The music of Philadelphia was front and center at the first annual Hoagie Nation Festival in Penn's Landing Saturday.
Live Nation announced the festival – headlined by local Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famers (Daryl) Hall & (John) Oates – in March by sharing a poster featuring Philly founding father Ben Franklin holding a hoagie. [[424618544, C]]
Dubbed "a celebration of everything Philly," the festival also featured fellow Philly artists including G. Love & The Special Sauce, Vivian Green, Marah, Mutlu and Son Little as well as performances by non-Philly artists like Kandace Springs, Allen Stone and 80s superstars Tears for Fears. [[415886563, C]]
The event took place at the Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing.
Hall & Oates were ready for the homecoming headlining gig.
"Hoagie Nation is a wonderful and colorful place where the citizens are united by a love of cold meat and Amoroso's rolls," Hall said. "P.S. they ALL got soul!"
"Philly is famous for a lot of things, but the highlights just might be the amazing music and of course the hoagie," Oates said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney was one of the supporters of the inaugural festival.
"Daryl and John hold a special place in the hearts of Philadelphia music fans," Kenney said. "We are extremely excited that they are launching their first-ever curated festival back where it all began, right here in Philadelphia."