THE 10,000 TICKETS open to the public for Pope Francis' Sept. 26 speech at Independence Hall will be available online on a first-come, first-served basis at noon on Tuesday.
Those interested in obtaining the tickets, which are free, can log onto worldmeeting2015.org/tickets. The link will not be functional until noon on Tuesday.
Details about how to obtain one of the 10,000 free tickets available for each of the pope's appearances on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway - the Festival of Families on Sept. 26 and the papal mass on Sept. 27 - will be released on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman. Those tickets will go up for grabs online on Wednesday.
The maximum number of tickets that can be obtained for any of the pope's public events is four.
Initially, organizers had said that only 5,000 tickets to Independence Hall would be available to the public and that all tickets for the Parkway events had been allocated to local and regional parishes and other groups.
But after public outcry about the lack of equal access to the good seats at the events, organizers changed their tune Thursday and found 25,000 more tickets to give away.
While not all areas are ticketed, the ticketed areas do provide for the best viewing of the events.
Organizers also announced on Thursday that Pope Francis will participate in two parades, giving those who line the routes a chance to see the man up close as well.
In addition, 40 Jumbotrons will be placed throughout the parkway and Independence Mall and all papal events will be streamed live on those screens.
Online: ph.ly/crime
Blog: ph.ly/Delco