir, a retired firefighter who had the local Engine 29 truck stop by to treat the kids earlier in the day, is taking inventory of the more than 50 chicken wings, whole slabs of pork shoulder (with a crunchy skin for added texture), and dozens of chicken kebabs. These will go nicely alongside the macaroni salad, corn on the cob, Spanish rice, and more sides that neighbors prepared, Desamoir said.
“Danny is making a whole Caribbean vibe cause he’s got the jerk seasoning and Puerto Rican flavors,” Desamoir said.
The federal Storm Prediction Center has issued a severe-thunderstorm watch in effect until 11 p.m. for the entire Philadelphia region.
The criterion for a “severe” storm is wind gusts of 58 mph or higher, but “downburst” winds accompanying the storms could reach 75 mph, said Mike Lee, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.
The watch went into effect at 3:30 p.m., and Lee said the likeliest time for storms would be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
However, meteorologists advise that timings, intensities, and locations of storms are impossible to forecast.
Attorney Michael Coard (rear), leader of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, speaks at the President’s House Site Saturday.
As hundreds of people lined up outside the Liberty Bell, about 200 folks gathered in the yard next door at the President’s House Site to honor the nine people enslaved by George and Martha Washington in the 1790s.
But this year, attendees said the annual independence gathering, with its focus on freedom, truth, and remembrance, felt different.
“Over the last six months, since the president issue an executive order, they have tried to whitewash and bend history in a way that doesn’t tell the whole story of the country,” said Dawn Chavous, director of public relations for Avenging the Ancestors Coalition. “We are here because it’s important to not only remember, but protect and defend the history of America, which includes Black and African American history.”
That same sentiment brought Edwina Griggs, 62, from her Northern Liberties home to the President’s House in 98-degree weather.
She said she used to think of the Fourth of July as a time of jubilee, but now she can’t help but feel angry that Black people must continue to fight for visibility.
“Why do we have to go through so much just to present the true?” Griggs said. “We help build this country.”
As she approaches her senior years, Griggs is concerned for the history both Black and white children will inherit and the message that changing the exhibition sends.
“What is Trump scared of? If that is who George Washington was, that’s who he was; we can’t sugarcoat it,” Griggs said. “Replacing the panels doesn’t change that slavery existed and that Black folks were treated as not human.”
As speakers and City Council members took the stage, Chavous stressed that the exhibition shouldn’t be seen as a Black or white issue, but rather as an important need, to protect history the way it happened.
That sentiment made Eric Bright take a five-hour train from Amherst, Mass., to be at the celebration.
Bright is not Black, but he doesn’t think he needs to be to stand up against what he sees as Trump’s censorship of history.
“What they do to some of us, they do to all of us,”Bright said. “Today is this exhibition, but this is happening all over the country already and it won’t take long until it affects someone you love.”
Despite the latest ruling, Chavous said the organization wouldn’t stop advocating for the exhibit.
She encouraged the crowd to email their local and state officials and send notifications to the president regarding the importance of the exhibit.
“We are not going anywhere; we are going to continue to advocate because when you censor American history, you don’t know the full history of our country and that’s a disservice to everyone,” Chavous said.
Friday’s procedural order followed the Justice Department’s Thursday request to allow the National Park Service to “begin work immediately and install its new exhibits.”
The city immediately appealed the order, saying it didn’t have time to respond to the Justice Department’s request and there was no need to rush.
Third Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, a George W. Bush appointee, denied the city’s request that the court recall the order. He did give Philadelphia a chance to attempt to change his mind by filing a brief before Tuesday afternoon.
Pamela Chuang poses with a half-eaten frozen chocolate Liberty Bell from Franklin Fountain
The line at Franklin Fountain continued along the side of the building, with people dotted on seats and stoops, licking ice cream cones or sipping milkshakes. It was worth it, one patron confirmed to another joining the line.
Several Mr. Softees also staked a claim by the Liberty Bell Center and reaped the benefits.
The ice cream makers at Franklin Fountain, along with Shane Confectionary, rolled out a special Liberty Bell Ice Cream Bar for America’s 250. The bars were made in small, limited batches, from replica molds made with the help of Temple University’s architecture school.
They’re made of chocolate ice cream, with a chocolate coating, and a cherry filling. Some are still left in the freezer, but supplies are running low, according to staff.
Longtime Philadelphians Deb Clarke and Cheryl Bruttomesso gave interested patrons advice for handling the line (send an emissary, while others sit in the shade, they say).
Franklin Fountain is Clarke’s favorite spot, especially on this side of the city.
“I always stop here,” Clarke said. As for their orders: Bruttomesso opted for a root beer float while Clarke ordered a “Ladies First” — a raspberry soda and ice cream concoction.
The two had been in the city for America 250 on both Friday and Saturday, basking in the festivities. People have been pleasant, despite the heat, they said.
“I think the city has done a really good job getting ready for the 250,” Bruttomesso said. “And the transportation is easy, I felt signage is better, everything just looks really awesome. … I think the visitors find it easy to get around.”
Across Philly, other local businesses also appear to be getting in on the America 250 fun with themed goodies. Small Oven bakery and Isgro, both in South Philly, and Famous 4th Street at the Reading Terminal Market were spotted selling 250, 1776, and Liberty Bell-themed confections.
John Li and Libby the Liberty Bell pose in front of Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, July 4, 2026.
Though the heat was wearing on some, with maps becoming impromptu fans, there were plenty of smiles and excitement, even as people waited in a long line for the Liberty Bell.
Visitors clutched water bottles, umbrellas, fans, and plenty of ice cream. They waved to broadcast news cameras with glee.
