Thousands of fans and followers gathered for the road concert, in Philadelphia on Sunday. The crowd was large enough to stop the traffic and the functioning of an entire street and nearby areas. Reputed locals like, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and leading business regions like, the Four Seasons Hotel was swarming with youth in their casuals.
It is a good sign for the hospitality industry. Michael Nenner, the manager of Four Season remarks that this kind of concert and entertainment show brings a good business in the neighborhood. He is so excited over the event that he wants Philadelphia to organize more programs like this. In his meeting with the Mayor of Philadelphia, the Michael Nenner spoke about the urgent need of such kind of programs in the state. He is sure that such events will bring crowd into the state, which will result in the growth and development in the local business.
With the audiences and the visitors thronging to event, the traffic almost went stand still for few minutes. Moreover, the authorities of the nearby art gallery, the Barnes art museum too faced crisis while handling such multitude of people. Betty Brenan, the visitor services assistant remarked that the concert crowd has nearly slowed down their working speed. Experiencing the craze Betty is certain that the tickets were short in supply compared to the frenzied crowd. However, she does not forget to mention that tourists and concert lovers generally flock to Barnes at this time of the year. Betty Brenzay in her interview recalled a similar event in the previous year, when the state of Philadelphia experienced a same happening.
The areas in close proximity did an extremely lucrative business. The commodities in shops and stores were in huge demand. Following the rules of economics, the prices of goods skyrocketed. For example, the price of bottled mineral water increased gradually every block towards the gate. At Con Murphy’s Irish Saloon, located at 17th street the bottles costs $1. The same bottled water went up to $2 at the shady west part of 18th Street, from the Elkton, Md. The vendor who was selling it at such high price called himself G Prop, which is the short form of “I’m God’s Property”. The self-acclaimed property of the Almighty however added that the price of the water would soar up to five times when one will enter the arena. Similarly the hot dogs are sold in front of the Franklin Institute for $2.50 each and $5 for two. The shop bears a sign stating that inside the event arena the hot dogs are priced at $4.50.
The two-day event saw a limited supply of water particularly on Saturday. The parched revelers had to run to refill stations arranged by Philadelphia Water Department and Reverb.org. Even with rebates of $1, the water bottles were charged at $4 per bottle. Besides, the guards as per the rule allowed the entry of only one bottle per person. The remaining was dropped into the recycling bin.
