There are few better ways to celebrate a weekend in Philly than by combining the city’s three great loves: food, football, and music. That’s exactly what the Pepsi Philly Eats Festival did on Saturday, Oct. 4, by inviting out some of the city’s top local eateries, a legendary Philadelphia Eagle, and some of Hip-Hop and R&B’s biggest names.
Taking place at Eakins Oval, just in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, the first-of-its-kind festival took place. Featuring some of Philadelphia’s most iconic foods from the city’s signature local restaurants like Café Carmela and Chickie’s & Pete’s; special guest and Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Westbrook, along with team cheerleaders and Eagles’ mascot Swoop; and performances headlined by Hip-hop duo Clipse and joined by Grammy-nominated R&B star Ari Lennox and Philly’s own Freeway.
Following the performances of Ari Lennox and Freeway—the latter of which included a special guest appearance by fellow Philly native Neef Buck of Young Gunz—Hip-hop duo Clipse took the stage with a special surprise in store.
As the night continued and Philadelphians enjoyed the great food and music, the celebration reached new heights as Clipse duo, Malice and Pusha T, announced that Pepsi would be gifting a surprise $150,000 donation to local Philadelphia-area restaurants.
“We do this for community, fellowship, we do this for Philly, for local restaurants not just here [at the event] but across the city,” Malice said.
In total, 15 restaurants— including the nine that participated in Pepsi Philly Eats Fest—will receive $10,000. Participating restaurants included Café Carmela, Chickie’s & Pete’s, Curly’s Comfort Food, Jacobs Northwest, Oregon Steaks, Philip’s Steaks, Rocco’s Italian Sausage, The Flavor Spot and Three Monkeys Cafe. Additional restaurants also receiving a portion of the generous donation include Mister P Pizza & Pasta, Royal Buffet, John’s Roast Pork, Steve’s Prince of Steaks, City View Pizza and Avenue Steaks.
Pepsi Philly Eats Fest was a part of Pepsi’s larger platform, Local Eats Deserve Pepsi, which aims to support eateries nationwide by providing valuable resources and driving awareness to the local businesses. Through their Local Eats Deserve Pepsi platform, Pepsi has supported local eateries over 75,000 restaurants nationwide, and counting to date.
“Philadelphia’s food scene is one of the most exciting in the country, where decades-old staples sit side by side with bold new spots. After the success of Pepsi NOLA Eats Fest, we’re proud to continue using our Local Eats platform to spotlight beloved restaurants that give a city its flavor, this time celebrating Philadelphia’s rich culinary traditions and pairing these fan-favorite dishes with Pepsi,” said Scott Finlow, Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo Away From Home.
For more information on the work of Local Eats Deserve Pepsi, visit pepsi.com.