People posed for selfies with Independence Hall as their backdrop, or stopped a wandering Liberty Bell that had seemingly escaped her enclosure at the Liberty Bell Center to grab a picture. A roving band of historical figures wrapped their arms around people for group shots — “Huzzah,” they said, instead of “Cheese.”
Philly is hotter than Florida right now, much to tourists’ dismay
Children play in the fountain water and climb the statues at Logan Square on Wednesday.
Adorned in red, white, and blue, people gathered in the shade at the Independence Beer Garden across from Independence Mall, escaping some of the record heat to sip beer with the World Cup displayed on a big screen.
Sandra Rahn, from Jacksonville, Fla., was taking a break from the sun to watch the game. Her pup, Matilda, was cooling off alongside her, following the Patriotic Pet Show at the Betsy Ross House.
Rahn, her husband, and Matilda arrived Wednesday to celebrate the country’s 250th, attending as many outdoor events as they could so Matilda could be part of the festivities.
“Everybody’s excited and outside; it’s been great,” Rahn said.
They’ll head home to Florida Monday, where they hope to “cool off.”
“It’s not this hot at home,” she said.
True story. The average temperature in Florida is hovering around the high 80s statewide (with some outliers, of course). But Philly is still hanging out with a high of 100 degrees. In Jacksonville specifically, the heat index is 98, while Philly’s is a scorching 103.
Lackawanna County man honors vets by running for 3 days, from Scranton to Philly
A Lackawanna County man seeking to honor military veterans is set to complete a three-day run from Scranton to Philly Saturday evening.
“I’m pushing for 5 p.m., unless I get heatstroke,” Mike Kravitz said during a Saturday morning phone interview, in between breaths and while shouting “Happy Fourth” to passersby.
Kravitz said the heat has forced him to take more breaks, but that hasn’t kept him from attempting to run the 250-odd kilometers, roughly 157 miles, to Independence Hall. He said he felt called by God to encourage people to live up to their potential.
“There’s so much that divides us these days. I’m just trying to bring people together,” Kravitz said.
Though it’s not his first ultra-distance run — he said he once ran across Myrtle Beach — and he ran the 2024 Steamtown Marathon, Kravitz said this time he’s partnered with Team Red, White & Blue, a veterans’ organization focused on health and wellness. He hopes to raise $250,000 for the group.
Kravitz is supported by family members who provide him with two liters of water per five miles, and who cheer him on as he carries a roughly three-pound flag, zip-tied to a hiker’s trekking pole. Their support has helped him lose 60 pounds and find a renewed purpose in helping raise money for veterans.
“I’m calling on people to live up to their full potential. Our veterans didn’t die for us to scroll on our phones all day long. Do something today to improve your life, improve your family’s life, your community’s life,” Kravitz said.
In particular, Kravitz said, he’s grateful for his uncle, Kevin Metschulat, a former U.S. Army Ranger who served two tours in Iraq. Reached by phone, Metschulat said his nephew is someone who fully commits to whatever he does.
“I love it. I love it. He’s a true patriotic person,” Metschulat said.
Kravitz can be followed in real time using an online tracker. As of around 2 p.m., he was near Bala Cynwyd.
Colman Domingo among Celebration of Freedom honorees: ‘I am so proud of where I come from’
Colman Domingo and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, at the Constitution Center during the City of Philadelphia Celebration of Freedom event, in Philadelphia, July 4, 2026.
Seven people with profound ties to Philadelphia were honored Saturday in the city’s Celebration of Freedom.
The awards, created as part of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s effort for the Semiquincentennial, recognized those whose legacy “strengthens the city of Philadelphia,” said NBC10’s Lena Tillett, who emceed the event.
The recognized included:
David L. Cohen, Philadelphia Freedom Award for Civic Devotion
Bishop Dr. Millicent Hunter, Philadelphia Freedom Award for Faith, Courage, and Service
Daniel J. Hilferty, Philadelphia Freedom Award for City Champion
Joseph Neubauer and Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer, of the Neubauer Family Foundation, Philadelphia Freedom Award for Transformative Philanthropy
Nasir “Gillie Da King” Fard and Wallace “Wallo267” Peeples, Philadelphia Freedom Award for Restorative Justice and Resilience
Colman Domingo, Philadelphia Freedom and One Philly Award for The American Voice
Those being recognized credited the city with shaping them.
“It’s nearly impossible for me to express what Philadelphia means to me,” said David Cohen, a Philadelphia stalwart. “I have traveled across this entire continent, and I can tell you there is no city like Philadelphia.”
“Like those who have preceded me, I knew it was my duty to pay it forward,” Neubauer said.
West Philadelphia native — who graduated with Will Smith from Overbrook High School — Colman Domingo credits his acting career to a Temple University professor, Chris Wolfe, who pulled him aside and asked if he had considered pursuing the arts.
“I am so proud of where I come from,” he said. “I use Philly in every character, every story, every play that I write, music.”
Strong storms are looking likelier Saturday evening
Potent storms that may come with “downburst” wind gusts up to 75 mph are possible in the Philly region Saturday evening, forecasters are warning.
The likeliest time would be in the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. period; however, the timing and location of any storms and their durations are uncertain, said Mike Lee, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly. Blame the limits of science.
What is certain is that with so much daytime heating, the atmosphere is full of energy and moisture.
In its late morning update, the federal Storm Prediction Center has placed Philadelphia in the “enhanced risk” zone for severe thunderstorms, defined as those with wind gusts to 60 mph. The storm center said that “downbursts” that can generate powerful and damaging straight-line winds may accompany the storms.
Last night, thunderstorms caused significant damage in areas north of Philadelphia and adjacent South Jersey. A lightning strike set off an eight-alarm fire in Medford, the weather service reported.
Trevor Jones, 40, of Atlanta, Georgia, pets Bruno, the winner of this year’s contest, at the Betsy Ross House in Old City.
