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All About Made In America Festival
84 
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Open air
XXL – 50k+
Hip-Hop, R&B, Rock
$$
Casual, Local, Live music
2 Days
Made in America 2022 edition’s dates are 3-4 September 2022. Go get your Made in America tickets on Soundclub, the social app for live music experiences covering +2,000 festivals worldwide.
1. Rapper Jay-Z is the founder of Made In America festival
The Made In America festival was concepted by American rapper, record executive, and entrepreneur Jay-Z.
Produced by his entertainment agency Roc Nation, along with Live Nation, the idea of the Made In America festival was first announced on May 14, 2012 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
As founder, Jay-Z is responsible for curating all of the performances that will take place during the two-day event. Considering Jay-Z has received more than 23 Grammys and 83 nominations, safe to say that the annual music lineup is going to be more than impressive.
Besides the music lineup, Jay-Z is hands-on when it comes to creation of stages, non-music aspects like food, and the overall vibe of the festival. He’s even come to watch rehearsals from time to time to make recommendations.
2. The first Made In America festival was held in 2012
Four months after announcing its conception, the Made In America festival held its inaugural event on September 1–2, 2012.
The live music festival was held on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, and has continued hosting the event there throughout the years.
Despite holding it for the first time, especially in the modest city of Philadelphia, the first Made In America festival managed to garner $5 million in ticket sales, and has approximately 80,000 festival attendees.
This was also the same year where equally legendary rock band Pearl Jam joined forces with Jay-Z to perform his hit song 99 Problems. Their performance alone managed to garner $2 million.
Made In America festival’s initial success allowed the event to contribute approximately $10 million as economic impact for Philadelphia.
3. There’s a reason why the Made In America festival is held in Philadelphia
The Made In America festival could have made major cities like Los Angeles or New York its home city. Instead, Jay-Z chose the humble lands of Philadelphia, and there’s a pretty good reason for that.
Jay-Z envisioned the event to be held in an urban city where it’s easily accessible and inviting for its residents.
Typically festivals are held in the outskirts of the city, which means having to spend hours traveling or more money to book a hotel.
However, since the Made In America festival is held right in the heart of the Philly metropolis, the local community doesn’t have to do all of the above and can watch the live music festival without many barriers.
And as for Benjamin Franklin Parkway, there are 19 different flags originating from different nations. This represents Jay-Z’s vision to unite all kinds of music and people together onto one stage, which is what a festival is essentially about.
4. The Made In America festival music lineup isn’t just Hip-Hop
At a glance, the Made In America festival has a predominantly Hip-hop and R&B music line up, especially with its performers.
During the past years, the stage has hosted the biggest rappers and R&B crooners, like Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, and Rihanna.
However, there’s more to the lineup. Besides Hip-Hop and R&B, the Made In America festival genres actually spans across EDM, rock, pop, and Latin music as well.
Other musicians that have graced the stage include Coldplay, Marshmello, Death Cab For Cutie, and Halsey.
With all kinds of music genres filling the festival, the live music festival invites crowds of different backgrounds to unite and celebrate the joy of music.
5. There are multiple stages at Made In America festival
The Made In America festival could have made major cities like Los Angeles or New York its home city. Instead, Jay-Z chose the humble lands of Philadelphia, and there’s a pretty good reason for that.
Jay-Z envisioned the event to be held in an urban city where it’s easily accessible and inviting for its residents.
At their first Made In America festival, the event only had three stages playing live music. These stages are the Rocky Stage, Liberty Stage, and Freedom Tent.
This stage format stayed the same until 2016. From then, the live music festival kept changing the number of stages to accommodate the changing number of performers.
From 2016-2018, the Made In America festival featured five stages, with the original stages in place and the additional Skate Stage and Tidal Stage. However, there were some slight changes with the number of stages in 2019 and 2021.
6. It’s more than a regular live music festival
Besides these music stages, the Made In America festival also has a variety of food trucks, vendors, carnival games, amusement rides (a ferris wheel!), and a refillable water station to keep attendees hydrated.
Food plays a huge part in the festival. Whether it’s traditional festival food, or gourmet food trucks, there are many stations that you can check out from some much-needed grub to get you going through the festival.
Mainly featuring local vendors, Made In America festival highlights the culinary specialties of Philadelphia. By holding a food fair in the festival, the event managed to put light on the city through its delicacies.
7. Beyoncé headlined the Made In America festival twice
In 2013 and 2015, global superstar Beyoncé rocked for her fellow Beyhive and attendees at the Made In America festival.
The singer of Run The World got the crowds moving during her solo show in 2013 through her explosive performances, putting the Made In America festival on the map of festival enthusiasts.
The same happened in 2015. Just a day after her 34th birthday, Beyoncé performed a spectacular show. Her show-stopping set, which emphasized on women empowerment, was the perfect combination of musicality and showmanship.
8. There is a documentary film about Made In America festival
The Made In America festival was made into a documentary film directed by Ron Howard, the man behind A Beautiful Mind.
The documentary, which is named “Made In America”, shows what the festival represents, the reason why Jay-Z founded it, and what this festival means to each of the performers.
Featured in the documentary are performances straight from the Made In America festival You can catch the live music sets of Odd Future, Janelle Monae, Pearl Jam, and Skrillex.
9. The Made In America festival was once held in Los Angeles
In 2014, the Made In America festival decided to branch out to Los Angeles, all while still running the same festival in Philadelphia. Both festivals took place during the same Labor Day weekend.
The Made In America festival in Los Angeles took place at Grand Park. Featuring artists like Weezer, John Mayer, Chance the Rapper, and SZA, the festival’s Los Angeles lineup was just as versatile as their Philadelphia one.
It was the only year when the festival was held in two cities. In 2015, the festival reverted back to only being held in Philadelphia.
10. Made In America festival emphasizes the importance of philanthropy
The Made In America festival stresses on philanthropy. To do this, the event opened up their own Cause Village to help put light on more than 50 local and national organizations.
These organizations are committed to several different causes, ranging from social justice, terminal illnesses, to children’s causes.
With Cause Village, participants are free to set up their booths, in which the event pays for it.
These organizations only need to show up and educate attendees of the Made In America festival to understand the needs of their local communities.
From the biggest names in music, to supporting social causes, the Made In America festival is a must-visit event.
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