Event
The event was previously sponsored by Philadelphia's WDAS-FM radio station, Southwest Airlines, Chrysler, the Pennsylvania Lottery, VH1 Soul, Western Union, and 20 other companies that provided food, vendors, art exhibitions, literary workshops, a softball game, children's activities, and free music performances.
WDAS-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station, licensed to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Under ownership of iHeartMedia, the station is widely regarded as one of the originators of the Urban AC format, which mixes R&B oldies with non-rap contemporary R&B, and is now found in many major markets across the United States. WDAS broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 16,500 watts on a class B signal, from a tower located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, and its studios are located in Bala Cynwyd. The main competitor of WDAS-FM in the Philadelphia market is WRNB, and its format complements WUSL and WDAS.
Southwest Airlines Co. is a major United States airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is the world’s largest low-cost carrier.
Chrysler is one of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The original Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company. In 1998, it was acquired by Daimler-Benz, and the holding company was renamed DaimlerChrysler. After Daimler divested Chrysler in 2007, the company existed as Chrysler LLC (2007–2009) and Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014) before merging in 2014 with Fiat S.p.A. and becoming a subsidiary of its successor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In addition to the Chrysler brand, FCA sells vehicles worldwide under the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram nameplates. Furthermore, the subsidiary includes Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division.
The 29th annual event was held on August 19, 2007. [1] The 30th annual event, billed as Unity Weekend, was held August 23-24, 2008, at Penn's Landing. [2]
Penn's Landing is a waterfront area of Center City Philadelphia along the Delaware River. Its name commemorates the landing of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania in 1682. The actual landing site is further south in Chester, Pennsylvania. The city of Philadelphia purchased the right to use the name. Penn's Landing is bounded by Front Street to the west, the Delaware River to the east, Spring Garden Street to the north, and Washington Avenue to the south, and is primarily focused on the Christopher Columbus Boulevard corridor.
In 2009, The last Unity Day was held August 23, returning to the Ben Franklin Parkway. [3] It was also no longer affiliated with WDAS-FM, after Clear Channel Communications discontinued the event. [4]
The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence and the first institution of higher learning in the United States to refer to itself as a university. Benjamin Franklin, Penn's founder and first president, advocated an educational program that trained leaders in commerce, government, and public service, similar to a modern liberal arts curriculum. The university's coat of arms features a dolphin on its red chief, adopted from Benjamin Franklin's own coat of arms.
Bala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1. It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community. This came about when a single US Post Office served both towns using ZIP code 19004. The community was long known as hyphenated Bala-Cynwyd. Bala and Cynwyd are currently served by separate stations on SEPTA's Cynwyd Line of Regional Rail.
Franklin Field is the home of the Penn Relays, and is the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and field, lacrosse and formerly for soccer, field hockey and baseball. It is also used by Penn students for recreation, and for intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket, and is the site of Penn's graduation exercises, weather permitting.
WKDU is a non-commercial educational FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Drexel University and operated by Drexel students, with several alumni among its on-air staff. It is the only free-format non-commercial FM station in Philadelphia. Its transmitter is located atop Van Rensselaer Hall, a dormitory on the Drexel campus, in the University City section of Philadelphia. Its studio is in the basement of the Creese Student Center. WKDU was the 2010 and 2011 CMJ Station of the Year.
Fairmount is a neighborhood within the Greater Center City District of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its boundaries are north of Spring Garden Street, west of Broad Street, south of Girard Avenue and east of The Schuylkill River.
While this may be the most common demarcation, the area's boundaries fluctuate depending how the neighborhood is defined. Several subdivisions exist within and near these boundaries including: Spring Garden, Franklintown and Francisville. Fairmount is also referred to as the "Art Museum Area," for its proximity to and association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
WXPN is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows. WXPN produces World Cafe, a music program distributed by NPR to many non-commercial stations in the United States. The station's call sign, which is often abbreviated to XPN, stands for "Experimental Pennsylvania Network". The broadcast tower used by WXPN is located at, in the antenna farm complex in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854 which extended the city borders to be coterminous with Philadelphia County. Greater Center City has grown into the second-most populated downtown area in the United States, after Midtown Manhattan in New York City, with an estimated 183,240 residents in 2015.
Logan Circle, also known as Logan Square, is an open-space park in Center City Philadelphia's northwest quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid. The circle itself exists within the original bounds of the square; the names Logan Square and Logan Circle are used interchangeably when referring to the park. Originally "Northwest Square" in William Penn's 1684 plan for the city, the square was renamed in 1825 after Philadelphia statesman James Logan. The park is the focal point of the eponymous neighborhood. Logan Square was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The University of Pennsylvania Band is among the most active collegiate band programs in the U.S. The organization is a part of the Department of Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania. Like most of the other 50 performing arts groups on the Penn Campus, it has no affiliation with any academic department and is sponsored by the Vice Provost's Office for Undergraduate Life. Typically ranging between 80 and 100 members every year, it is among the largest and most active student-run organizations on campus, performing upwards of 60 times during the academic year. Like most of the Ivy League Bands, the Penn Band is a scramble band.
Bob Perkins is an American radio personality. He is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area Jazz program host and (DJ) for WRTI, and has been on air for more than 30 years. His radio career began in 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. He went on to work for WDAS and WHYY in Philadelphia. In 1997 he joined WRTI-FM Temple University Radio. Known for his laid-back and mellow style, Perkins is a favorite of night-time jazz listeners in the Philadelphia area. One of his well-known sayings is "This is BP with the GM!", meaning "Bob Perkins with the good music." He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. He has earned well over forty different honors and awards from major government, artistic, journalistic and community organizations. Information about his on-air schedule may be found at WRTI's website. Bob once announced that he expected his personal website project to go online in late 2009 or 2010.
WDAS is a radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, the station airs a variety hits/health features format. Its transmitter is located near Fairmount Park, and its studios are located in Bala Cynwyd.
Market Street, originally known as High Street, is a major east–west street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is signed as Pennsylvania Route 3 between 38th Street and 15th Street. A short portion of the road continues west from Cobbs Creek Parkway to Delaware County.
The culture of Philadelphia goes back to 1682 when Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. Originally inhabited by the Lenape, Philadelphia was envisioned as a place where people could live without fear of persecution because of their religion. As a result, many Quakers, Mennonites, and others came to find refuge within the city. As Philadelphia grew into a major political and economic center of the United States, many different groups of religions and ethnicities flocked to the city. 19th and 20th century immigration and migration led to large concentrations of Irish, Italians, Germans, Asians, Puerto Ricans and African Americans. Philadelphia is still a major center of immigration, with large Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, East African, Middle Eastern, Indian and Mexican immigrant populations, among others.
Bike Philly was a bicycle tour of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on a closed route cleared of motorized vehicular traffic.
The tour is sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and it occurs on the second Sunday of September. The inaugural event for Bike Philly was held on September 9, 2007, and consisted of two 10 mile loops, a Center City route, and a Fairmount Park route. The ride attracted 2,500 riders
The Philadelphia Science Festival is an annual free science festival held in Philadelphia. The festival is organized and managed by the Franklin Institute.
The Philly PHLASH Downtown Loop is a visitor-friendly public transit service in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, managed by the Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC). PHLASH vehicles are ADA-compliant, temperature-controlled New Flyer MiDi buses. The IVCC contracted Krapf Transit to manage vehicle operations.