Bruno, an 18-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever, sporting big blacked-out goggles and using a baby-dog stroller to move around, immediately stole the show at the Patriotic Pet Show at the Betsy Ross House on Saturday. With his long fluffy blond hair waving in the breeze, Bruno’s confident and smug smile told the crowd everything they needed to know: This veteran was here to bring home gold.
The tiny brick-lined courtyard of the Betsy Ross House was packed shoulder to shoulder as hundreds of residents and tourists witnessed in awe the most patriotic and gorgeous pets Philadelphia has to offer on the Fourth of July. Chihuahuas draped in Eagles green, twin pups dressed as a Geno’s cheesesteak and Betsy Ross, and no one could forget the two adorable snakes, Clyde the ball python and Hoagie the corn snake, whose owners were excited to break the stigma around the friendly no-legged critters.
These contestants play for keeps, as winning the competition doesn’t just provide bragging rights, but also tickets to a Phillies game, the Chinese Lantern festival, and gift cards.
And the winner of it all, Tim Dunlea with his 18-year-old yellow labrador retriever, Bruno, whose favorite activities are "rolling in style" and making everyone happy, Dunlea said. pic.twitter.com/odXkO64Hib
Bruno, the crowd favorite who’s older than a good portion of Saturday’s audience, and his human, Tim Dunlea, are already known around Old City as Dunlea runs an account (@brunoabouttown) on Instagram, where the large Labrador can be seen strolling through Washington Square Park and Pride festivals. After the big win, Dunlea is cooking a delicious steak for Bruno.
“We live around the corner, and folks in the neighborhood know of Bruno,” Dunlea said. “We’ve attended this show so many times, but we never entered him. Now that Bruno’s getting older, we said, ‘We don’t know if he’ll be here next year. Let’s put him in.’”
The moment Bruno strutted the catwalk, the rest was history.
Bob Wharton, of Bucks County, adjusts matching sunglasses for his dog Cooper, 4, at the Patriotic Pet Show at the Betsy Ross House in Old City, Philadelphia on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Jacquiline City of South Philadelphia and her 10-year-old twins, Lilo and Stitch, are last year’s winners who tried to bring home Best in Show, among other awards, but didn’t make it to the winner’s podium this year.
“We had to try and defend our title,” City said. “Last year we got to go to a Phillies game and we had all these restaurant gift certificates. We celebrated all year long after they won. We went to Little Suzy’s and then got pup cups from Franklin Fountain.”
Emma Thomas of Northeast Philadelphia brought her rambunctious Chihuahua mix to Old City to show that big personalities can come in small packages. As soon as Tiger Pepe Thomas walked onto the runway, he hopped on a ledge double his size and struck poses for the cheering crowd. With some loving encouragement from his human, Tiger jumped off the ledge and gave a dog in the crowd a running bark to let them know who’s in charge. Tiger didn’t take home any trophies but garnered enough laughs to garner an honorable mention in this article.
While the Patriotic Pet Show was dominated by canines, Liz Ruelle brought two friendly snakes with her to strut or slither their way down the runway. Clyde, the green ball python, easily took home the Best Non-Canine award with his shimmering scales that almost looked golden when reflecting the sunlight. His buddy Hoagie, who moonlights as a class pet, didn’t win any prizes, but his size and colorful skin attracted many children after the show to provide consolation pets. Of course, each time someone approached Hoagie or Clyde, they asked Ruelle “if they bite,” a question that wasn’t asked of any of the dogs, Ruelle joked.
As the winners lined up to collect their prizes, the hundreds of attendees cheered amid a backdrop of Bridgerton’s orchestral covers of pop songs. While only a few lucky canines and one serpent took home trophies, every pet on display showed that even in extreme heat, Philadelphians are prepared to compete.
Jacqueline City gets ready with her dogs Lilo and Stitch, named after the Disney characters, at the Patriotic Pet Show at the Betsy Ross House.
Period costumes in this weather? ‘Everyone’s hot. I’m just a little warmer than most.’
Hidden in plain sight among those braving the serpentine line to visit Independence Hall were numerous time travelers from the Revolutionary era.
Aaron Patrick traveled — like many Revolutionary War soldiers once had done — from Carlisle, Cumberland County, and donned a wool waistcoat and a black tricorn hat as he made his way through the line at Independence Square. Temperature check: About 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Everyone’s hot. I’m just a little warmer than most,” said Patrick.
Patrick’s family met up with family friend Abby Harting, a historical clothing expert from Middletown, Del., who said they are dressed in “what would have been typical of 19th-century Philadelphians to wear.”
These clothes start with a linen shift for women or a linen shirt for men, Harting said. “It’s naturally cool, wicks sweat away — it’s perfect for a muggy, hot day, because the fabric does the same thing it did 250 years ago,” Harting said.
Great vibes outside Independence Hall, where some people have opted for period garb. Abby Harting, second pic, in white, third from left, says the linen-and-wool layered garments have stood the test of time for keeping people reasonably cool even on hot days.
On top of the linen, the boys and men in the group wore a light wool waistcoat, while the girls and women wore a “stay,” which serves the same purpose as a bra, and another layer. Harting noted the women’s layers were designed to last for years and adapt to a person’s changing body.
She said their decision to dress up is a bit of “experiential archaeology,” and a great way to imagine what those in 1776 were experiencing — both mentally, and temperature-wise — as they adopted the Declaration of Independence.
For Washington, D.C.-area couple Katelyn and Zachary Damm, it all started with the tricorn hat given to Zachary by his father-in-law. From there, they turned to Amazon to order their clothes.
The history buffs prepared for their trip by reading about the era and reading the Declaration of Independence, Zachary Damm said.
“All of our freedoms date back to this day,” Katelyn Damm said. “That makes it special.”
