Philly’s birthday bash for the Navy and Marine Corps to be ‘once-in-a-generation’ event
The commemoration of the sea services’ 250th birthdays is just a preview for what’s to come for America’s Semiquincentennial.
The banks of the Delaware River will anchor 250 years of maritime history this fall — with Philly-style gravitas.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Semiquincentennial birthday bash kicks off Oct. 9, complete with a grand parade of ships, a televised concert, and a picnic with a celebrity chef. The celebration will be a preview of what’s to come in 2026, the United States’ 250th birthday.
“I’ve been geeked up about this for the last 48 hours,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said Thursday morning in a 200-person Society Hill ballroom, where sailors and community and business leaders were in the final stages of planning the “no-holds-barred” spectacle.
» READ MORE: Philadelphia will kick off America’s 250th birthday with a birthday bash for the Navy and the Marine Corps
“We’re not just commemorating history, we’re creating it,” Parker said.
The choreography of such a spectacle looks much like emergency management, Parker said, and requires coordination across the region — from the port authority to local businesses. At least 10 ships are expected to sail down the Delaware on Oct. 9, and officials expect more than 1,800 service members and 300,000 visitors to descend on Philadelphia throughout the festivities.
“There’s a buzz, there’s an energy in the air,” said Vice Adm. John Gumbleton, of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command. “We could not be just more happy to come here to celebrate our birthday in the place where it all began.”
Both branches were created in Philadelphia in 1775, and this homecoming has been in the works for five years, hatched by retired New Jersey judge and former Philadelphia prosecutor George Leone. Now, the event is slated to be the Semiquincentennial’s largest military tribute, according to Leone’s group, Homecoming 250, drawing the secretary of the Navy, senior representatives of the Marine Corps, and heads of foreign sea services.
The once-in-a-generation party is an opportunity for Philadelphia to “seas” the moment.
The inaugural seafaring procession will feature four combatant ships: the USS Arlington, USS Lassen, USS Billings, and USS Cooperstown. The visiting vessels and historic ships alongside the Philly and Camden waterfronts will represent every major conflict since the Spanish-American War, according to Leone.
Running through Oct. 15 and Nov. 8 to 11, events include a preview of documentarian Ken Burns’ forthcoming project, The American Revolution; history symposia; ship tours; a Navy-Temple football game; a 7,000-person on-land parade; a commemoration and flyover by the Blue Angels squadron; and a black-tie gala.
“Sailors love to explain what they do and just show it off,” said Lt. Cmdr. Justin Hatfield, of the USS Arlington.
A complete schedule can be found at homecoming250.org.