A crush of excitement for Made in America, and its Queen Bey

Meghan Harrington left Boston with three friends at 5 a.m. Saturday for Philadelphia. Music, beer, and revelry beckoned. By 6 p.m., the four women rested on a park bench at the edge of Made in America on the Ben Franklin Parkway, drinking cans of Bud Light acquired for $12 each and a 30-minute wait in line.

Tired? Yeah, right.

"Beyoncé could keep me going for days without sleep," said Harrington, 29, a teacher.

The four women joined a crowd of nearly 70,000 - making this two-day Made in America festival, the fourth annual Jay Z-created and Budweiser-backed spectacle, the largest yet.

Three weeks before Pope Francis will draw hundreds of thousands to the Parkway, the swelling crowd generated some problems.

Long before headliner Beyoncé arrived on the main stage, at the foot of the Art Museum, police and fire officials pulled concertgoers from the densely packed front rows. As Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance with "baby daddy" and Philly rapper Meek Mill shortly after 7 p.m., the excited mass grew.

After the set, an announcer ordered the crowd to move back because people in the front were injured.

"We have a very dangerous situation," the announcer told attendees, "and we will not be able to continue the program."

But alt-rock band Modest Mouse, the next act, started at 8:30 as scheduled.

Desiree Peterkin Bell, the mayor's director of communications, said there had been no injuries as of 9:30 p.m. She said some people were pulled from the front of the crowd because they wanted to get out "for whatever reason.

"No one was crushed," she said. "There was no imminent danger."

As of 9 p.m., nearly 200 people had come to the first-aid tent, and 42 of those were transported to local hospitals. Police said one man was arrested for ticket scalping.

Besides the $11 Lime-A-Rita's and air hazy with dust and the occasional smell of marijuana, city officials viewed this two-day event as the latest dry run for the upcoming papal visit.

"We learn something from every big event in the city to prepare for the next big event," Mayor Nutter said.

Nutter hobnobbed during the day with Jay Z in the VIP area. The rap mogul, Nutter said, "was particularly focused on the local artists here."

The music - 30 acts spread across five stages on the Parkway - united a young crowd. Many were clad in patriotic garb; United States-flag bandannas, tank tops, even Stars-and-Stripes pants.

Few left before Beyoncé's late-night performance. At one point, she wore a sparkling 76ers bodysuit.

"She's amazing," said Lindsay Sonon, 30, as she danced. "I love her energy, all the energy in every song."

Standing in the mob near a row of food trucks, Lindsey Wacker and Michelle Pisani looked around.

They were most excited for the headliner, of course, but the 22-year-olds were here for all of it: "Honestly, we come for the atmosphere," Pisani said.

Returning for a second year with their friends from Plymouth Meeting, they hoped Jay Z would make a cameo alongside his wife. (That, alas, did not happen.)

Either way, they said, the festival was a success.

"It's a lot more crowded than last year," Wacker said, with Pisani nodding next to her.

Dust clouds formed above Eakins Oval between acts as concertgoers rushed from one stage to the next. Finding the right stage at the right time became a game.

"Where are we?" a woman asked her companions.

"Does anyone have the app?" one said.

"What stage is that?" another asked.

As DJ Mustard performed on the side of the Parkway, German Carriazo of Atlanta wheeled his Popsicle cart through the crowd and set up shop. Immediately there was a line; he danced as he served Popsicles from a cooler under a colorful umbrella.

He had spent much of the day selling for his Atlanta-based company, King of Pops, elsewhere in the crowd.

"They told us we could move," he said, "but I got swallowed by the crowd."

He finally made his way to another stage to set up in plenty of time to see Cedric Gervais - the only act he was truly looking forward to on Saturday.

"I'm too old school for this," he said of much of the rest of the music.

Before De La Soul started his set on the main stage, he asked if there were any people 35 or older in the crowd. There were scattered cheers.

In between songs, De La Soul paused to answer pleas from those in the front row. They wanted water.