Peco workers picket for better benefits, wages, and pensions
Members of the LBEW Local 614 go on strike outside of the PECO headquarters on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.
This Fourth of July, a dozen striking Peco workers baked in the sun outside the utility’s Market Street building. The group protested for better working conditions after the workers’ union and the electric company failed to reach an agreement Friday.
“There is a real power imbalance,” said Melissa McCleery, a spokesperson for IBEW Local 614. “These workers work 24/7, 365 days; their work is highly skilled and dangerous most of the time. We need Peco to value them as much as the public does.”
According to McCleery, 16,000 IBEW Local 614 members will remain on strike until Peco can provide all members pensions, better benefits, and industry-standard wages.
Holding blue and red “PECO workers strike” signs, the picketers walked back and forth down Market Street, under the watchful eyes of at least eight security personnel wearing high-visibility vests guarding the building.
“It’s crazy that they are here,” one union member told another as they passed the guards. “Such a shame,” the other person replied.
Trying not to pay attention to the security team, Joseph Vassallo, 43, expressed his frustration that things had to come to this. The union business agent has worked for almost two decades as a Peco power line worker.
“I have been working 16-hour shifts almost every day before this,” Vassallo said. “The amount of time, effort, wear and tear on your body is a lot, and this is what they think our value is?”
Independence Hall closed to anyone not in line: ‘I’d recommend coming back literally any other day’
The line to get into Independence Hall stretches from the middle of the block out of Chestnut Street all the way up 6th Street to the middle of the block on Market Street on Saturday. Independence National Historical Park ranger National Willow Tuttle was telling visitors it was a four-hour wait to get inside. Two hours just to get into Independence Square, the park south of the hall. Then visitors wait another two hours and have to go through security screening, before they are let into the hall, 50 at a time.
By 11 a.m., the window to visit Independence Hall is effectively closed for anyone who hasn’t gotten in line, according to a park ranger.
It’s an estimated seven-hour total wait, the ranger said, noting that First Bank, Second Bank, and the Franklin Court Printing Office — which contains an 18th-century printing press — are all excellent alternatives for people who want to take in some history.
“If you’re not in line now, I would say Independence Hall is an unattainable goal, and I’d recommend coming back literally any other day,” the park ranger said.
Mayor Parker: Philly will honor three Black women with bronze statues, including West Philadelphian Blanche Nixon
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at the City of Philadelphia Celebration of Freedom, in Philadelphia, July 4, 2026.
Philly is getting three new bronze statues honoring Black women, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced at the National Constitution Center.
As the United States celebrates its 250th milestone, the job is not to “choose which parts of the American story to tell, it is to tell all of it,” Parker said.
As she stood before a crowded National Constitution Center, preparing to honor seven people with profound ties to Philadelphia, she highlighted that alongside the country’s triumphs, there were also costs: “the Middle Passage, the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples, the injustice of Jim Crow, and the long years of racial and economic discrimination, all the ways this country actually struggled to live up to the creed it declared.”
It was with that in mind that before she looked to the future, she returned to the past, to three women who will be immortalized in bronze as statues in the city.
The statues will honor abolitionist Harriet Tubman; the first Black American to earn a doctorate in economics and lawyer Sadie T. M. Alexander; and West Philadelphian Blanche Nixon, who Parker said spent decades standing up for children and community safety.
Alexander and Tubman’s statues were announced in 2024 and are expected to be completed this fall.
According to the city, Passing the Legacy of Love and Community Service by Frederick Hightower is coming to the Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library in West Philadelphia. The bronze statue will honor the life and legacy of Nixon, whom the library is named after.
Nixon, a lifelong Philadelphia resident, was known for her community and youth advocacy work.
“Three women — one history celebrates, one history forgot, and then one history never knew — and every one of them, in their own right, widened the American promise until the words on the page meant what they always should have meant — ‘All of us,’” Parker said.
The Philadelphia Pops and Idina Menzel felt like a balm on a steamy night
Broadway legend Idina Menzel performs with the Philly Pops under Music Director Chris Dragon during the “Pops on Independence” Concert on Independence Mall on July 3.
Whatever brutally hot designs the weather gods had in store Friday for Philadelphia’s Independence Day celebrations, by 8 p.m. the temperature fell below 90 degrees, and the music on Independence Mall arrived like a balm.
Listeners were stretched across the lawn of the mall for fairly solidly from Independence Hall to Arch St., an estimated 12,000 attendees, according to a Wawa Welcome America spokesperson. Whether drawn by the Philly Pops in tunes patriotic or stirring, or by popular actress-singer Idina Menzel, the crowd was in a mood at once celebratory and relaxed.
The weather posed no threat, at least for the first hour or so.
This annual tradition of “Pops on Independence,” a free Philly Pops concert on the mall, has become a way of taking the national temperature. Last year, a few months into the new presidential administration, there were subtle references to the political moment, with the acting superintendent of Independence National Historical Park speaking to the audience about equal rights of all kinds, including marriage rights, and referencing a nation “built on the struggle for freedom from tyranny, and the principle of liberty for all under the just rule of law.”
Veterans rally at Washington Square Park: ‘We are trying to sound the alarm. We are not here to let our service members die.’
Military veterans from around the country gathered in Washington Square Park Saturday morning to rally against the Trump administration and what they call the “billionaire control” of the country.
Military servicemembers are often the first to feel the consequences of bad governance, said Lindsay Knapp, an attorney and former U.S. Army officer who traveled from North Carolina to join the rally.
Knapp said that, as an attorney who advocates for sexual assault survivors in the military, new policies under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have made it harder for women to report abuse without fear of reprisal.
“As veterans, we are trying to sound the alarm. We are not here to let our service members die,” Knapp said.
