A firecrackin' good Fourth

More than a week of red, white, and blue fun is underway in Philly.

By Robert Strauss

For The Inquirer

It's unclear whether the City of Philadelphia had a budget crunch back in colonial times, but since we've always been at the center of patriotic festivities, the current fiscal crisis won't deter our Independence Day celebration.

"It's true that we had to cut back a little bit this year, but we still have something planned every day for more than a week," said City Representative Melanie Johnson of the Sunoco Welcome America! festival, which continues through July 5. "No one is going to be shortchanged when it comes to fun."

Johnson said the city was saving about $200,000 this year through logistics - such as moving the traditional parade from the Parkway to the historic area and shortening it a little as well as putting the main concert on Saturday night at Eakins Oval rather than on the steps of the Museum of Art. A few events, like Philadelphia-themed movies in open-air venues each night, have been cut, but other food, music and patriotic festivities have not.

Through the rest of the week, Welcome America! offers its children's participatory fiesta, "Go 4th and Learn!"

Todayy, "Go 4th and Learn!" will concentrate on Chinatown, with bilingual storytelling and exhibits at the Independence Branch of the Free Library, 18 S. Seventh St., also from 10 a.m. to noon. The Thursday, July 2, session will be of an older ethnic Philadelphia group, the Lenape, with demonstrations of that American Indian culture from 10 a.m. to noon at the University of Pennsylvania Museum near 36th and South Streets.

Next Friday, the full schedule begins with the ice cream festival along Columbus Boulevard near Chestnut Street from noon to 5 p.m. For $5, all comers can have all they can eat from a panoply of flavors and brands ranging from Ben & Jerry's to Breyers to Turkey Hill to Jack & Jill ice creams to Philadelphia Water Ice. That event will be repeated at the same times July 4 and 5.

From Thursday through July 5, the National Constitution Center and Lincoln 200 at the Independence Visitor Center will have various celebrations of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The events are planned from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, and 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. next Friday through July 5.

There will be a reenactment encampment outside the National Constitution Center's grounds near Fifth and Arch Streets. Lincoln-era characters will roam Independence Mall explaining the importance of the Civil War and its aftermath. The Lincoln 200 organizers plan songfests of the era and plays commemorating Lincoln's life and that of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

In addition, said Lincoln 200 cofounder Dianne Semingson, local institutions have donated items in their collections having to do with Lincoln to help give the celebration a Philadelphia touch.

"We have things ranging from an 1864 Lincoln campaign pin to a locket containing a lock of Lincoln's hair," Semingson said. It is only appropriate that Philadelphia will be the major focus of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth because of its importance in technology, medicine, politics and intellectual thought during his lifetime, she said.

The official city celebration of July Fourth will be a bit more formal. Next Friday, 8:30 to 10 p.m., there will be the traditional music of the Philly Pops Orchestra conducted by Peter Nero. Festivalgoers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to hear the concert on Independence Mall.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, July 4, Mayor Nutter will lead the hour-long ceremony honoring the birthday of our nation, which will be followed by a parade around the historic district - the first there in 18 years - with bands, drum-and-bugle corps, celebrities like Philadelphia songstress Lauren Hart and Radio Disney's Joey Page, horse-drawn wagons, antique fire trucks, full-regalia military, and floats galore.

Following the parade at Independence Mall will be the nontraditional Happy Birthday America celebration with everyone able to grab a piece of a huge TastyKake birthday cake. That will be followed by the tapping of the Liberty Bell at about 1:30 p.m., performed by descendants of those who signed the Declaration of Independence.

The celebration then moves onto the Ben Franklin Parkway for a noon-to-6 p.m. party - rides, face-painting, food, zoo animals, performance by Joey Page, salsa dance contests. It all climaxes at 8 p.m. with fireworks and a concert featuring Sheryl Crow, highlighted in the background by a show on the new LED lights of the Peco building. For those who can't make it live, the concert will be televised on 6ABC.

From 1 to 5 p.m. July 5, "Fam Jam" will be staged on the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing. It features live music for kids, with some performers from TV's Nickelodeon including Camp Rock's Meaghan Martin.

Sunoco Welcome America! offers various events today through July 5 throughout the city. Free admission to most activities including fireworks. Information: 215-284-2964, www.welcomeamerica.com.