Hannah Cooper, 20, of Media said she had camped out with her friends since 8 a.m. for a prime Beyoncé vantage point. And 12 hours later, when they needed water, there was little assistance.

"It's actually ridiculous," Cooper said. "There are all these girls screaming, 'We want water.' But they don't give it to us and we don't want to give up our spots.

"We would pay for it. We'll buy it, but we don't want to move."

Even that strategy proved unsuccessful.

"Someone paid a security guard $10 for a bottle of water," said Lauren Hunter, 20, and another front-row stalwart. "They're pocketing the money. It's ridiculous."

Before the sun set, some revelers found respite in the ample shade below Eakins Oval trees. A young couple napped against a chain-link fence in the middle of the festival. One girl wearing a red dress was splayed over her friend as she poured a water bottle into her mouth.

Others were not as lucky - paramedics loaded a man wearing a Miami Heat jersey onto a stretcher. He put his hands over his face as his friends consoled him. It was just after 4 p.m., with more than six hours until Beyoncé.

Saturday marked Erica Boisaubin's first time at Made in America. It was also a first visit to Philadelphia for the 23-year-old, who works at a modeling agency in New York City.

"I think it's so dope," she said of the city, an hour after arriving at the music festival.

Like many others on the Parkway, Boisaubin was most looking forward to seeing Beyoncé.

"It's my first time," she said. "I am so excited."

Same for former Taney Dragons star Mo'ne Davis. The 14-year-old attended, she said, for Beyoncé. Why? "She's Beyoncé," Davis said.

Singer and Philly native Santigold used the gathering to shoot a music video with rappers ilovemakonnen, Vic Mensa and singer Justine Skye while it was still light outside. A crowd swarmed their golf cart as Santigold, a Germantown Friends grad, mouthed lyrics for the video. The throng pumped fists.

Harrington, the fourth-grade teacher from Boston, said she and her coworkers planned their trip in June when they learned Beyoncé would perform. They bought tickets the first day they went on sale.

"Palpitations," said Elena Milius, 27, seated on the bench next to Harrington. "I have serious heart palpitations for Beyoncé."

The women planned to stay at a hotel and return to the festival Sunday; they said they were looking forward to seeing J. Cole, Fabulous, and The Weeknd.

Milius, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, said she felt older than the rest of the crowd - a lot of college students and a lot of crop tops. And Harrington said she wished more of the beer tents served Bud Light; many vending stations carried only Budweiser.

But those were small complaints, the women said, as they bid farewell to summer with a formidable soundtrack.

Sunday's Lineup

Rocky Stage

Halsey (2-2:30)

Action Bronson (3-3:45)

Metric (4:30-5:15)

Big Sean (6-6:45)

J. Cole (7:30-8:30)

The Weeknd (9:30)

Liberty Stage

Saint Motel (1:30-2)

Fabolous (2:30-3:10)

Santigold (3:45-4:30)

Future (5:15-6)

Banks (6:45-7:30)

Axwell / Ingrosso (8:30-9:30)

Skate Stage

Remy Banks (1:15-1:45)

Mick Jenkins (2-2:30)

Marian Hill (2:45-3:30)

Lolawolf (3:45-3:30)

Post Malone (4:30-5:10)

Bas/Cozz/Omen Dreamville (5:10-5:50)

Grits & Biscuits (6-6:45)

Flatbush Zombies (7:10-8:10)

Tidal Stage

Bizzy Crook (2:15-2:45)

Jidenna (3-3:30)

Bully (3:45-4:15)

Twin Peaks (4:30-5:10)

Hippo Campus (5:15-6:00)

Lili K (6:15-7:00)

Freedom Stage

The Disco Fries (2:15-3:15)

Aeroplane (3:15-4:15)

Burns (4:15-5:15)

Claude VonStroke (5:15-6:15)

GTA (6:15-7:15)

A-Trak (7:15-8:30

215-854-2928@MattGelb

Inquirer staff writers Jonathan Lai, Laura McCrystal, Sofiya Ballin, Dani Blum, and Jack Tomczuk contributed to this article.