The veterans’ rally is part of The People’s Parade, a coalition of progressive-oriented groups that oppose which Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. War in Iran, and the U.S. embrace of Israel.
“The People’s Parade is a coming together of everyone who is concerned by the direction of where our country is going,” said Rev. Jay Bergen from West Philly.
He said the parade rejects “the violence of fascism and the control of billionaires,” and pushed back against anyone who says this isn’t a form of celebration.
“We are here to celebrate the workers who actually build this city each day,” Bergen said, including immigrants and veterans, “and we’re here to celebrate the power and the beauty of the people.”
U.S. Navy veteran Maxine Rebeles traveled from Ft. Laredo, Texas to share her message. She said President Trump’s border wall project has damaged water supplies along the Rio Grande River and destroyed the local ecosystem.
“They are bulldozing our rights away,” Rebeles said.
Maxine Rebeles traveled from Laredo, TX to join other military veterans rallying at Washington Square. Like others here, Rebeles decries Trump administration immigration policies, ICE, and the direction the country is headed.
She joined the U.S. Navy after 9/11 but became disillusioned when the “weapons of mass destruction” that the government had used to justify invading Iraq had ceased to materialize.
Now, Rebeles said, the government wants people to believe another lie — that their neighbors on the other side of the Southern border are an enemy.
Rebeles said an encouraging number of people have shown up for the rally and other recent events — a sign, to her, that more people are getting frustrated.
“People may not want to mess with politics, but politics are messing with people,” she said.
Another Navy Veteran held a sign that read “Veterans are not losers and suckers,” a reference to a 2020 report from The Atlantic alleging that President Trump once referred to dead military soldiers as such. The Trump administration has repeatedly denied he said that.
The veteran from Delaware, who gave just his first name Bill, out of fear of retaliation from the Trump administration, wore a photo of a young man in an Army uniform around his neck. That was his nephew, Eric, he said. He died by suicide in 2013 after returning home from Afghanistan.
“He’s the reason why I march,” Bill said. “There are too many people ignoring what’s going on. We need to join together and turn this around.”
This Navy veteran from Delaware wears a photo of his nephew, an Army infantry soldier who died by suicide in 2013 after returning from Afghanistan.
“There are too many people ignoring what’s going on,” he said. “We need to join together and turn this around.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro makes rounds at Doylestown parade
Chalfont and New Britain residents began lining the sidewalks with sunshades and water squirters before 9 a.m. this morning in Bucks County.
“Don’t feel silly with an umbrella,” advised Bob Doyle, 70, a longtime resident in a folding chair and a wide-brimmed hat who’s attended this parade for over 25 years. “You need it.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro walked the route before the parade, talking to attendees. Maryellen Murphy, 68, said she worked with Shapiro’s dad, pediatrician Dr. Steven Shapiro, when she was a nurse at Suburban General Hospital in Montgomery County.
Murphy said she was “shocked” to see the governor here. “When I see this guy, he sounds and looks just like his dad,” Murphy said. “We loved him.”
Shapiro greeted first responders as they rolled along before making brief remarks.
“I hope that today you take a moment to remember what this is all about: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the governor said. “It started here, and we’ve got a responsibility to carry it forward.”
The governor might not have time for a cookout today, he said, but last night he grilled some July Fourth classics: “chicken, burgers and dogs.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro gave brief remarks Saturday morning at the July 4th parade for Chalfont and New Britain:
Lengthy lines at Independence Square: ‘We’re making history today’
There’s a two-hour wait just to get into Independence Square this morning — not Independence Hall, but rather, the park just south of the Hall.
From there, visitors still have to wait in a separate line to go through security and then another to visit Independence Hall.
“We’re making history,” National Park Service Ranger Willow Tuttle said of the lengthy wait. “On the day history was made.”
Tuttle, who has worked as a park ranger for three years, said she’s never seen lines close to this lengthy before, even during past Fourth of July celebrations.
She anticipates lines lasting four to five hours for the people to get into the building from the end of the line. But at least there will be a soundtrack soon.
The Celebration of Freedom Ceremony kicks off this morning at Independence Mall and will feature performances by Grammy Award-winner Yolanda Adams and DJ Diamond Kuts.
Writing a revolutionary manifesto infused with Enlightenment ideals isn’t easy, Thomas Jefferson learned in 1776.
In drafting the Declaration of Independence, he had to endure the bane of all writers — editors.
Jefferson, one of the younger delegates to the Continental Congress, spent more than two weeks on the draft before submitting it to a five-member committee that included Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, according to a National Archives article.
The Library of Congress noted that it underwent a total of 47 “alterations,” undergoing more rewriting even after the July 2 vote for independence.
Jefferson wasn’t happy about the outcome, according to the Library of Congress, and fellow Virginian Richard Henry Lee told Jefferson he wished “the manuscript had not been mangled as it is.”
To this day, sources indicate that few writers have gained independence from editors. (Editor’s note: this feels especially pointed)
Meet Indy: the bald eagle who attended today’s time capsule burial
Indy the eagle at a game.
The eagle, known as Indy, whose full government name is Independence (obviously), made an appearance at this morning’s America’s Time Capsule burial.
Visitors were able to meet and take pictures with her.
Not to be confused with the bald eagle who flies over Lincoln Financial Field ahead of Eagles games (that’s Lincoln), Indy, 10, is from Auburn University’s Raptor Center. She’s a rehabilitated bird who now serves as an ambassador, teaching people about raptors, conservation, and the ecosystems that sustain them.
She flew — not by wingspan but via Delta flight — to Philly alongside handlers with her carrier strapped to three coach seats.
She went to the country’s 200th birthday with her mom as a kid; today, she honors her late parents’ memory
For attendee Kristine Robinson, from Turnersville, N.J., celebrating the Fourth was in honor of her mother, Katherine.
In 1976, her mother brought her to the city for the country’s then 200th birthday. She remembers standing at Independence Hall then at 6 years old.
Now, 50 years later, she felt like she was honoring the memory of both her late parents — her patriotic mother, who always brought her to the city and collected commemorative coins, and her World War II veteran father.
“She was right to support this wonderful nation and be proud — be proud of this wonderful nation, and what it’s become, and what it will become,” she said.
Her husband, Dennis Robinson, grew up in South Jersey, making school trips to Philadelphia. The significance of America’s Time Capsule, which the couple visited to watch its burial Saturday morning — and where they stood — wasn’t lost on him.
“You stand there, and you think, ‘Wow, right here is where it happened,’” he said. “If you love this country, it’s never lost on you, and you feel the weight of it when you’re here.”
See you in 500 years: America’s Time Capsule gets buried
The “America’s Time Capsule” is buried in Independence National Historical Park Saturday.
Phones were lifted into the air, capturing as a hefty time capsule was lowered into the ground at Independence National Historical Park on the Fourth of July.
America’s Time Capsule — containing snippets from the three branches of the federal government, all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. territories — will rest at the park until the United States celebrates its birthday once more in 2276.
Saturday’s ceremony, held in the early morning before the extreme heat could set in, brought out the public, adorned in red, white, and blue. Indy, a bald eagle, was also in attendance.
*Spoilers, if you’re 500 years in the future*
Sealed away items include:
Poems from Alabama
Stickers from Connecticut
A whale bone from Maine
A belt buckle from Oklahoma
Letters from governors
A gold medal from the Milan Olympics
A deconstructed iPhone
Commemorative coins and postcards
New York’s Semiquincentennial crystal ball
Pennsylvania skipped the coins and bones; Gov. Josh Shapiro penned a “Greetings from Harrisburg” letter. Also enclosed is a scintillating read: An archival booklet titled, American 250 PA Highlights, which lists “numerous state commemorations.”
The time capsule is a multiyear collaboration among America250, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Library of Congress, the National Park Service, Independence Historical Trust, and other project partners.
The commission, formed by federal law in 2016, had only one programmatic mandate: bury a time capsule on the Fourth of July, 2026, at Independence Hall.
It felt only right that the time capsule is entrusted to the city, as Philadelphia has stood at the center of the nation’s history, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker told attendees Saturday.
“Now I know that we’re here for a burial, but unlike any other burial, this one is about hope, it’s about possibility, and about believing that the generations who come after us will build a stronger nation than the ones we’ll leave behind,” she said. “A time capsule is more than a collection of artifacts; it’s a message from one generation to the next about who we were, what we valued, and what we believed was worth preserving.”
A 46-foot monumental stone sculpture, inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s Join or Die cartoon published in 1754, will be installed in the area. The sculpture will depict a segmented snake, and is being carved from granite. The snake’s head will rest atop the capsule’s burial spot, officials said.
At 1 p.m. on July 4, 1776, the temperature on what is now Independence Mall was 76 degrees by the reckoning of Thomas Jefferson, whose pursuit of weather data was in a league with his thoughts on the pursuit of happiness.
The author of the Declaration of Independence owned 20 different thermometers in his lifetime, according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which operates the Monticello site in Charlottesville, and he purchased one of those in Philly on July 4. (Didn’t he have something better to do?)
He didn’t record a high for the day, or whether it was raining, but noted that the temperature was 72½ at 9 p.m., not long after sunset. (With all those clothes they wore in those days, they still must have been pretty warm.)
Jefferson diligently kept daily temperature logs in the colonies and Europe, and his efforts were precursors of the creation of a national weather service.
If you’re out and about today and the weather of July 4, 1776, stirs a certain envy, your right to jealousy would be self-evident.
The nation’s 250th birthday is finally here, and organizations throughout Philadelphia have planned a full itinerary of celebrations for the weekend.
For those seeking historical enrichment, live music from national headliners, or even a patriotic pet parade, look no further.
Here is a schedule of some of the activities and events happening in the city.
Celebration of Freedom ceremony
The ceremony will honor America’s 250th anniversary in the heart of its historic center, with speeches, awards, and a performance by Grammy Award winner Yolanda Adams.
10 a.m., 525 Arch St.
Free Museum Day: Cliveden of the National Trust
Visitors can view exhibit panels in the Barn and participate in free tours of the house, which was built in 1767 and is the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Germantown.
10 a.m., 6401 Germantown Ave.
Free Museum Day: Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The museum will offer the exhibition, “Paths to Independence: 1765-1787,” showcasing more than 140 items that represent the people and events involved in the American Revolution.
10 a.m., 1300 Locust St.
Betsy Ross House Patriotic Pet Parade
An annual pet parade will occur at the Betsy Ross House, where prizes will be awarded for the best and most patriotic costumes.
10:30 a.m., 239 Arch St.
Free Museum Day: Powel House
Owned by Philadelphia’s first mayor after American independence was secured, visitors can tour the 18th century house where President George Washington once danced.
11 a.m., 244 S 3rd St.
One Philly: Unity Concert for America
The free concert will be hosted by comedian Wanda Sykes and feature performances from headliners including Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, The Roots, and Will Smith. Music begins at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on NBC10.
Philly’s fireworks won’t start until midnight on July 4th and some residents say that’s too late
Fairmount residents are accustomed to annual July Fourth fireworks; it comes with the territory of living near Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where the city stages its major celebrations. With the United States’ 250th birthday, this July Fourth is no different — except that the fireworks will start closer to midnight.
“We have the whole family coming to our home, all on their way right now,” said Fairmount resident Margo DelliCarpini. “But 11:30, midnight is just too late for some families with children. I understand that it’s the Fourth of July, but the late start for fireworks is decidedly not a family-friendly decision.”
DelliCarpini will have her children and grandchildren visit to experience the Semiquincentennial in the city where the country began. But with young children in tow, parents along for the trip were hoping to have them in bed by midnight, she said. Instead, the large group is looking to catch one of the fireworks shows at Valley Forge or across Montgomery County, which start around 9 p.m.
Philadelphia’s July Fourth concert and fireworks show, the One City: Unity Concert for America, is expanding its lineup from two to three acts like in years past, to 10 artists, including Christina Aguilera, Will Smith, Meek Mill, and Seal. The show will also start earlier and end later, spanning into July 5 by the time people head home.
The city did not respond to request for comment.
Other cities, like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, are keeping their 9-9:30 p.m. start times, while Washington, D.C. is among the cities pushing back its fireworks show to 10:30 p.m. or even 11 p.m. to allow for its expanded America 250 showcase.
The Philadelphia Inquirer front page for July 4, 2026.
// Timestamp 07/04/26 7:00am
Impromptu pageantry replaced Philly’s official parade as extreme heat mars the nation’s 250th
The eve of the United States’ 250th birthday in Philadelphia was less celebration and more chagrin, as oppressive heat left swaths of tourists and revelers in an aimless search of pomp and circumstance.
On Friday, Wawa’s Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade was canceled because of 100-plus-degree temperatures and aperilous heat index. It was one of numerous events called off or shortened this holiday weekend, as the scorching weather has thwarted events across the region, and potential storms could impact more.
The cancellation left scores of sweat-soaked performers, musicians, and historical reenactors in wool garb stranded near Independence Hall and around Center City. There might not have been the sort of “shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations” that John Adams prophesied in a July 3, 1776, letter to his wife, but there was still an air of importance — and some impromptu pageantry.
“We won’t be around for the 300th, so we really wanted to come for the 250th,” said war re-enactor Kathy Touzjian, 61. Touzjian and Laurie Pelletier were among a 75-person Massachusetts Army of 1775 troupe, who traveled six hours by bus to be in Friday’s parade.
“At least we still have cheesesteaks,” Touzjian said.
To the pair, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the fledgling country’s split from Great Britain felt different — and not just because of the heat. Now more than ever, Pelletier said, it was important to return to the country’s bedrock: liberty and independence for all.
“Today is still special,” saidPelletier, 60. “It’s a chance to recognize what our ancestors gave us, because the world is falling apart and this brings people together.”
// RelatedLink Text: How to see Big Boy URL: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/big-boy-train-philadelphia-union-pacific-steam-locomotive-20260701.html
John Dunlap, 29, an immigrant from Northern Ireland who operates a printing shop at Second and High Streets, a short stroll from the Pennsylvania State House, where the rebels conspire, has watched with keen attention the epochal events of the preceding days.
A faded copy of a draft of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson.
The exultant patriots and curiosity seekers who braved suffocating summer heat to stand watch outside the State House on July 1, when the 56 delegates of the Second Continental Congress finally commence their locked-door debate on independence. The rapture that seems to ring out from every Philly tavern and tippling joint, coffee house, and street corner on July 2, when word that Congress voted to sever ties with King George III spreads through America’s largest and wealthiest city, like a bolt from one of Dr. Franklin’s electricity experiments. The joy. Hope.
And now, as an unusually mild morning gives way to rain-laden clouds, Philadelphia holds its breath upon the brink of a mighty happening.
Cloistered inside their chambers, the delegates fiercely debate and painstakingly parse Thomas Jefferson’s draft of America’s founding creed. Its passage will formalize independence.
The ink-stained Irishman with the whipcord build of a jockey prepares the shop for the Herculean task he knows is coming. The delegates will desire to thunder out the news of American independence before the iron gall ink even dries on the Dutch paper. John Hancock, 40, charismatic president of the Congress, will want as many broadsides as Dunlap can muster by dawn. Printing broadsides by hand in sweltering, trembling candlelight — meticulously setting the type, carefully rolling the ink, and pulling the heavy presses — is messy, demanding work, the hardened printer knows. He’ll plan to toil until morning’s light.
Outside, citizens collect in High Street. Soon, the print shop door pushes open. A man, his face obscured by the sun, darkens the doorway. He holds something close. A rag paper manuscript written in fine hand, still wet from fresh changes, and borne by delicate hand to the expectant printer. Words upon which a nation now rests. A declaration.
At the Second Street boarding house of Mrs. Sarah Yard, John Adams, 40, awakes before dawn. The unyielding lawyer and farmer from Massachusetts has become accustomed to the city’s morning clarion cry of crowing roosters, ringing bells, clanking ships, and cursing sailors. But not its heat.
Behold this atlas of independence at his breaking point. Exhausted. Homesick. Hot. Beyond cantankerous that any rational being could yet flinch at the surety and necessity of American independence. For weeks, Adams answers angry letters from citizens demanding to know why Congress stalls.
“The only question is concerning the proper time for making a specific declaration in words,” Adams writes, barely concealing his own impatience. “But remember you can’t make thirteen clocks strike precisely alike at the same second.”
John Adams and his cousin, Samuel, shared a boarding house near the City Tavern in July 1776. This reconstruction of the original tavern was built in 1975.
For nearly two years, John Adams has fought for liberty like a bruising prizefighter, while his less refined older cousin, Samuel, 53, conducts a campaign of persuasion in the shadows. No one has done more than John Adams for independence. On this morning, John Adams dresses in the twilight, wishing that he had been blessed with the graces and gifts of ancient orators.
“This morning is assigned the greatest debate of all,” Adams writes before leaving for the State House. “A declaration, that these colonies are free and independent states, has been reported by a committee some weeks ago for that purpose, and this day or tomorrow is to determine its fate. May heaven prosper this newborn republic.”
At 9 a.m. on July 1, 1776, Andrew McNair, old and gray bellman of the State House, pulls shut the chamber’s heavy doors. Hancock gavels history to order.
In the silence, rises Pennsylvania’s reluctant rebel, John Dickinson. His writings once rallied American farmers against British taxes. Now, ghostly and gaunt from illness, he remains a dogged dissenter against independence. Summoning his strength, he abides his conscience, arguing America is not yet ready.
To proceed with a declaration during an uncertain struggle would be “to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper,” he tells his colleagues, before sitting.
Outside, the heat breaks. Rain beats against the chamber’s tall windows. Thunder booms. Lightning flashes.
Adams stands. He speaks over the stormy din. His precise words are lost to posterity. He speaks for two hours. John Adams moves men.
Adams speaks “with a power of thought and expression that moves us from our seats,” Jefferson, remaining characteristically mum at his table, will later recall.
Recreating the daily hub of the Revolutionary City in 1776. You can hear the cannons from the bell tower of the Pennsylvania State House at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, where the rebels conspire. Now, it’s Independence Hall, photographed April 14, 2026.
A preliminary vote is taken by candlelight. Despite popular opinion, four colonies — including four members of Pennsylvania’s critical seven-man delegation — vote no.
Late into the night, at the City Tavern, the delegates drink upon tenterhooks.
July 2, 1776
The second day of debate begins with a prosperous portent. Caesar Rodney, of Delaware, mud-splattered boots and spurs, arms akimbo, bursts in before the doors to Congress close. The gravely ill delegate rode 80 miles through the tempest to cast his vote for independence.
Replica desks in the Assembly Room in Independence Hall, known as the Pennsylvania State House in 1776. This is the exact space where the Second Continental Congress met and the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Better still are the two conspicuously empty chairs at the Pennsylvania table. Unable to vote for independence, but unwilling to thwart unanimity, Dickinson and fellow delegate, Robert Morris, voluntarily abstain. Despite his feelings, Dickinson will soon join the rebel militia — to fight for his country.
The statue of Robert Morris in Independence National Historical Park on May 31, 2023.
Again, the skies open up, raindrops drumming upon the glass.
With New York abstaining — and Pennsylvania swinging toward independence — the vote goes quick.
It is done.
Independence.
July 3, 1776
The Congress continues without a break.
Days earlier, before handing in his draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson turned to Benjamin Franklin for one last look.
A letter from Thomas Jefferson to “Doct. Franklyn” (Benjamin Franklin) in June 1776 asking for suggestions on the Declaration of Independence.
“Will Doctr. Franklyn be so good as to peruse it and suggest such alterations as his more enlarged view of the subject will dictate?” Jefferson inquires, in a note delivered to the silver-haired statesman’s High Street home.
It’s Franklin, sly satirist, homespun philosopher — grand auteur of America’s self-made aura — who possibly suggests, the inspiring “self-evident” phrasing, replacing Jefferson’s initial “sacred and undeniable truths.”
And it is Franklin, 70, spectacled lion of liberty, sage of Philadelphia, tamer of lightning, dean of American charm and wit, wooer of women, broad of bow and frame, portly of paunch and plain of coat, a winsome spark dancing across his gray-blue eyes, who comforts the young writer as delegates slash away at his declaration. The winking newspaperman unspools a tale about an enterprising hatmaker who wishes to advertise his wares. By the time the hatter’s friends finish their edits, all that remains is the man’s name, and a photo of a hat, Franklin jokes.
The delegates trim Jefferson’s harsher language about King George. They excise completely his evisceration of the slave trade. Jefferson does not publicly protest.
July 4, 1776
At 11 a.m., debate is closed.
The moment will eventually be memorialized in painting. The towering trio — Adams, Jefferson, Franklin — presenting America’s credo for approval. Imagine them, these Founding Fathers. These imperfect men for the ages who hazard everything to chance a republic, and change a world.
There is little ceremony. Horseflies from a nearby stable buzz. One after another, a chorus of “Ayes.”
Delegates break the tension with gallows humor about whose necks will snap the swiftest.
History does not record the face of the man who darkens the doorway of John Dunlap’s print shop. Perhaps it was Adams, unable to yield his obsession even in its ultimate realization. Perhaps, it was Franklin, delivering the declaration with a deliciously wry aphorism. Or Jefferson, solemn and silent with the weight of his words.
Dunlap works all night to the thumping groan of the presses. By morning, roughly 200 broadsides start to spread America’s newly minted founding document far beyond Philadelphia. Breathless riders herald the news in town squares.
In the trenches in New York, Washington orders the declaration read aloud. Bells ring. Troops parade. Bonfires alight. Candles burn. Prayers are whispered, for those sons and fathers who will die in the bloody conflict ahead.
By July 6, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, a paper published near Dunlap’s shop, prints the declaration word for word. Its previous issue had been put to press too early to capture the momentous events.
Instead, the July 4, 1776 edition included usual fare.
“To be sold,” read one back-page ad. “A NEGRO BOY, about four or five years of age.”
Crowds pack the State House yard, where the rebels had long conspired. A military officer reads the manifesto to the hushed masses.
Words that birth the American experiment on an ideal — and the sin of slavery. Words that will endure Civil War and oppression. Words that beckon centuries of American promise and possibility, triumph and failure. Words that inspire new revolutions, new freedoms, new fights. Words that transform. Words that twist. Words that promise a pursuit of happiness — but withhold so much from so many. Words that stand tested still.
Words written in Philadelphia.
An original broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence printed by John Dunlap on display in the “Great Essentials” exhibit in the West Wing of Independence Hall on July 29, 2025.
